Scribendi Reviews

Pros

It's great to be able to choose when and where you work. It's also a plus to be able to look over the piece to be edited prior to committing to doing so.

Cons

There has been a serious lack of work for a very long time.

Pros

No pros to working here

Cons

High demands but will not give you the support or resources needed to achieve them. Vague instructions given to perform major edits on sloppily written content Toxic management, hr and leadership teams

Pros

You can decide exactly when to work, and how much to work, if you're a freelancer/contractor with Scribendi. If you don't feel like editing for a week or two or five, that's fine.

Cons

Through thick and thin, Scribendi holds on to its belief that editors should be able to edit 1000 words per hour. However, this is an unrealistic number when you're dealing with the sort of deeply ungrammatical and often impenetrable ESL writing that Scribendi editors work with. Untangling the knots -- and querying up a storm because there's often no way to determine what the writer is trying to say from the source material -- ensures that the hourly editing expectation is very impractical, especially so given the rigorous quality that Scribendi (fairly) demands. To be sure, there's no one breathing down your neck telling you that you need to finish a 1000-word edit in an hour (not for freelancers anyway). The problem instead is that you can't make enough money in a day to make this work as a career when an essay that pays, say, $15 total takes three or four hours to edit properly, in a way that will pass Scribendi's QA checks. That's not a hyperbolic example, by the way. If anything, a tangled, messy ESL essay that pays that much could take longer than that before it's readable and presentable, with the necessary, dozen-plus author queries added. The inevitable replies from Scribendi to this argument that everything is transparent -- you can read over the essay before you accept it; you don't have to accept anything you don't want; the 1000-word-per-hour expectation is known to all -- are accurate as far as they go. But there's never an acknowledgment at how incredibly challenging most of the material we have to work with is. I would estimate about 80% of available documents are by writers who have a poor, often extremely poor, grasp of academic English. That's Scribendi's core clientele, which is of course fine, but an expectation of 1000 words/hour for that type of writing just isn't realistic.

Pros

As someone who was working in-house with the company for over 2 years, I can honestly say Scribendi is a great place to work. Scribendi values hard work, quality and ambition. This is a company that will help you achieve your professional goals. If you are willing to put the work in, they are there to support you with growth opportunities. Working here, you are surrounded by intelligent individuals who are passionate about what they do. As a young women, I felt respected in the workplace and like my voice mattered. I felt that management genuinely cared about me and that I wasn't just a number. My direct supervisor was available around the clock for questions, and was always there to provide support. During the pandemic, I watched first hand as upper management did everything possible to keep their employees safe.

Cons

Scribendi has high expectations and standards. If you are looking for a job where you don't have to work hard or can't handle constructive criticism, this job isn't for you.

Pros

- Paid time off - benefits - coworkers - flexibility and understanding

Cons

- lower end of pay scale/market value - some communication/ follow-through problems amongst management

Pros

It is flexible There is a high work volume Excellent editing software, which is free for contracted freelancers

Cons

The QA system until recently was based too much on the mood or attitude of the QA agent or the manager you would appeal to. It's like a game. The QA agent fails you over petty stuff; then, you apply to the QA manager, who reverses it if he is in a good mood. The QA agent grading your work struggles to understand how "the" should be used and ignores technical word usage. Rate of pay standard, but still too low based on demands and length of time given to complete orders.

Pros

If there's work, you can make some money (i.e. work yourself out at 50-60+ hours per week for $2500-3000).

Cons

If there's no work - as there has not been for MONTHS now - you will stare at an empty dashboard, give yourself an ulcer, most likely end up unable to pay rent, and destabilize your relationships with the people you care about as a result of constant stress and anxiety.

Pros

it's a smart and fair company

Cons

there is hardly any work available; it seems they have hired (way) too many editors

Pros

Excellent technical knowledge and support Very professional and welcoming Free training Constant motivation

Cons

Minimal pay Work is used to improve algorithms of company software, potentially putting one out of work in future

Pros

Remote work opportunities for freelancers Free training resources Freelancers can choose their own schedules and workload

Cons

They're weirdly serious about making everyone sign a three-year non-compete agreement, which seems excessive and unfair to freelancers. They aren't even hiring in American states that won't enforce it anymore. Remote editors are kept anonymous from each other, which makes for a weird experience on the forums since everyone knows each other by their four-digit identifier instead of just a pseudonym or something. The in-house folks take every opportunity to remind freelancers that they aren't technically employees of the company. When my current employer needed to verify that I was freelancing for Scribendi, I had to convince the freelance rep to stop screening their calls because I "was only a contractor."