Application Denied - Very strange

[michaeldegroot]

Hi everyone,

 

Yesterday I applied for to be an editor for a category which is very very small (only has 4 links in at the moment) and is clearly not maintained because 1 link doesn't work and nothing has changed in the category for the pas 2 years or so.

 

So I decided to give it a go. The category is /Regional/Middle_East/Bahrain/Business_and_Economy/Real_Estate/

 

I work in Bahrain as a technical IT staff, a long time a go I worked as a webdesigner, so my internet knowledge is perfect.

Also I deal with Real estate agents a lot because I help expats that relocate to Bahrain and have a lot of contacts with the real estate agents here.

 

My company suggested me to make a webpage with the real estate agents, but I thought it would be better to have the DMOZ up to date.

 

My 3 suggested URL's are good websites, descriptions didn't contain any marketing slogans.

 

And still..... denied!

 

I honestly can't think of a better person to edit this category. Ofcourse I got the standard rejection email which gives me no glue as what I did wrong.

 

I don't know if there are any reviewers here that can tell me what I did wrong? Are the reviews scarred that I might have a favorite real estate agent that I will list?

 

Michael.

[jimnoble]

We don't discuss the details of declined applications.

 

If the reviewer didn't leave any specific comments, one or more of the common reasons in the email (and shown below) apply. Editors need to have some diagnostic skills so, hopefully, you should be able to work out which ones they are.

 

• Incomplete application. Insufficient information has been provided in some fields including reason, affiliation and/or Sample URLs.
• Improper spelling and grammar.
• Sample URLs are inappropriate for the category which one has applied to edit. They may be too broad, too narrow, completely out of scope, poor quality, or in a language inappropriate for the category. All non-English sites are listed in the World category. Applications for World categories that include sites only in English will be denied. Likewise, applications for World categories that include sample URLs in languages other than the one appropriate for the applied category will be denied.
• Not properly disclosing affiliations with websites that are, or have the potential of being, listed in the category.
• Titles and descriptions of sample URLs (and other information provided) were subjective and promotional rather than unbiased and objective. ODP editors do not rank or write website reviews. ODP editors provide objective and unbiased descriptions of websites and their content.
• Self-Promotion. Application which leads us to believe that the candidate is interested primarily in promoting his/her own sites or those with which the applicant is affiliated. The ODP is not a marketing tool, and should not be used to circumvent the site submission process. If this is an applicant's motivation for joining, then we ask him/her not to apply. Editors found to be inappropriately promoting their own site will be promptly removed.

[michaeldegroot]

Editors need to have some diagnostic skills so, hopefully, you should be able to work out which ones they are.

 

Thanks for your reply Jim, but unfortunately I still don't see at which point my application failed.

 

In all honesty, I think someone would need a lot of diagnostic skills to figure it out. I consider myself not very stupid with a PhD degree.

 

What puzzles me is that the category I would like to edit is very much dead, nothing has changed for at least 2 years and one link in it goes to a 'under construction' website. Is that the quality the DMOZ directory is?

 

Anyway, would it help to reapply again because I'm very much willing, it would help me and many others, or could I better forget about it and move on?

[makrhod]

I think someone would need a lot of diagnostic skills to figure it out. I consider myself not very stupid with a PhD degree

We accept editors from all over the world, with all levels of education, and of all ages, so it does not require special skills to complete the form successfully.

 

It does, however, require honesty and attention to detail (including reading the instructions carefully and completing every section), because those are necessary characteristics in an editor.

 

Unless you were asked not to reapply, you are welcome to do so, and in fact many current editors were accepted only after they took careful note of previous rejection feedback and applied it to their subsequent application.

[michaeldegroot]

Thank you!

 

I will reapply again.

 

I've just noticed that the category I want to be editor for has some changes made after my message of yesterday. (/Regional/Middle_East/Bahrain/Business_and_Economy/Real_Estate/)

 

Does this mean there is already an editor for this category?

 

Thanks!

[pvgool]

Does this mean there is already an editor for this category?

Yes and No.

Yes because no category is ever without an editor. See laos in our FAQ http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/faq.php?faq=faq_site_questions#faq_no_editor

No because even if another editor is active in a category we always will accept new editors to become active in the same category. Also when an editor is mentioned on a category it is not this editor alone that can and will manage listings in that category.

[michaeldegroot]

Thank you Paul, I've just reapplied. We shall see.