#Author Intervies

[scarletwinterxx]

better when I’m with you - yuta oneshot

hi!! it's been a while since i wrote a scenario for yuta, got this idea from a clip on tiktok i think it was keshi and his fiancé during a radio intervie. it was such a cute conversation i just had to do it. hope you like it! 💛

if you have a request or scenario you want me to do, just send me a message I'll see what I can do😊💌

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2023 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(gif not mine, credits to rightful owner)

There's only one person Yuta would drop everything for, doesn't matter if he's in the middle of the most important meeting or about to sign a multi-million dollar contract. He'd put the world on pause if he has to, all for you.

Luckily when your call came in, he just wrapped another long meeting and was just reviewing contracts and other paperwork's. Seeing your name flash on the screen of his phone, he didn't even wait for the first ring to finish. Picking it up immediately.

"Hi, lovely. What do you need?"

"Hey, is it a good time or are you busy?" you say from the other side of the phone. Yuta chuckles, leaning back on his chair before turning to the side to look out the window. It's a beautiful day, a shame he can't take the day off and take you out on a date.

"Never, what's up?" he asks, already feeling relaxed when he heard your voice. All of the stress from today's work washed away. A kind of magic only you possess.

"So a package arrived here at your apartment, I wanted to get it so you don't have to do it later but the people at the lobby won't let me since technically we don't have the same last name"

Yet, he thinks.

Just thinking about finally calling you his wife puts a smile on Yuta's face, but right now he also thinks you're the most precious thing in his world. "Is that your way of saying I should've married you sooner?" he teases you, earning a few giggles from you.

Like a boost of energy, Yuta feels his body buzz with happiness hearing you laugh. "Yeah, totally the point of what I'm trying to say here. Such a hassle I'm not a Nakamoto yet" you know exactly how to keep him on his toes.

"Okay, baby. I'll call concierge, tell them what's mine is yours"

"Be careful, I might just runaway with your money"

"Yeah yeah, you already know the code to my safety box. That's more of a commitment than anything else right?"

"That's cause you're crazy, Mr. Nakamoto. Who proposes like that? Only you my love would put half of his assets under my name as a proposal" you tell him, recalling how exactly he proposed to you. It wasn't your typical getting down on one knee, Nakamoto Yuta has a tendency to one up himself when it comes to impressing you. Him proposing with a piece of paper stating that a home is to be built under your name and his. A home for your future family.

"That's because I can only see my future with you"

"Okay Mr. Romantic, text me when I can go pick up your package. Drive home safely" you tell him, always reminding him to come home safely to you.

"Will do, wifey. Save some kisses for me"

[writeblrcafe]

Digital interview with @pinespittinink

Catherine Hellens orders a chai latte and sits down in the corner of Writeblrcafé. She writes poetry and a book. Her favourite genres include fantasy, fiction, science-fiction and speculative fiction. We start chatting about her writing.

What got you into writing?

Being exposed to really excellent authors as a child and realizing that writing stories was something I could do! I was filling notebooks and tapping out on my mom’s computer from such an early age. I’ve always had ideas inside me, and as a kid inspiration came to me very easily and frequently.

What inspires you to write?

I get inspired by visuals, music, nature, and dreams, predominantly. Also, reading other excellent writers’ books encourages me to keep going.

Which are recurring themes in your writing?

Oh boy—themes are actually something I never set out to write specifically, but they do crop up in my works. The biggest and most common one is devotion—specifically, how much will you do for love. I’m a romantic at heart, and nearly all of my works have a love story or a variant of one at the heart. Questions of identity also arise from time to time. Who we are, who we’re perceived to be, who we become. But they are always unique to the characters and never intended to be messages.

How would you describe your writing style?

Romantic. Prosey. Lush, as overused as that word is now. I’ve had it described as vivid and cinematic; I like to paint pictures and I love love love details. Setting is incredibly important to me and one of the first things I think of when I begin writing or conceiving ideas, so it has a large feature.

How do you deal with writer's block?

I just have to trudge through it, really. Even if when I sit down to write, I only write a few hundred words or fewer, it’s still something, and eventually I’ll create the groove again. Going on walks and mulling everything over also helps a lot.

Do you have a wip? Tell us about it:

My current wip is a queer standalone adult speculative fiction novel called The Great Glavenisean Theater. It’s about a man named Morgan who comes to the City of Spires and ends up working at the titular theatre as a seamster, where there is an interdimensional portal in the belly of the stage that moves the shows through multiple planes during the performances. But there are weirder things going on in the theatre, and as Morgan investigates them, he begins to suspect the prima donna Ariel of the attempted sabotages of the portal, and suspects that maybe they aren’t like the rest of them. I’m currently doing minor edits on the first draft and will be looking for betas during the month of April!

Tell us more interesting stuff about you:

I live in New England with my queer platonic partner, whose writing I love more than anyone else’s in the universe. We have two stupid rag doll kitties named Eurydice and Napoleon, and I collect crystals and special editions of certain books I love. I have patience with temperamental printers and put up tapestries across ceilings, and I’ll be building a sofa soon when it arrives. I’m also a classically trained mezzo-soprano who misses singing in a choir and contents myself with my car instead. Also, I’m a Capricorn.

Thank you for the good talk and keep writing!

Get interviewed by Writeblr Café!

Any writer can participate. Just fill in this form by clicking on the link below. Maybe we will host interviews in an audio format if you are more interested in listening to an interview than reading it.

[cervixpiercer]

Intro post:

hi, I’m jolene! I am 25 years old, transsexual, bisexual. I recently dropped out of graduate school, where I was studying philosophy, due to a worsening disability. I studied primarily continental philosophy in the French vein, although lately I’ve become interested in conceptual engineering in the analytic vein. Although I’m no longer in school, I do intend to keep up with my studies, once I’ve found a job. I’ll probably use this blog as a sounding board for that work, to some extent. I’m primarily interested in questions around the concept of sex.

My screenname comes from an interview in Shannon Laratt’s Opening Up (linked below).

The interview is with Ash Crawford. I am simply an admirer. I used to do academic work on the topic of body modification. The ideas/concepts/directions/thinking I used for that are all still very much in use, now for the topic of sex.

I’m also the host and producer of the podcast When A Guy Has A Really Fucked Gender. I think of my work there as a sort amateur anthropological adjunct to my philosophical work. I’m always recruiting new guests, so please reach out if you’re interested in coming on!

in my freetime, i like playing video games (pokemon, roguelites/likes, monster hunter, etc.), reading comics+manga, and reading sci fi (on a delany kick as i’m writing this).

[joyffree]

New Book Release in the Martha's Vineyard Murders Series!

The Wraith’s Return a Murder Mystery by Raemi A Ray

Release Blitz & Author Interview

Determined to prove Gully’s innocence, Kyra, Tarek, and reformed playboy Chase Hawthorn team up to clear their friend’s name. But someone wants the treasure for themselves. And with someone willing to kill for it, there is more than just danger lurking along the island’s caves and coves. There is death.

[cinader]

S2E10 Women of the Berkeley Revolution & Ancient Times

Martha Cinader speaks with Joan Gelfand, author of Outside Voices, A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution, about her participation in second wave feminism in the 1970's and what's happening now. In the second part of the hour we listen to an archival intervi

S2E10 Women of the Berkeley Revolution & Ancient Times L&BH-S2E10 [link to transcript] SHOW NOTES S2E10March 27, 2024Martha Cinader speaks with Joan Gelfand, author of Outside Voices, A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution, about her participation in second wave feminism in the 1970’s and what’s happening now. In the second part of the hour we listen to an archival interview with the late Dr.…

[mattnicholls69]

Renowned British broadcaster Michael Parkinson dies, aged 88 - https://www.9news.com.au/world/british-tv-host-michael-parkinson-dies-aged-88/0cb913e0-9303-44d7-a76c-d2b855e90252

[billconrad]

Technical Writing (By a Fiction Author)

    I learned about technical writing in college when they introduced a new class. I did not know this type of writing was a discipline because all engineers must know how to “technically” write. A friend of mine took the first class, and she liked it, but my schedule did not allow me to take it.

    As my engineering career progressed, I wrote many proposals and technical documents. At 25, my boss suggested I take a technical writing class. UCSD extension offered one, and I jumped at the opportunity. After all, the company paid for it.

    The class was a positive experience, and the curriculum focused on being a better technical communicator. Surprisingly, there are few technical writing textbooks, and the ones I read were a mix of unorganized writing tips and loose examples.

    Fun side note: A student in the class invited me to a party where I met a girl I dated. I also tasted the drink “boba” for the first time at the UCSD food court. I also got many UCSD parking tickets. Punishing poor students. Such jerks!

    The main takeaway from this technical writing class was to study each sentence and make sure it was clearly stated.

    Until I took the class, my writing was all over the map. The sentences were unfocused and contained extra junk, unrelated opinions, humor, and thought-provoking observations. That’s my personality, and I created fun technical documents.

    The class forced a significant change, and writing became a game to optimize every sentence. The result was terse and cryptic documents. In the following years, I honed my technical writing skills, and eventually, my writing became less condensed. There is an art to technical writing to organize facts and present them logically.

    A good technical writer must also avoid the many writing pitfalls to make a tremendous technical document. For example, using the first person, making the document a story, or keeping the reader in suspense.

    Fifteen years later, I upped my technical writing game when I lost my full-time job and became a consultant. One of my clients had their office far away, and all my communications were over email.

    I worked hard to convey my exact thoughts, but nobody had time to read long detailed emails. This experience left me jaded, and I put less effort into my technical writing. Of course, I was aware of this change in attitude and knew my writing suffered.

    Three years later, I got laid off again and had time to burn. So, I decided to write a fictional novel. Yay! When I submitted my first book to an editor, the main takeaway was that my grammar was poor, and my writing was bland. Specifically, I was missing content and emotion. So, I was writing fiction like an engineer? Yes, and I forced myself to improve these areas.

    A year later, I got a full-time job and returned to creating technical documents. I immediately saw a change in my technical documents. I had shifted from terse, logical sentences to ones with correct structure and great flow. The result was more contractions and flowery words. I suspect my technical co-workers think (because of my writing) that I am a more formal person. Perhaps snooty?

    My new writing abilities also allowed me to realize that my fellow engineers had poor English skills. Now, I see grammar and spelling mistakes in every technical document, which requires great effort not to point out glaring errors.

    It would appear that I have come full circle. My engineering English ability started poor, got better, got technical, became artistic, and is now a blend. So, what does my future technical writing hold? Engineering at a company requires many boring reports and precise emails, but I do not mind. That’s all part of the job.

   You’re the best -Bill

   June 10, 2023

    Hey book lovers, I published three! Please check them out.

    Interviewing Immortality is a psychological thriller about a 500-year-old woman who forces a disgraced author to interview her.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival is a drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties is a classic spy novel about two hunters discovering that government communications are being recorded and the ensuing FBI investigation.

   These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

[diphex]

The substance sodium oxide has uses.

Sodium Hydroxide is normally known as merciless pop. It can make sodium carbonate by holding the soaked quality from the air and blending it in with carbon dioxide. It is an unscented compound either present in fluid or strong state. It is a co-thing from the improvement of chlorine. This makes it the most practical and a broadly intricate substance in the gathering business.

Sodium hydroxide can be especially hazardous expecting it comes in direct contact with skin and eyes. Assuming you take in it in or swallow it, it can cause stomach torment, consumes, hurling, affliction, or separation of the guts whenever gulped in colossal aggregate. It can make a ridiculous harm the mouth, stomach and throat. In the event that breath in, it can cause consumes in the upper respiratory part that will incite burden in loosening up.

Sodium hydroxide is an overall favored designed and is utilized in various standard use things. A piece of the things incorporate, paper, cleaners, synthetic substances and paper. A piece of its inspirations are:

It is utilized in different cleaning things. It is utilized in gathering of synthetic substances and cleaning specialists which are regularly utilized at homes. The cleaning agent is made utilizing a blend of sodium hydroxide and chlorine. Its utilization in the channel cleaners helps the oil trapped in pipes smooth and separate with water.

It is additionally utilized in the medicine undertakings and arrangements. It is utilized to convey clear arrangements, for example, pain killers to anticoagulant well-informed authority, which help in assumption for blood coagulating.

It is likewise utilized for the energy reason in the energy working environments. It is utilized in the energy unit creation, which works like battery. It helps in the creation of power for fundamental contraptions and gadgets,

It is likewise widely utilized in the food business. It helps in two or three food dealing with utilizes. A piece of the applications coordinate food restoring, for example, olives or sautéing the pretzels to furnish them with the stand-apart crunch. It is utilized in the canning structure, for the launch of the skin from potatoes, tomatoes and different regular things. It is likewise utilized as the food added substance which ruins the progression of microorganisms in it.

It is utilized in the water treatment work environments to ruin causticity and additionally used to convey water sanitizer.

Sodium hydroxide is utilized to convey alumina standard. This therefore is utilized to make aluminum and different things conveyed using aluminum, for example, compartments, foil, cooking items, entryway systems and some more.

It is utilized in paint evacuation, in the works of plastics, rayon and materials, papermaking process, and so on.

These are a piece of the explanations behind sodium hydroxide, which shows that being standard and colossal piece of the designed business and a typically intricate master in our normal use things is the most thought.

For More Info :-

acid sulphuric

chemical spills

formula for sodium hydroxide

hydrofluoric acid

Source URL :- https://sites.google.com/view/sodium-hydroxide--01/home

[taiwantalk]

Why else would a person publicly express opinion if not for millions to see and to get them to agree with you?

If jk is so vested in this subject, then commit it to a nonfiction book to make her case. Otherwise, it serves no one any good.

[writeblrcafe]

Digital interview with Arista Holmes @author-a-holmes

Arista Holmes comes into Writeblrcafé and orders a coffee. With a hot mug of coffee in hand, they sit down on a bench. We start talking about their writing journey. They are currently writing a book and sometimes flash fiction in their favourite genres fantasy and fiction.

What got you into writing?

Honestly, I don't truly know. I've been telling stories since my earliest memories, so around the age of 2, where I'd pull out old second hand toys and use them as characters. The first time I remember actually writing down one of my stories, I was about 7 or 8, and wrote a story for class called "Rosie the Rabbit Goes On An Adventure".

What inspires you to write?

I get my inspiration from all over the place. Observing the world. An interesting character trait. Overheard snippets of conversation. But what usually starts an idea is something that makes me wonder: "What if... XYZ happened?"

Which are recurring themes in your writing?

Slow burn romance, found family, and protagonists getting into more trouble than they know how to handle alone!

How would you describe your writing style?

Oooh, that's a tough one. I know how I hope my style comes across; clear, fun, whimsical, realistic. But whether I successfully pull that off? I think that's up to the readers to decide.

How do you deal with writer's block?

Depends on the source of the block. The first thing I usually try is stepping away from the manuscript for a couple of days in case it's the start of burn out. If I recover quickly, that's usually what it was, and I can get back to work. If I'm still feeling blocked a couple of days later, that tells me there's something wrong with the manuscript. I've gone wrong somewhere, and need to tweak something. I'll usually read back over the current chapter, or if I'm near the start of the previous chapter, and see if I can spot where I went off the tracks. As a last resort, I'll rewrite the previous chapter from another point of view. More often than not, this trick solves my block, either because it's given me a different perspective on the scene, or because it's just managed to get the words flowing for me again.

Do you have a wip? Tell us about it:

I do! My current work in progress is called 'Darkling' and it's book two of my debut series, The Fey Touched Trilogy. Book one launched last month, and is available at all the major stores e-book stores, and as a paperback and hard cover via Amazon.

Have you already published your writing?

Changeling (book 1 of the Fey touched trilogy)

You can tell us more interesting stuff about you here:

I'm an English writer living in the south-east of England. When I'm not cuddling my demon cat, or drinking coffee, I'm usually writing, reading, or playing computer games to relax.

Thank you for the good talk and keep writing!

Get interviewed by Writeblr Café!

Any writer can participate. Just fill in this form by clicking on the link below. Maybe we will host interviews in an audio format if you are more interested in listening to an interview than reading it.

[news24fr]

Le Pakistan a bloqué Wikipédia après que le site Web ait refusé de supprimer des contenus offensants ou blasphématoires, selon un rapport des médias samedi. La mise sur liste noire de Wikipédia intervient quelques jours après que la Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) a dégradé les services de Wikipédia pendant 48 heures, menaçant de le bloquer si le contenu jugé "blasphématoire" n'était pas supprimé, a rapporté le journal The News. Lorsqu'un porte-parole de la PTA a été contacté tard vendredi soir et s'est enquis du blocage de Wikipédia, le responsable a confirmé que "oui" il avait été bloqué, a-t-il rapporté. Sur instruction du tribunal de grande instance, la PTA a dégradé - perturbant et ralentissant l'accès à l'encyclopédie - le site internet pendant 48 heures car il y avait un contenu blasphématoire dessus. Wikipédia est une encyclopédie en ligne gratuite, créée et éditée par des bénévoles du monde entier et hébergée par la Wikimedia Foundation. Le porte-parole de la PTA a déclaré que Wikipédia avait été approché pour bloquer/supprimer ledit contenu en publiant un avis. Une possibilité d'audience a également été offerte; cependant, la plate-forme ne s'est pas conformée en supprimant le contenu blasphématoire ni ne s'est présentée devant l'autorité. Compte tenu du manquement intentionnel d'une partie de la plateforme à se conformer aux consignes de PTA, les services de Wikipédia ont été dégradés pendant 48 heures avec la consigne de bloquer/supprimer les contenus signalés. La restauration des services de Wikipédia sera réexaminée si le contenu illégal signalé est bloqué/supprimé, a déclaré le porte-parole. Les géants des médias sociaux Facebook et YouTube ont été bloqués dans le passé pour des contenus jugés blasphématoires. Le blasphème est une question sensible au Pakistan à majorité musulmane.  

[truepdf]

Bottom-up approach to crack your python interview

Key Features

Get the answer for the most common and challenging Python question

Learn to trace the code and answer the question correctly

Explore the solutions of GUI and DBMS in Python

Gain sufficient understanding on Machine Learning library and Pandas

Description This book covers all possible interview questions and coding in Python. It presents written theory as well as practical questions as all the interviewers do not follow the same pattern. Questions are jumbled and compiled.

Practical questions may help you to understand the logic and will help you to fight the technical round. Simple questions with deep coding are the hallmark of this book.

With over 242 questions in this book, you will be able to crack your Python interview. The book covers the following topics: Variable, Datatype, type conversion, Operators, if-else, loops ,List , Tuples, Set ,Dictionary, Functions, Array, classes and objects, constructor , Inheritance, Encapsulation, keywords , regular expression, Random Module, Sys Module , OS Module , Statistics Module, widgets of Tkinter , Multithreading, other GUI Framework , work on multiple Tkinter windows , File Input-output , file handling with GUI, MySQL , SQLite , MongoDB , Redis, connectivity with GUI, Matplotlib Library, Django, Flask.

What you will learn

Become a Python Developer without having to spend a lot of money on theoretical content.

You will achieve the confidence to tackle the most challenging questions on Python.

You will develop a strong understanding around the entire ecosystem of Python programming.

Who this book is for This book is targeted at Python Developers, Technical specialist, Beginners who want to stand out in a Python coding interview.

Table of Contents 1. Core Concept 2. OOPs Concept 3. Python Module 4. Python GUI 5. File Handling 6. Python Database 7. NumPy, Pandas 8. Django, Flask

[morganbc728]

#SciFi #Author Sean Robins- The Crimson Deathbringer

#SciFi #Author Sean Robins- The Crimson Deathbringer

.

I’d like to introduce you to fellow author and SciFi writer Sean Robins.  He’s stopped by to share a few quick words about himself and his first book, The Crimson Deathbringer, that is releasing early this May!

Hi Sean…Tell us about yourself: “Who am I? I am Spiderman.”

Well, not really, but this should tell you all you need to know about me and my writing style.

I’m a huge Marvel (plus Game…

[citrineghost]

Avoiding Scams on Freelancing Sites

Hi there! I almost just got scammed today, and I’m going to take the LITTANY of red flags from this interaction and use it to teach you all about how to avoid scams.

I am not making very much money right now. I just lost one of the accounts I was writing for, so I am not not even making enough to pay my rent. So I am desperately looking for work. And, like many people desperately looking for work, my panicking subconscious is willing to see a red flag and brush it under the rug because

“I’m probably being paranoid.”

So, to all of my lovely artists, writers, editors, and other types of freelancers who are desperately looking for work, I would like to create a comprehensive list of things that you should NOT FUCKING IGNORE while looking for a job. Actually, the list will be formatted as things you should expect from your employer/interviewer and if these things are missing, get the fuck out of there.

1. Reputable Platforms

The first thing you should be expecting is to use reputable platforms. If you’re being asked for a virtual interview, you should expect your interviewer to invite you via Skype, Discord, (Maybe slack if they’re middle-aged), perhaps Whatsapp, or whatever website you’re using to find your job.

DO NOT go for interviews on Telegram. This app has been reported as very commonly being associated with scams. This is where my recent experience took place.

2. Willingness to Verify Legitimacy

The first thing you should do when being in contact with an interviewer or HR is ask them to verify their identity. 

This may not be necessary if doing a video call with someone pictured on an official company website, receiving emails or texts from addresses/numbers that are listed on an official company website, or if the job you’re being interviewed for was applied to directly on the company website. In these cases, you are not likely to be scammed, as you’re working with verifiably information.

If you meet someone on Indeed, Fiverr, Upwork, or any other freelancing/job site, keep your contact within the website’s chat system, email system, or whatever. This is how you remain protected under the hiring site’s TOS/Legal whatever. If you get scammed because you took your hiring process elsewhere, they will not help you.

That being said, if you DO take your interview off the site, it should be somewhere reputable and you should ask for your interviewer to verify their identity before doing literally anything else. The best way to get them to verify their identity is to ask them to email or text you from an address or phone number listed clearly on the official company website, by asking them to show you their state ID and checking it for photoshop influence, or by asking to do a video call for the interview and seeing for yourself that you’re being interviewed by someone who is pictured on the official company website as an employee.

3. Clear and Professional Procedures

Any professional working as an interviewer or human resources personnel will have a skillset related to communication and organization. When being interviewed you should expect a number of questions about your skills and how you’re valuable to the company, etc. However, this is easy to fake, as a scammer. What you need to look out for is that they show a clear amount of structure.

If you’re asked for an interview, no real company will demand you be quick about responding. If they’re interested in an interview, a legitimate company is not likely to ask you to do the interview immediately. They will ask you to schedule an interview time with them. They may ask if you have availabilities that day, but they will not just start interviewing you immediately.

After the interview, any professional company will tell you that they will get back to you when they’ve made a decision about your interview. No professional company will tell you to wait for an indefinite amount of time while they talk to HR peers. If a company Does want you to wait, because they intend to make a quick decision, they will give you an expected wait time, as that is the courteous and professional thing to do. They will not expect you to be on-call for this period of time. A time projection is simply to give you an idea of what to expect. For example, “I’ll be in touch within the next 1-3 hours about the results of your interview. Thank you for your time.”

Furthermore, if you are accepted for a job, any professional company will make a clear outline of exactly how they plan to introduce you into company life. They will respect your time and ask you to schedule things with them. For example, “Is there a period of 2-3 hours within the next few days where you would be available for an orientation?” 

No professional company will demand you do anything at any particular time. That is not how legitimate professionals treat new employees. You will be asked to schedule things with them. Even when you’re assigned work hours, if the exact hours you’re applying for are not listed in the job description you applied for, they will ask you to fill out some kind of time sheet to outline your availabilities, then schedule you for times within that outline.

4. Doesn’t Show Signs of Money Scamming

There are two major red flags when it comes to money scams. Your interviewer should never ask you what bank you use and your interviewer should never ever tell you they’re going to send you a check, unless they send your paycheck as a check.

One of the more common scams at the moment is run by people pretending to be members of legitimate companies, hiring freelancers for things like proofreading and editing. These remote positions may require home office hardware, right? The interviewer will tell you you’re missing some hardware and software that are required for the job. Then they’ll tell you that they will send a check that you can cash and use to buy the required materials.

This is even sketchier if they email you front and back images of the check and tell you to print it and then deposit it through mobile banking. The way this works is that, if you cash the check successfully, you will then buy the list of software, which is usually completely unrelated to the job you’re being hired for, then they will cancel the check, which hasn’t cleared completely. That leaves you with ~$2k dollars less in your bank and their money right back where it started in theirs. Presumably, the scammers are the ones selling the software. So, that $2k dollars you just spent is also going into their bank account.

Professional companies will never offer to send you checks to buy products. If they have official hardware or software that they want you to use, they will buy it themselves and then send it to you. There is never a reason why a new hire should buy hardware or software out of their own bank, whether they have been given money for it or not.

Furthermore, a legitimate company will never ever pay you before you have signed and sent your contract to them. One of the obvious giveaways of the scam I was almost caught in was that I was sent the contract last night and I asked if I could send it in today, since it was getting late. The interviewer agreed. I signed it in the morning and then asked him if I should send it in a reply to the email I got the original contract from or if there’s another email I need to send it to. He completely ignored my question, asked me how I was doing, and then went into the check-related information so I could buy software.

The issue was bothering me ALL DAY. I knew there was something extremely weird about that, so I asked again a few hours later. His response? “You have nothing to worry about.” ?????? I was aghast. I wasn’t worried at all! I just wanted an answer! If he had simply told me to respond to the email I’d gotten the contract from, I might have fallen for his scam! What a terrible scammer smdh

A Non-Exhaustive List of Other Red Flags

Your interviewer shows a poor grasp on the language

If your interviewer is making frequent grammatical errors that are glaringly obvious to any native speaker, that is a huge red flag. HR reps and interviewers are hired because of their communication skills. It is highly unlikely that someone who makes non-native-like errors is legitimate unless they are actually openly non-native, in which case, it’s not so alarming.

Your interviewer is showing impatience or demanding you at certain times

If your interviewer is telling you to “report back by 8am tomorrow” without any kind of prior agreement that this is an acceptable time for you to meet, that is extremely unprofessional and shows a lack of patience. Scammers want to get to the meat of their scam quickly and will use an air of professional superiority and authority to scare you into moving faster than necessary.

Your interviewer shows a lack of opening and closing statements

Along the lines of the clear processes that I mentioned above anybody who is initiating you in the job you’re taking should show clear opening and closing statements. What I mean by this is: professionals in human resources or management positions will not keep you as a social hostage. If you’ve been discussing how you’ll begin training or somesuch, they will not just leave you hanging. You should have a dedicated time slot where you will have your discussion and, at the end of it, your supervisor should make a closing statement. For example, “It looks like our time is running out for today. What would be a good time to pick this up tomorrow?”

If you feel like you are “on-call” and unable to leave the room because the interviewer or supervisor keeps messaging, has not outlined a time slot for you to talk in, won’t seem to let you go, or shows no indication of stopping, that is a really bad sign. Either the company is legitimate and TERRIBLE at professionalism (a great sign you should run anyway), or this is a scammer intent on getting you to follow their instructions as soon as they can.

Your interviewer ignores time zones or gets them wrong

When I was contacted about doing an interview yesterday, it was 4:30pm. I did the interview and was told I got the job. Immediately after, without asking if I was free, he began listing off instructions and things I was to expect. It wasn’t until 7:30pm that he sent me the contract and asked me to review it, sign it, and send it back that I finally asked if I could do that tomorrow. The interviewer was supposedly on the west coast and knew that I was on the east coast. He agreed by saying “Alright” and then told me to report to him “by 8am your time.”

There are 3 things about this that are weird. The first is that he demanded I show up at 8am to continue where we left off. Any professional would have asked when I’m available the next day to continue. the second is that he said “your time” instead of saying EST, as most professionals in the US would be apt to do. And, lastly, I showed up at 7:50am, ready to continue, because I’m that desperate that I’m willing to be pushed around, and he showed up at 9am on the dot. He had gotten the time wrong. Nobody who works professionally on the west coast is incapable of adding 3 hours to their time. It was a rookie mistake, or a mistake made by someone in a completely different time zone than they say they are.

When asked to verify their identity, your interviewer attempts to reassure you or refuses

When I finally was fed up and knew this must be a scam, I politely asked my interviewer to verify his identity by either showing me his US ID or by contacting me from his email or phone number listed on the official company website. He sent me a photoshopped nametag with a completely different person’s name and photo on it and said it was the company ID of the HR director. 

I have never seen a facade fall so pathetically. Why would literally any even remotely legitimate person do such a thing? It was sad, really. He deleted the message in less than a minute - no doubt to keep me from looking at it long enough to see how badly it was photoshopped - and then aggressively reassured me that the company meant me no harm and would pay for everything, etc. Any real professional would have simply sent me an email from the legitimate address, stating that they’re legitimate, and then continued on with the initiation process.

Learn from My Mistakes

I hope some of this was helpful for all of you lovely freelancers trying to find work. I thought I would know a scam when I saw one, and I did have a Bad Feeling about this whole thing, because it did feel too good to be true, but I was desperate enough that my judgement was heavily clouded, and that could happen to anyone.

Don’t ignore red flags - especially these ones. Stick up for yourself. Avoid confirmation bias. I looked things up repeatedly to confirm that the company was legitimate and that it’s normal to do things like mobile deposit a printed check and so on. Every time, I found an explanation that suited me. I even tried to cash the check. The only reason it didn’t work was because there was an error with the name on the check because I recently legally changed my name and PayPal was having some kind of issue updating in some areas of its website. It was after that that I realized this was all crashing down and I needed to reassess it all. Don’t let yourself get that deep into it.