When you can’t afford real proofreading

I just saw a posting for scientific editing that offered US$18/hour. It called for a PhD.

It’s no longer accepting applications, and I dearly hope it’s because they’ve figured out what was wrong with their request.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this. I once went through a whole interview process only to find out they thought they could hire me for minimum wage. You don’t get professional proofreading services for entry-level payment. You get undergrads who think they can proofread because they got an A in English class or a 5 on the AP English mechanics test. I should know. I was an undergrad who’d gotten a 5 on the AP English mechanics test. No insult meant to younger me, but I’m much, much better at writing and proofreading now. Back then, I still hyphenated my -ly adverbs. That’s not incompetence, but it’s also not the professional level sufficient to improve other professionals’ work.

To anyone considering this kind of lowball, I offer this advice: Go through the company and find out who got an A in English class and can write kind of well. Offer your token budget to that employee as a bonus for taking on some proofreading work. You won’t get professionally polished writing, but you also won’t think you did.