Rachel Dillin3
Rachel Dillin
racheldillin@yahoo.com
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Around June 16, 2008, we were very close to hiring Rachel Dillin for our script editor position & then potentially for our editor book compiler position if all worked out okay with the first task.
I told her upfront that the book compiler position was $8/hr., the rate she had wanted for the script editor position was $10/hr. Since she didn’t say she felt comfortable with $8/hr., I took that to mean it was okay.
I spent a lot of time interviewing her, giving her a 2nd chance even after she screwed up on the pre-screen files i.e. she didn’t complete the 2nd page. My first mistake in giving her a 2nd chance.
Now I suddenly found out that she never even read all the paperwork prior to being interviewed because had she read it, she would have known that our interviews aren’t 5 minutes.
She first started complaining about the supposed long (1 1/2-2 hour) interview even though it clearly stated that’s how long our interviews are. Any real professional A+ worker expects long interviews. In fact, for real professionals, they expect 2-3 interviews, not just one.
It’s the low level workers who want everything quick & easy for them. They complain about everything & expect the company to bow down to them instead of them working for the position at the company.
All the top HR experts will tell you this.
Wait until you read what she expected just before she was supposed to start working for us <read more below>
Now that I realize she never even read the entire paperwork that was sent to her, it’s clear she never would have been a good editor or book compiler if she can’t read what’s right in front of her.
Prior to the interview I had felt her communication skills were a bit off, as she said she would be available on the Saturday after 2 pm & at 4 pm she wasn’t anywhere around. At 6 pm she suddenly appeared saying she was going for dinner. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me, but I went ahead & interviewed her anyway. This was my 2nd mistake & I take full responsibility for not following the warning signs that this girl was a problem & wouldn’t be suited for our company. She told me when she would be around & she wasn’t.
During the initial 15 minutes of the interview when asked, she said she had absolutely NO PROBLEM being tested to see if she could work with us.
We require everyone work for 5 free hours before we will establish if they are skilled in what they say they were skilled in. We also want to test to see if they are able to communicate properly, can follow instructions etc. We do this & have done this for a couple of years now because of all the problems we’ve had with people like Rachel. In fact we got the idea from someone who we interviewed. That girl required 8 free hours of test work for her husband’s company. I felt that was too much, so I lowered it down to 5, but really 8-10 is a better amount because even after 5 sometimes it’s still hard to gage if the worker is suitable, but I digress.
We no longer hire people who think it’s beneath them to prove themselves to the company. It’s a good sign they are trouble & are low level workers because someone who really wants the position & wants to really work for our company will make that investment, as we are making an investment in them with training & the potential for growth in a great company.
Unfortunately we have found that too many online workers are low level workers. I figure that’s why they don’t work for companies offline because they can’t keep a job there. And since there are no real consequences online for lying about skills, disappearing, wasting company’s time, etc. (what’s going to happen, they just disappear & start all over again somewhere else), these very very low level workers just cause more & more grief for the next company they go to until they find someone who doesn’t really care about quality to hire them.
Back to Rachel Dillin…
When the interview was done, she stated she wanted the job, so I sent her paperwork to read over & sign.
Then all of a sudden the next day Rachel e-mails me in this nasty tone.
She starts playing games trying to make it seem like we are in the wrong because SHE doesn’t like our hourly rate which is beneath her. So instead of telling us this days earlier so we didn’t waste our time, she “suddenly” figures out she doesn’t like this.
She also makes it seem like the $2 difference is MAJOR & I say if it was soooo major, than why did she lie to me & tell me it was okay?
Her e-mail continued with her accusing me of not being able to pay for work, wanting her to work for free, me not wanting to go through oDesk, & other false accusations. She really sounded loony to me.
Then it becomes clear that the ONLY reason she wanted the job was to gain a presence on oDesk, NOT because the position sounded interesting, she liked the company, etc. So we were clearly being used by Rachel.
This is another reason we fully screen employees online, because they often use companies for their own gain, not because they really want to help the company to do a good job & grow. We would NEVER hire someone who doesn’t care about the company they work for. Once again, that’s the sign of a low level worker. A+ workers don’t do that. They would never string a company along lying the entire time & then change their mind at the last minute & then blame the company & accuse them of their made up fairy tale stories.
Then Rachel had the nerve to say the interview isn’t being paid which I found to be hilarious. Show me 10 companies that pay people for interviews???
Unfortunately this is typical of these kids these days who want to get paid for nothing. Once again they want to as little work as possible, bring in the money & they ONLY care about themselves. It’s unfortunate that this is what our workforce has come to.
So we put Rachel Dillin on our blog because she is one of those freelancers, we RUN FROM.
There were a few signals I should have listened to (I mentioned them above) & I didn’t, & as an owner of a company I learned from this. I only get better over time.
Rachel wasted about 3 hours of our time, but this is good, better to waste the time now than to hire her & find out later on that she’s got emotional issues we can’t deal with & her work ethic is terrible.
Comment by racheldillin
August 22, 2009 @ 5:41 pm
Obviously most people will realize that Michelle is just being vindictive here. Michelle got MAD at me because I decided that I wasn’t desperate enough to work for her tacky XXX company for the pittance of $8 per hour. Simply put, I changed my mind! It’s really sad that this is what I get for having second thoughts about a company that really seems to be on the ‘edge’ of legitimate. Also, yes, I ALWAYS end up getting paid for interviews for companies I freelance for. I’ve never had anyone ask me to spend hours of my time working for them for free, which really seems shady in my experience. By the way, all over oDesk there are tips on building your profile there and how to do it, which is the ONLY reason I even tried to apply for jobs like the ones Michelle posted. It is also the only reason I lowered my rate to $10. In the past, I have made between $20-$35 per hour freelancing with legitimate companies like Oklahoma State University, Terex Roadbuilding and ICx in the State of Oklahoma. If you are a person who would like real information about me, I suggest contacting one of these companies. Currently, I am donating my time to the Stillwater Children’s Museum because I’d rather do that and help make a real difference for the children of the area than make $8 per hour writing porn or about porn-type products for a person like Michelle.
Yes, I had my second child and took time off. This is totally legitimate, and it’s incredibly rude for you to even bring this up here. Obviously, Michelle and Exotic Publishing is not a family friendly employer (lol).
A tip for Michelle, you need to get real about how much you are paying freelancers and all your demands. Depending on where a person lives, you can expect good, quality freelance writers to charge you between $25-$75+ per hour for their work. You want too much for far too little pay. I suggest you read Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer and The Well-Fed Writer Back for Seconds to get a tad bit of real, educated insight to the writers you so shamelessly attack on this site.
Also, I’d like to warn writers that Michelle is obviously NOT a good person to do buisness with. If you do something like change your mind, this is what you get — an internet smear. If any of the rest of you feel wronged by Michelle, please contact me because I’m finding a lawyer to see what can be done about this. I don’t need people like Michelle smearing my good name, and I’m sure the rest of you don’t either.