Education
(From SEMantics)
Job Seekers: hit the Hotline!
By Linda Zapczynski
If you're looking for writing work (and who isn't), one of the union's best services is the Job Hotline.The NWU Hotline, which began as a San Francisco local project and went national just a few years ago, is a non-profit alternative to job shops, temp agencies and brokers, and is run by, and for, the writers who use it. Any union member in good standing can obtain contact information on any of the listed jobs.
"The names, addresses and phone numbers of the employers and managers who list jobs on the hotline are only given to NWU members," says Kenya Briggs, hotline coordinator. "We tend to place about one writer for every two contract/ freelance gigs that we list. Sometimes we do even better than that. In July we listed 36 jobs and placed 18 members."
The hotline can be accessed from the NWU web site (www.nwu.org), or by "calling toll-free (888} 698-5627. Jobs marked "off-site" can be done from anywhere in the country unless otherwise Specified. Job listings are normally updated twice a week.
Staff writing jobs, as well as contract and freelance writing jobs of all types appear on the hotline. Listings include technical and electronic writing, business and marketing assignments, newsletter writing and editing, magazine assignments, instructional writing, screenplays and ghostwriting.
"So far this year, the hotline has generated more than $200,000 in income for our members," says. Briggs. "Since the hotline started up in January of 1992, it has generated nearly $2.5 million in income for our members."
A survey of hotline users and the writers rates they received in June and July was recently conducted. "About 150 writers fro across the country responded,"states Briggs. "We will be posting the results of the survey on the hotline's web site in the next month or two. We hope to use the survey to both encourage managers to list their pay rates on their job descriptions, and to help ensure that managers are offering prevailing rates to our writers. The survey should also inform our writers of prevailing rates so that they don't underbid on jobs."
The hotline now employs a set of standards that all listed jobs must meet. Employers that list on the job hotline do so because someone, usually a local writer, has informed them of the service, says Mary Dempsey, a journalism adviser in the SEM local and a hotline user.
Names, addresses and phone numbers of employers and managers who list on the hotline are only available to NWU members. Contract openings may be listed on the hotline for free. To list one or more staff openings, there is a $65/month charge.
NWU members who get employment from the hotline must pay a finder's fee equivalent to 10 percent of the gross pay for work performed during the first four months. To register, members can sign and return the Hotline Finder's Fee Agreement, found online at (www. nwu.org/hotline), or they can call the union national office to have a form mailed.
A few changes may be in store for the hotline in the near future. "Since I've been SEM co-chair, I've been trying to find someone to carry on where I left off, which would mean updating the information I have and expanding the list," says Ken Wachsberger. "If we could get this going, then Michigan would have a more profound presence on the list. That is one of my goals.
"Any business in the country can post on the hotline. There have been some from Michigan, just not many. At this time, the only problem I see is finding someone to pick up where I left off," he says.
To list freelance, contract and staff openings, employers may contact Kenya Briggs, hotline coordinator, at (510) 839-6092, or by email at hotline@nwu.org, or fax at (510) 839-6097.