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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Rachel’s List?

We’re a media recruitment website connecting job-seekers and job-posters. Our talent pool includes thousands of experienced freelance and full-time content writers, copywriters, journalists, editors, subs, designers, bloggers, digital producers, social media specialists and PRs from around Australia. We pre-approve our job-seekers, making it a great, easy way to find the person you need – fast.

Who is behind Rachel’s List?

Rachel’s List was founded by long-time freelance journalist Rachel Smith, who runs the website with the help of her freelance team.

Why do you pre-approve job-seekers joining the List?

This is an industry-only List, and we pre-approve users to ensure jobs are going to qualified people making a living in the media industry. Plus, we hear over and over from editors and employers posting jobs how great it is not to have to trawl through hundreds of unsuitable applicants. Instead, they can post a job and within a couple of hours receive emails from perhaps 50 great applicants, all of whom they could potentially hire. To a time-poor client, that’s gold. And far less hassle.

What’s the approval process and admin fee for job-seekers?

You register, provide some proof you’re making a living in media, digital, PR or comms - or have some clippings of paid work to show us. Once approved, you can stay as a free member and receive job headlines via our newsletters, or upgrade to Gold membership ($95/year + GST) to view and apply for any jobs and gigs, enjoy membership perks, and gain access to our private FB group (where you can also pick up work via other members).

Can I direct clients to my Rachel’s List profile?

Not at this stage. We opted to keep our job-seeker profiles private at the request of many members. We encourage you to keep them up to date for our records, but you can’t be viewed or searched for.

Can graduates with zero experience join Rachel’s List?

The List is only for established, creative job-seekers. However, we do have an external entry level / graduate List. If you’d like to join that List to be notified of suitable entry level positions or internships, sign up here. If you start to get paid work, get in touch again and we can review your status.

What do you charge?

We offer two types of job postings. For full-time, part-time, freelance or contract roles, it’s $125 + GST for a 30-day listing. If you have an urgent one-off gig or short project, our short gig job posting costs $45 + GST for a 10-day listing. Once posted and paid, your role will go up on our jobs board, be beamed out across our social media channels and sent to thousands of Rachel’s List members via our newsletters so they can apply to you directly.

Do you offer bulk job-postings at a discount?

Yep! You’ll find all the details on our Post A Job page.

What's your new Short List Service about?

We've just started offering a service to job-posters who want to remain 'hands off'. For a fee, we can write and place your job, filter applicants and send you a report on the best candidates so you can contact them directly. Drop us a line via the contact page for details and pricing.

Can I buy a banner ad spot for your site?

We offer a number of sidebar ads each month and in our newsletter. For info on all our ad spaces and to purchase ads quickly and easily, head to the Toolkit.

I need to hire a writer but can only offer exposure or links back to their site. Will you still post my ad?

If you’re not able to pay writers, we’re not for you. Our job-seekers are professionals who deserve to being paid reasonable rates for their work. It’s kind of like telling a plumber you won’t be paying him for the work he did unblocking your drains, but you’ll be sure to tell all your mates what a fine job he did. Probably wouldn’t fly, right?

I do pay writers but I can’t pay market rates.

You’re welcome to post your job, but we reserve the right to let the job-seekers know that the job pays under market rates. It just saves everyone’s time.

I need to find an intern. Can I post on your entry level list?

Yes, you can post paid internship jobs or other jobs for graduates on our entry level list. Contact us for details on costs and how to post one.

Who’s used Rachel’s List to post jobs?

Too many companies to count! We post jobs for print clients, online outlets, digital agencies, government agencies, consulting firms, universities, NGOs and small businesses, and that’s just scratching the surface. Some companies who’ve used us: APN Educational Media, Australian Good Taste, Australian Handyman Magazine, Australian Traveller, Bauer Media, Bean Media Group, Benchmark Media, Better Homes & Gardens, B&T Magazine, Big Splash Media, Career FAQs, Collective Hub, Copeland Media, Cosmopolitan, Citrus Media, Content Empire, Country Style, Cumberland Courier Newspapers, Daily Mail Australia, delicious, DOLLY, donna hay, Gardening Australia, Edge, Executive PA Magazine, Fairfax Media, Flying Solo, Foxtel, GQ, Good Food Mag, Grazia, Handyman Magazine, Healthsmart, Healthy Food Guide, Hardie Grant Media, Home Beautiful, Hudson, Inside Out Magazine, John Wiley & Sons, Kidspot, Mahlab Media, McHugh Media, marie claire, Medical Observer, Merivale, MindFOOD, Momentum Media, Money Management, MS Australia, Niche Media, NOVA Entertainment, Ocean Media, OUTthere Magazine, Paragon Media, Pinstripe Media, Popsugar Australia, Prevention, Plump and Spry Publishing, Private Equity Media, PureProfile, Readers Digest, REA Group, Refraction Media, SBS Food, Shop Til You Drop, Signature Media, Six Black Pens, Sydney Film Festival, Super Food Ideas, Sunday Style, The CEO Magazine, The Content Agency, The Conversation, The National Film and Sound Archive, The Sydney Morning Herald, Virgin Australia Voyeur Magazine, Vogue Living, Williams Sonoma Australia, Who Magazine, Woman’s Day, Woolworths Fresh Magazine, worketc, Yen Magazine and many, many more.

I hired a job-seeker / applied for a job through the site and it all went horribly wrong. How do you handle this?

We go into shock and immediately have a stiff drink. Seriously though – this is rare and we’re so sorry if you’ve had this experience, but Rachel’s List is really just the conduit between job-seekers and job- posters. We post the jobs and negotiations between job-posters and job-seekers are always off-site, so there’s no way for us to arbitrate disputes between parties. For more information, please view our T&Cs or if you feel you have legal recourse, the MEAA’s legal team may be able to help.

I have a question for the blog’s Ask Us Wednesday post.

Great! Email it to us and we’ll let you know if we’ve answered it before, or when we can schedule it in. We answer all kinds of questions about freelancing, writing, running a freelance business, industry changes and so on. And if we can’t answer it, we’ll find someone who can.

Do you accept ideas for your Friday blog?

We do occasionally commission Friday posts from Rachel’s List members. We pay a flat rate of $200/post. If you have an idea you think might work (that we haven’t covered), please pitch it to us.

I’m having log-in dramas.

Argh. We hate that. Okay, here’s our check list of things to try:

  • Are you logging in with the email you registered with? We no longer have usernames, so make sure you are using the right email.
  • Do you have the right password, or have you done a password reset?
  • If you’re not getting the password reset emails, have you checked your spam folder? (Sometimes our site monkeys put it in the wrong place - sorry.)
  • Have you rebooted your computer or tried another browser?
  • If you’ve done all this and it’s STILL not working please get in touch with us via our contact form and we’ll sort you out.
I have another question you haven’t covered here!

No problem, just drop Rachel a line via our Contact Page.