The title says it all. We need more writers to keep the fresh hacks coming, now’s your chance to apply for the job.
UPDATE: Thank you for all of the applications. I have made the first round of offers to a select few. Narrowing it down to a handful was difficult as so many highly qualified, avid readers sent in applications. You are still welcome to submit an application which we’ll keep on file, but I don’t anticipate making any more offers at this time.
Contributors are hired as private contractors and paid for each post. Writers should have the technical expertise to understand the projects they are writing about, and a passion for the wide range of topics we feature. If you’re interested, please email our jobs line and include:
- Details about your background (education, employment, etc.) that make you a valuable addition to the team
- Links to your blog/project posts/etc. which have been published on the Internet
- One example post written in the voice of Hack a Day. Include a banner image, 150 words, the link to the project, and any in-links to related and relevant Hack a Day features.
Words of encouragement
First off, we won’t be discussing compensation publicly. Want to know what we pay? Send in a successful application and we’ll talk about it.
Secondly, don’t pass up this opportunity. I watched one of these posts go by and waited another year before I saw the next one and applied. Now I’m running the place. Our team is made up of avid readers. If you’re passionate about the stuff here and you have a few hours each week to do some writing you need to apply now!
Why are we hiring more writers?
Our tagline says it all. We want fresh hacks featured every day at a consistent rate. Right now we’re hitting that goal. But as we add more original content, like the fantastic 3D Printering series [Brian] started, or the conference coverage [Eric] has been doing, we need help making sure we don’t slip on the awesome projects we feature. As new writers find their stride with the daily features they are given the opportunity to write their own original content if they wish.
So what are you waiting for? Ladies and Gentlemen, start your applications!
Could you possibly make it first come first served? :D
So by being first you get to trump somebody with a better resume or credentials ?
What happened to hiring based on MERIT ?
What happened to having a sense of humour?
You mean as opposed to hiring based on personal or political ties, nepotism, the old boy system, whatever you want to name it, that is so pervasive of North American job markets?
Oh so YOU mean “affirmative action” ?
You know.
Hire a one legged African/Latino American lesbian with a speech impediment ?
Intentional or not satire often hits on the reality for others. I became disabled and became a member of the largest minority in the USA. In a forum that was about the concerns of the disabled there was one one woman was was most adamant in her exchanges. In the course of time I discovered she was black and homosexual. A black disabled homosexual woman. Four areas where she would run into road block, no wonder she was/is so adamant. As far as I know the nature of her disability left her with a speech impediment an impaired leg. Yes there are problems with affirmative action, but it’s most vehement critics offer no solution than returning to the older era of exclusion.
Quite possibly the most creative “First!” I’ve seen on HaD
Yea, absolutely!
Please don’t, I just applied ;)
I could do this and I am very articulated in my writings.
Your hire!
articulated?
Just be sure to ask them their opinion on Steampunk. If their answers don’t include some form of: “juvenile”, “puerile”, “asinine”, or “completely stupid” – then shred their application.
lol while they’re at it, might as well ask what they have in their coffee, and if the answer isn’t “black”, shred it.
What’s the deal with all the coffee comments?
The Arduino and RasPi projects are feeling neglected.
Will there be some sort of basic writing/literacy test? I’d like to see an overall improvement in the quality of the posts here.
Protip: Include ‘Able to proofread before posting’ in your resume.
Certainly would be nice, but let’s not forget that these are humans. Even big money periodicals with sometimes months of time before going to print and professional editors can miss mistakes and typos. Maybe we should ask for ‘less frequent occurrence of incorrect information and typographical errors’ instead of unattainable perfection.
I actually appreciate the fact that HaD isn’t so polished. Kinda feels like the article is hacked out in someone’s garage like most of the topics. ;)
> I’d like to see an overall improvement in the quality of the posts here.
My feelings =(
Your feels shouldn’t be too hurt Josh, I for one enjoy your articles ;)
I enjoy your articles as well!
Oh you guys.
The odd spelling and grammar mistake really don’t bother me. As long as the articles are interesting, I’m happy. If the mistakes were terrible and commonplace, I might feel differently, but the odd minor glitch is fine. It’s never detracted from the quality of an article.
Proof-reading’s a boring job. So either they’d need to hire someone to do it, or our favourite writers would have to do it, leaving them with less time for geeking and writing about geeking.
The recent new writers have been pretty good, well up to standard I think!
My boss used to tell me that if your writing isn’t valuable enough to you to read, it will not be valuable enough to someone else to read.
++
I would enjoy the opportunity to share excellent hacks to the world.
~Joseph S.
http://ConsultingJoe.com
*with
“with the world”, correction.
Um… there is no “with” in your first post.
//don’t worry, I’m sure the application reviewers won’t down check you for such a slight faux pas…..too much//
Wonderful chance for all the haters to apply, which they wont. They’ll continue writing asinine sarcastic comments.
On a more cheery note – best of luck to all applicants! :o)
Is this USA only?
It is not!
What about a german branch? Globalisation!
The example blogpost should be about an raspberry PI and an Arduino working together to blink a led build into a steampunk box.
Well I for one hope fartface gets it, that guy’s aced every project that’s ever been featured on this site. And he’s usually found a way to do it way better than the guys who feature in the posts.
not sure if sarcasm or…
Or what?! The mind boggles :) All being said I do genuinely find fartface’s ‘weary McGyver’ schtick fantastically entertaining. If he had a column here bitching about everything he thought the builders had got wrong in a given week’s posts I would read it. No joke.
I’d love to do the proofreading side of things if the opportunity arises. I could also do write-ups for other people if required.
A nice change of pace on the proof reading topic. Rather than bitching about the lack of proof reading someone offers to assist in a solution. There needs to be a way for readers to make this [samianson’s] the top comment seen by getting the most like votes.
Is it too late to comment? Never too late right…meh! New contribs Yay! gluck to all ye applicants. Haters gonna hate….
Is there a deadline or is this more of a running thing? :)
Cool– congrats? Any relationship between this and potential HaD sale and the domain now being served by electronics marketer SupplyFrame?
Well, for starters, SupplyFrame bought HaD.
And they’re letting us do some really cool stuff, like writing more content.
Hm. I don’t have anything published on the Internet… oh well, I’ll just wait until next year. I should have my own site up and running by then and could use that as reference.
Id like to make a suggestion….
I know it wont receive any true consideration….
But I have to try.
I dont care what you pay per word or per article. I have been reading this site for years…Ive submitted things under various user names. I usually comment under this one. We all are aware, even if we try to pretend otherwise, that there is often a lack of pride in writing here, content is often factually incorrect, grammatically challenged, and occasionally peppered with more editorial rhetoric then information.
I am sure the statement hire a professional editor has been said so many times it sounds like babble at this point. I think many of your readership have abandoned hope of that ever coming to exist…..
so I offer an alternative. Stop paying whatever you are paying for these submissions. I dont know if you pay by word, by hits, by article….JUST STOP.
Determine your monthly budget. divide by 4.3. then again by 7. Thats cashaday for hackaday if your at a loss for my maths meaning.
Next, create a membership that one can either pay a pitance for…$15 yr or some such. Allow a week, or a month extra for every submission posted to the site from referral.
Give membership submission priority over nonmember….such that random submit same hack as member….member gets credit. Throw in some special features for members as well.
I am sure you are wondering where I am going with all this…..well here goes.
Allow members to rate articles….or assign them points….or whatever you can come up with….
But the basic premise should be clear……take the money you would be paying out anyway….and divide it across a submission period..then divide the fund for that time period in a way that the best and highest ranking articles gets paid MOST of the money….and the lowest ranking articles….well they were good practice…maybe if the writer keeps trying he can be paid….when he deserves it. If your readership continually responds poorly to an author…they will either be forced to improve or leave.
Im sure this falls on blind eyes…..but if by chance someone at SupplyFrame reads this….and it plants even the slightest seed of awareness of reader discontent in their mind….My time was well spent.
I enjoy this site. I may bust on its content from time to time….but the efforts and energy spent above should show…..some of us who complain in comments arent trolls….some of us really love it here…..we just want the people being paid to spend their time here to care as much as we do.
writers:
Poor copy is a disservice to your employer, and disrespectful to your readership.
SF:
Bring some professionalism to this site and your presence will be appreciated. Allow shoddy writing to be the rewarded norm and you will watch your investment trickle away as your audience does.
I can count on no hands the number of sites I stopped visiting because I had problems with their spelling or grammar. Not singling you out shocked and annoyed, but is it really that bad? Would it not be fair to say it’s pretty easy to divine what the HaD staff intended to write even if they got a letter or two wrong or misplaced a comma?
Sorry if this is not the case but it kind of sounds like you’re suggesting Supply Frame mothball the current site and use the domain for a hack-centric version of Reddit where the top-voted posts are paid money. That not only sounds like a system designed to spectacularly fail (spambots up-voting to secure all of the cash?) but also as something which bears absolutely no resemblance to the current Hack a Day at all.
Bit of an extreme solution to a perceived lack of proofreading isn’t it?
Just saw this post… how long do we have to apply? Is there a deadline?
Thanks!
I would give this a shot,bur while I have thick hide I lack patience. The patience required not to tell those whose comments, indicate what they desire should be the rule, where they can stick it. A dangerous practice where a Hackaday writer use their full name and most everyone commenting uses a pseudonym. I generally use this pseudonym, bur when the topic is amateur radio and things RF I use my call sign, understanding that I could get a phone call. That has happened as a result my using the word wide amateur radio computer network, where you have to use your call sign.
LOL I failed the prime test many would apply no space where there should be one and one spelling error. Same errors twice even Now dejectedly walking away with head hanging, hands in pockets, kicking at the dirt.