Is this the most ridiculous job posting ever?

Before applying for a job at Dalkey Archive Press, please be sure to clear your schedule. Of everything.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

last updated 11 January 2015

The Dalkey Archive Press is a renowned independent publisher that has been heaped with praise for printing the likes of William Gaddis, John Hawkes, Flann O'Brien, and other top-notch writers who have been pushed to the side by an industry increasingly betting its entire future on Fifty Shades of Grey and teen-vampire series. That being said, Dalkey Archive also sounds like a terrible place to work. A job posting for an unpaid position has attracted attention for its hilariously cumbersome demands, which seem unlikely to be met by most humans:

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.

John O'Brien, the director of Dalkey Archive's American office, tells the Irish Times that the ad was "tongue-in-cheek," though it contains a serious message: Apply "if you're going to be serious and are ready: If not, then let's not waste each other's time. Usually this is couched in the sanitized language of 'must be deadline-oriented, well-organized, ambitious,' etc. But as I think we've known for a long time, the age of irony is dead, and I'm a fossil."