Can I put companies' writing sample exercises on my own website?
September 25, 2014 8:13 PM Subscribe
I've had a few job applications leading to interviews and phone interviews without being hired. Can I post the various writing exercises I was asked to do on my own website as samples?
One of them asked me to edit a writing sample; I turned it around in a couple of hours and they gave me a phone interview, then never contacted me again. (This was a guy from high up in Big Social Network who is founding his own company. The original sample was in relatively poor English and I punched it up; it was more or less a press release.) I was thinking of posting this before-and-after sample with redacted company names and proper notice that I didn't write the original.
I've also had some interviews with customer support roles at a few startups where they ask me to provide a sample customer support email. Those have led to phone and in-person interviews, but I haven't been hired.
I already have a few writing samples up that I wrote completely on my own (ie, startup asked me to write a sample event review, that was all my own work so I feel okay posting it, especially since they didn't hire and I'd like something to show for a day of work.) The others were pre-NDA, though one interview did get to the point where I signed an NDA, but the NDA signing came after I completed the writing sample at home.
Is this wrong? Sketchy? Illegal? Liable to piss off the original startup, or seem unprofessional to other companies?
One of them asked me to edit a writing sample; I turned it around in a couple of hours and they gave me a phone interview, then never contacted me again. (This was a guy from high up in Big Social Network who is founding his own company. The original sample was in relatively poor English and I punched it up; it was more or less a press release.) I was thinking of posting this before-and-after sample with redacted company names and proper notice that I didn't write the original.
I've also had some interviews with customer support roles at a few startups where they ask me to provide a sample customer support email. Those have led to phone and in-person interviews, but I haven't been hired.
I already have a few writing samples up that I wrote completely on my own (ie, startup asked me to write a sample event review, that was all my own work so I feel okay posting it, especially since they didn't hire and I'd like something to show for a day of work.) The others were pre-NDA, though one interview did get to the point where I signed an NDA, but the NDA signing came after I completed the writing sample at home.
Is this wrong? Sketchy? Illegal? Liable to piss off the original startup, or seem unprofessional to other companies?
Posting this sort of thing would give the impression you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for examples. Good writing skills are transferable: I'd be a lot more impressed by some blog entries, a book review, or a guest OpEd from the local weekly that show your confidence with language and your general style.
posted by mochapickle at 4:22 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by mochapickle at 4:22 AM on September 26, 2014
In the US and many other countries, a person generally owns copyright in words they put to paper, so only the person who wrote the original document can give you permission to post it. As for the "punched up" document, it's going to depend on how similar the edited document is to the original, but the copyright holder of the original may well own the edited copy as well.
Only a copyright lawyer can really answer these questions for you, so I would consult one before doing what you've proposed. IAAL, IANA(copyright)L, TINLA
posted by decathecting at 5:27 AM on September 26, 2014
Only a copyright lawyer can really answer these questions for you, so I would consult one before doing what you've proposed. IAAL, IANA(copyright)L, TINLA
posted by decathecting at 5:27 AM on September 26, 2014
But yeah, I'd agree that all of these seem like poor writing samples, unlikely to get you anywhere in your job search.
posted by decathecting at 5:28 AM on September 26, 2014
posted by decathecting at 5:28 AM on September 26, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lollusc at 1:49 AM on September 26, 2014 [2 favorites]