This was done over the phone as I was in another country. I spoke with two different editors at different times, who were nice enough to deal with international phone calls via Skype, which they hadn't used before. This was a brief freelance writer program back when they needed lots of writers. But after 6 months, demand dropped and the program all but went away. I had had to submit a few different writing samples; I was asked to write one of their blurbs on a specific deal so they could gauge whether one could write in their style and with the right balance of information and cleverness/wit. After the initial submission, I got feedback on how to make it better and was then asked to do the same thing with another deal. All in all it was a long process but it paid off when I was made an offer.

Groupon advertised for Freelance Writers the week of January 3rd and I sent in my application on the 10th. I was contacted immediately by a recruiting editor and we started the vetting process. She was professional but seemed rushed. I was assigned three sample Groupon write-ups to complete over the span of two weeks. After each submission she called me and verbally edited my writing to better match the Groupon voice. It was this voice that proved to be incredibly elusive. I was told to read as many past Groupons as possible to help develop this voice but over and over I would find elements in these examples that contradicted what the recruiter had told me during our editing sessions. I chalk this up to the fact that Groupon is growing at lightning speed and hasn't had the time or manpower to make sure every piece of writing adheres to their ever evolving criteria. There must be a few senior editors who know exactly what they are looking for and can probably communicate it. Unfortunately, their recruiting staff is not as eloquent and trying to decipher their instructions was frustrating. Despite the rough communication, I really enjoyed writing the samples. Weaving humor into the description of the featured business was a blast. The only unprofessional element of the process happened after I submitted my final sample. With the other three samples I heard back from the recruiting editor within an hour or so. A day went by and I hadn't heard back from her. As with any other prospective client, I called to follow up and make sure everything looked ok and the email had been received. She said she got this call a lot on the final round because people worry that the email somehow got lost in the electronic cyber world, or something to that effect, and that I should wait to hear from them. I felt patronized and it reflected poorly on the level of respect Groupon has for the hundreds of talented writers they will need in the future to sustain their business model. They are very successful and their growth is unprecedented but it seemed to me that they need to do a better job of grounding their employees in reality – no matter how hip or influential, a company should show respect towards customers, employees, clients and potential employees. I was not offered a position as a Freelance Writer at the end of the process but I was paid for my samples. I was told I was a good writer but I didn’t have an understanding of the Groupon voice. If you venture into the application process with Groupon don’t be too trusting and don’t expect transparency.