Each week, when researching job links to distribute through WritersWeekly, I see specific red flags in some job ads. This week, I’ll share some with you.

Grant/Proposal Writers – Pays 5% of each contract successful awarded. As grantwriter Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer wrote last week, “The practices of paying grant writers contingency fees or a percentage of the grant monies are considered unethical by most professional fundraising organizations.”

Compensation: To Be Discussed or Salary: Per article – Hey, if you can’t take the time to at least give me an estimate of how much you’ll pay, chances are pretty good you’re paying writers peanuts. I won’t waste my time applying for your job.

Compensation: percentage of ad revenue – I ran a popular article on pay-per-click/pay-per-ad-revenue sites long ago. It’s here: HOW TO BE A STARVING WRITER: Write for Pay-Per-Click Sites!

“If you qualify, we’ll pay you $5 per 1000 page views” – Wow, five whole dollars?! You have GOT to be kidding!

“If the thought of being a national celebrity is something that gets you excited…” and then “The compensation will be based on page views” Ha ha ha ha ha!!! If your site was that popular, wouldn’t you be able to offer better terms than a percentage of ad revenue? Promising fame is a common tactic used by companies that pay little or no money.

Compensation: Payment/post – Again, if you can’t bother to tell me how much you pay up front, I have to assume it’s peanuts!

The same ad running over and over again If a company needs to run numerous ads to hire just one or two people, something smells wrong. The best-paying companies with the best reputations have plenty of writers to choose from already. If they do need to run an ad, they don’t run it 5, 10, or more times on multiple websites.

Compensation: Up to $20 per hour possible The key words here are “up to.” What’s the minimum? Offering “up to” dollar amounts is another ploy used by companies that don’t pay diddly.

And, of course, any ad run by a deadbeat featured in WritersWeekly Whispers and Warnings should be avoided!