Don't Be A Victim of Online Writing Scam

by JLGerardo


If you are new to the world of freelance writing, you’d immediately jump at good-sounding opportunities or advertisements to work at home. You conjure up images of typing in your keyboard and then receiving payment for your hard day’s work. Why, you’d even think of buying that car or that latest wifi-ready laptop you saw in brochures!

So you answer these legitimate-looking ads in job boards. As per instructions in the ad, you innocently submit resume and sample articles. Then you cross your fingers, toss to and fro out of anticipated excitement, and tell your Mom you’d buy her a gift for her birthday when you get that virtual writing job offers.

But alas, a week passes by with no response from the expected employer. And two, then months. You dispatch another email inquiring about your application but you get no reply.


And then one day, you stumbled on your sample article already posted in a website.


The realization hit you with a bang.
You’ve been scammed.

According to seasoned writers, online writing scams are rampant in the Internet. They proliferate in legitimate job boards like Monster.com, Media Bistro, Journalismjobs, elance, and other sites. These online writing scams abound excessively in public job boards like craigslist.

Even those newspapers promising home-based online writing opportunities can be completely fraudulent.

Types of Online Writing Scam
1.) Send A Free Writing Sample Scam
The ad requires you to submit a free sample of your writing. Sometimes, the ad includes topics for you to write about.

If you fall for this one, you just made a scammer richer with your article. You see, scammers will sell your article to website owners and pocket the whole payment.

2.) TIGHT SCHEDULE ( URGENT) SCAM
The morning ad says that the articles should be in by 1 pm. Payment will be sent to you after receipt of the article.

You feel the urgency, and with barely two hours to complete the article, you rush in to your computer and compose your best. Then you send it, expecting payment to come in the mailbox afterwards.


But no money arrives in the mailbox despite your repeated emails, and you finally realize you became another victim to an online writing scam.

3.) BATCH JOB
Ad posters will state outright that they pay only $25 for a batch of 10 initial articles.
Then they dangle a carrot stick.

You will be paid more on succeeding projects once they get a grip of your writing style.

Sounds fine, right? Nope. Any seasoned freelance writer can smell such scam a mile away.



How To Spot Online Scams
Online writing scammers in craigslist, for example, post in multiple cities, and in multiple directories for maximum results. But they do leave some telltale trail behind.

These are:
1.) Their posts have more than 5 grammatical errors. One of two is fine. But when the post contains a good sprinkling of grammatical errors that even a primary pupil will not commit, that should give you warning signals.

2.) The posts are short. Usually, the post contains around six words or more. Example: “Need freelance writers immediately. Send resume.”

Am I saying that all short posts are scams? No. There are some good ones out there. Just hone up your instinct to determine which is which.

3.) Look closely at the payment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. “Wanted content writers for pet site. $40 to $70 per 500-word article.”

4.) Scrutinize the qualification of the job. If the poster does not state the qualification, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s a scam.

You see, legitimate posters are very picky about the qualifications of the writers. Online scammers, on the other hand, are only interested for another victim—and that’s you. Yes, you.

5.) If ad contains the name of the company, then you better do some background checking. Google it and find everything you can about the company.

There’s a hitch to this, though. A friend narrated to me that she replied to an ad with the name of a big consumer product company. Following her instincts, she dispatched an email to that company regarding the job offering.

Fortunately, the company replied that there is no such job opening nor do they have an employee matching the poster’s name found in the ad.
Smart move there, sis!

LEGITIMATE PLACES TO FIND PAYING FREELANCE WRITING WORK

A fellow freelance writer named Steve compiled a list of legitimate places to find paying freelance writing work.

Among his list are :
www.associatedcontent.com
www.constant-content.com
eHow.com
Squidoo.com
Epinions.com

These are just some of the legitimate places. Check out Steve’s complete list. Also, try to visit Jodee’s ” 23 Places To Find Freelance Writing Jobs…”

Be careful now and don’t get scammed.

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Career Options For Registered Nurses (RNs)

by JLGerardo
In a corporate world, fresh graduate hirees begin at the bottom of the hierarchal ladder in the company. They settle with entry-level jobs. As these recruits gain experiences, they get promoted and rise from the ranks. Then with dedication and hard work, they become department heads, managers, rising all the way to being top-level executive officers of the company.
Not so with registered nurses. But this does not mean that RNs have no career options. The fact is, they do. Today, hospital nurses like you can choose from a wide variety of jobs that suit your lifestyles.
Here are some exciting career choices:

1.) NURSE-PRACTITIONER
As a nurse-practitioner, you perform some doctors’ tasks. You examine patients and make prescriptions. As N.P. you deal with illnesses and offer health-related advices. But you’ve got to have advance training for this job—too often a master’s degree, and work under the supervision of a competent doctor.

2.) TRAUMA NURSE
As a trauma nurse, you work closely with doctors in dealing with patients under life-threatening conditions in emergency rooms or intensive care units. The job demands the highest degree of professionalism and skills honed through years of training. As such, trauma nursing involves a lot of stress. But there’s some distinct perks, too. You enjoy excellent pay, as well as personal satisfaction of having contributed to the recovery of patients.

3.) OB-GYN NURSE
As the term suggests, ob-gyn nursing focuses only on conditions and illness that afflict female reproductive system. This includes pregnancy, childbirth, menopausal aberrations, and a host of other issues.

4.) PEDIATRIC NURSING
As a pediatric nurse, your patients are mostly babies and children. You will provide nursing care for these youngsters who are confined in private rooms or in pediatric wards of the hospital.

5.) NURSE ANESTHESIOLOGIST
Basically, you will administer anesthesia to patients about to undergo surgical procedures. You need a master’s degree and some advance training for this one. It’s a specialized job. And it offers the highest paying salary in the nursing career.

6.) CARDIAC CARE NURSE
As the term suggests, you will provide nursing care to patients suffering from heart attack, stroke, and other ailments. Usually, you will work and assist doctors as they perform delicate surgical operations like angioplasty, heart bypass, etc…

7.) EMERGENCY NURSE
The job demands that you work with patients ushered into emergency rooms. From a woman who gives birth while in a taxi to a victim of stabbing incident then to patient run over by a vehicle. These life threatening cases become your day-to-day routine. You need to be alert, cool, and quick.

8.) PSYCHIATRIC NURSING
You will deal with patients who have unbalanced emotional and mental issues. It needs thorough understanding of the subject matter. Only a handful RNs select this career option because of the great amount of stress involved.

9.) RADIOLOGY NURSING
As a radiology nurse, you will take perform medical imaging duties like conducting X-ray test, ultrasound, and other related technical work. Only a few RNs go for this job.

10.) RESPIRATORY NURSING
Respiratory nurses work with patients having breathing difficulties and lung problems. You should know how to operate breathing machines for this work.

11.) ONCOLOGY NURSING
Cancer remains as the most deadly disease, and medical science is implementing the necessary steps to deal with this problem. Your primary duty as an oncology nurse is to administer chemotherapy sessions to cancer patients. At the supervision of a doctor, you will also provide counsel and conduct information-dissemination campaigns on cancer treatment and prevention.

12.) CASE-MANAGER NURSE
You have to manage the schedule, the dosage and frequency of prescribed medicines as well as the medical appointments of a particular patient undergoing long-term, multiple treatment. As a case manager nurse, you will usually work with only one patient in your entire shift. You will keep track of his or her condition.

These are just a few of nursing-related career options for RNs. As mentioned earlier, you decide what works best for you. Consider your talents, skills and your lifestyle so you can choose the career option that best fit your long-term goals.

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