I received the following letter by email this week. Please comment if you can help this community member with any information. If you respond via email, please phrase it as a comment and I will post it for you as soon as I get a chance.
-Laura
Hi, Laura.
Hope you are well. I'm hoping you could help me out with something when you get a chance. I was wondering if anyone on the list has actually been hired as a contractor for Mometrix LLC of Texas. I submitted sample test questions to them early in 2011, but never got any feedback. I applied for another position yesterday for a flash card project and I received a response requesting five sample questions. My intuition is telling me to investigate a bit more before spending my time and efforts on something that seems like a scam.
I greatly appreciate any assistance. Thanks!
6 comments:
I, too, completed the flashcards. Mometrix never commented on the work I had submitted nor the advertised writing position for which I had submitted the samples. It did, however, send me a contract and W-9 for an editing position - without informing me of the pay rate or referencing the samples. Upon my persistent questioning, Mometrix eventually informed me of the rate: $0.01 a word for editing.
I declined. Writers Weekly has a mention of Mometrix in its Whispers and Warnings column:
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8739
I have always had bad luck when companies ask for specific materials up-front. I feel I have enough writing samples that should meet that need.
Mometrix is real, but I have no idea who they hire, because it wasn't me. I get semi-regular e-mails from them about their testing stuff, but no job or response, either.
Some days I think all these "send us five sample questions" isn't so much a screening tool or test of endurance as it is a way to get questions without paying for them.
Concerning the request for information on Mometrix. Company was prompt making payment for work, but paid very low wages for creative work. BBB gives them very good references. If reminded of earlier samples, they will check.
I also responded to the add for math flashcard writers with this company, and received an email requesting several sample items. It sounded like it might be a scam, so I checked Writers' Weekly Whispers and Warnings. Another writer also had the same concern, however, two writers responded that they have worked for Mometrix, and are happy with the company. The link to these comments is posted below.
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8739&sid=96eeaf869bf2b541c60e548237bd27d6
Hope this helps!!!
I wrote for them very happily for years, and got a lot of work. The pay wasn't fabulous at 4 cents a word, but the work was very, very steady and I had editors I worked well with and respected. THINGS HAVE CHANGED. A year or so ago, I started getting new editors-seemed like one after the other--they seemed harried and irritable, and their edits were sometimes pretty bad in terms of grammar and content. Suddenly, I had less and less work, waiting long periods between projects. I depended upon them because over the years they were half my income. My emails asking what was up were either ignored or responded to (but only when I went through my previous editor) with, nothing was wrong, my work was still good, I was in the queue and they'd send me work soon. That was several months ago. While I understand they aren't required to keep me working, if there aren't any problems with my work and we've always had a great professional relationship, this seems to signal that there are either problems, issues or changes with this company. I would suggest looking elsewhere.
I really don't think they're actually taking on new writers if they can't keep the ones they have had for years either working, or even informed.
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