Scribendi Journalist Interview Questions
& Process

The interview included a challenging editing test, which involved correcting text from non-native English speakers. This might be tough if you haven't done it much before. The test took about two hours. After the test, there was a virtual interview.

I applied online and then took a quick grammar test with various types of grammar problems. After that, I got an automated email with four different writing samples to edit and send back within 24 hours. It was supposed to take about three hours, which it did, but it felt like a lot of unpaid work. About ten days later, another automated email told me my editing assignment had too many mistakes. I've never actually spoken to anyone at the company, which is usually a bad sign. If you want to collaborate with authors, this probably isn't the job for you. I have extensive experience in English and writing, including a Bachelor's and Master's degree, and I know writing isn't always black and white. This company, however, seems to think it is, and they enjoy pointing out errors. I was hoping for a more collaborative approach, especially since the assignment suggested using comments to ask the author questions. But I suspect that's a trick and the comments aren't even read. My guess is that a software program reviews the work, not a human, because it can't understand intent. I think they want a 'human correcting machine' that just fixes errors without considering the author. If you enjoy the idea of grammar being strictly black and white and getting satisfaction from correcting people who might be more knowledgeable than you, this job might be for you. Just make sure to use grammar-checking software on your sample edits before sending them back.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME APPLYING TO THIS COMPANY!!! Like many others have said here, they will send you three essays that are almost entirely unintelligible. I have 10 years of experience as an editor and decided I would apply to this company to earn some side cash. I stupidly ignored the other reviews here and decided to give the mock edits a crack. Unfortunately the prompts were written as if the author typed it in their native language and translated it through google translate to English. An absolute joke. I spent 7+ hours editing this document only to receive a rejection 30 minutes later. This company completely wastes your valuable time and doesn't even have the decency to have a human email you a rejection. You may be thinking that these are just one-off experiences, but that is highly unlikely, LOOK AT ALL OF THE REVIEWS HERE. Save your time. Don't play into this company's absurd practice of wasting your time with a tedious editing assignment. Scribendi, if you ever read this, shame on you. Have some more respect for the people who are applying to work for you.