Job hunting is a significant part of any freelancer’s career. Unfortunately, scamming is still an issue in the world of freelance job ads and very annoying. However, fraudulent offers are not that hard to sniff out, provided you know what to look for. Here are 8 phrases that should raise some red flags and make you think twice about accepting a seemingly lucrative job offer…

1. © freelancermap.com
More freelancer tips on www.freelancermap.com...
8 Phrases in Freelance Job Ads
That Scream “DON’T APPLY”
6/29/2015
FREELANCER TIPS

2. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
8 Phrases in Freelance Job Ads That
Scream “DON’T APPLY”
Job hunting is a significant part of any freelancer’s career.
Sure, once you get more experienced, well-known and
have built up your online and offline presence enough,
clients will start approaching you by themselves. But even
then, you might want to dip into gig searching now and
again. Unfortunately, scamming is still an issue in the world
of freelance job ads.
However, fraudulent offers are not that hard to sniff out,
provided you know what to look for. Here are 8 phrases
that should raise some red flags and make you think twice
about accepting a seemingly lucrative job offer.
6/29/2015

3. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
8 Phrases in Freelance Job Ads That
Scream “DON’T APPLY”
6/29/2015

4. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Lowest bidder gets the gig“
A sentence like that can only be written by someone who was
no regards for quality and only cares about getting the
cheapest work possible. You don’t want to work for
somebody like that. Even if it is a legit job offer you will
definitely get underpaid and probably have an
unprofessional business relationship in a number of other
ways as well.
6/29/2015

5. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Gain exposure”,
“build a long-term relationship”
These two phrases are just code words for “work for
pennies”. Do that and maybe, just maybe you might get
some long-term benefit in the future. This is one of the
“opportunities” you should decline. You are better off
building up your website, blog or Facebook page.
6/29/2015

6. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Send us a free sample”
To get a misconception out of the way first, there is nothing
wrong with requesting a work sample as part of the
application process. But you have to make sure that either
all applicants do a similar task and that you keep the rights
on your work if you don’t get hired. There are companies
which just give a different portion of the project to each
applicant and then run away with the work.
6/29/2015

7. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Contact me at johny@genericmail.com”
Yeah, an unprofessional e-mail address à la Nigerian prince is
probably a red flag. If the client claims he works at a
somewhat respectable or large company, why doesn’t he
or she use a corporate address? Surely, that is mandatory
for their work? This is a good prompt for you to research
the client thoroughly. Do they have a web presence of any
sort or are they mentioned somewhere even remotely
reputable? If not, you might want to keep your distance.
6/29/2015

8. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Earn up to…”
If a job advert offers you a possible salary that makes you tear
up just by looking at it, it is probably trying to scam you.
Sure, maybe one in a thousand people could actually make
the amount of money speculated given the right
circumstances, but you should ask yourself what the sum
starts at. If you’re going to be slaving away for months
doing work that you can’t live off of, there are better ways
to invest your time.
6/29/2015

9. info@freelancermap.com© freelancermap.com
“Perfect/ideal for…”,
“Easy/no experience required”
Job ads that overhype the offering can come off as tempting,
but mostly feature empty promises. If a client has good
work for a professional freelancer, they won’t be afraid to
say that the job is going to be challenging in some way. If
anybody could do it, it’s not worth doing.
6/29/2015

10. © freelancermap.com
Further freelancer tips available on http://www.freelancermap.com/freelancer-tips
Contact
freelancermap.com
Contact person: Doreen Schollmeier - International Affairs
Mail: info@freelancermap.com
Skype: doreen.schollmeier
Phone: +49-911-37750286
facebook: www.facebook.com/freelancermapInternational
Twitter: freelancer_INT
6/29/2015