Ranty Friday — Dalkey Archive Press

Never heard of them?

Nope nor had I until I saw a link to a job description they had posted this week.   This week.   Remember that.  You can read the full job description here.   But believe me by the end of it you will, quite, possibly,be as ranty as I was when I read it.

Let me repeat some of the pertinent phrases they use in this job description:

determined to have a career in publishing and will sacrifice to make that career happen; are willing to start off at a low-level salary and work their way upwards

look forward to undergoing a rigorous and challenging probationary period either as an intern or employee; want to work at Dalkey Archive Press doing whatever is required of them to make the Press succeed;

do not have any other commitments (personal or professional) that will interfere with their work at the Press (family obligations, writing, involvement with other organizations, degrees to be finished, holidays to be taken, weddings to attend in Rio, etc.)

Will sacrifice life in order to devote everything they have to this company in return for what?  A pittance and being treated like a skivvy.

They go on to stipulate:

we seek people who know what a job is

What?!   As opposed to people who don’t know what a job is?  How arrogant a statement is that?!

And if that wasn’t enough get a load of this:

Any of the following will be grounds for immediate dismissal during the probationary period: coming in late or leaving early without prior permission; being unavailable at night or on the weekends; failing to meet any goals; giving unsolicited advice about how to run things; taking personal phone calls during work hours; gossiping; misusing company property, including surfing the internet while at work; submission of poorly written materials; creating an atmosphere of complaint or argument; failing to respond to emails in a timely way; not showing an interest in other aspects of publishing beyond editorial; making repeated mistakes; violating company policies. DO NOT APPLY if you have a work history containing any of the above

Why would anybody want to work for a company that treats their employees like a child?  That has to be one of THE worst job descriptions ever.

So appalling I think I might apply just so I can tell them face to face exactly what I think of them.

Anybody else want to brush up their CV and join me for a rant in the office of Dalkey Archive Press?

This is my Ranty Friday.   Do see some of the other blogs linking up their rant for this week: