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Ask him/ her to take a leadership test first
I have never been asked to do an editing test. Or any test for that matter.
Yep. Interviewed with someone who rarely had even interacted with a client and had never worked in a big agency. I think they were incredulous I would even take the time to come in and interview. Needless to say it was not the position for me:)
That sounds insane. Ours are more like a brief with the freedom to come back with whatever you think would work to address the challenge. So yeh, red flag... it sounds like they’re looking for a heavy lifter to crank out odd jobs that no one else wants to do/can’t do. Ask yourself is the company great enough to warrant getting a foot in the door (so you can flex later and show them what you are capable of)...
I hoping the latter.
OP - be careful if you’re considering the latter. Those hired to focus on the odds and ends are usually (not always, but usually) expected to be happy doing only that. You can usually tell during the interview because they’ll be asking questions that gauge your contentment with complacency. If you start inquiring about other potential opportunities they may not hire you — it’s a verbal game worthy of a spy novel. Good luck
Very valid points. Hence why I am still on the fence about doing the test at all. Those red flags are hard to ignore.
I’ve taken edit tests but only for content or journalism jobs. Weird you’d take one for copywriting. What’s in it?
Not sure. It won’t be ready for a couple of weeks.
The copy manager has a journalism background so they know nothing about advertising. Or that you don’t ask a senior copywriter to take an editing test that has nothing to do with the job.
We often do copy ‘tests’ for new hires, junior or senior. It’s not really a ‘test’, but more to see how someone thinks, what their approach is, and most interestingly, how they present and unpack the thing they’ve written.
I finally received the test. It’s three pages long with six exercises. There are two proofing exercises and four editing/writing. I have to rewrite a product page, write an email, write an education manual entry, and pitch 3 SEO/branded blog posts. Then I have to rewrite a dossier and a PR fact sheet. Seems over the top and excessive. The resources file was so large it had to be zipped. If I think about how much I would charge to do this amount of work I am kind of appalled about doing it for free. Should I take this as a big red flag or just suck it up and see what happens?
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