It's nearing December and I know now that satisfaction in my career probably won't come to me any time soon. Part of it is not knowing what I want out of life and my future, the other part is fear that once I find it, I won't be able to achieve it.
For over a year I was pleased with my freelancing efforts. I got to stay at home, I got to sleep in and make my own schedule. I got to move cross-country without worrying about finding a job when I got there. Everything I created while working was mine, every success was mine. I was stressed out, focused on my clients constantly, but when I provided good work, I got instant feedback and support. The possibilities in freelance work are endless when you're good at what you do, be it writing, design, or even tech support.
After my contract with Blue Volcano ended, and work for Firestarter slowed down to trickles and bursts of random tasks, I knew I needed something regular. If only to please my money-conscious husband. So for the first time in a long time, I entered the mass of job seekers. This time, in Portland. I went to career fairs and was bombarded with sales positions, I went on Craigslist and was stricken with automotive service writing positions, and was so annoyed that I got a LinkedIn JobSeeker membership to contact employers directly. It took a week and I ended up at Bonfire. After a month of great work and praise, I was on the jobseeking hunt again.
Only this time it wasn't a hunt. More like an angry, wandering prowl through websites and doubtful possibilities. I didn't want to go through job loss again. I didn't want to fail again. I didn't want to put myself into that position again, in a small agency where my job could be dissolved without cause. I didn't want to take a contract that could be over tomorrow because the employer ran out of money.
There's a job that I've wanted for months. Technical Writer at my husband's company. They're paid fairly, it's stable, and there are so many employees that there's room to grow.
It's been clear to me that no matter what I do, how many people I contact, how many times I contact the recruiter, they're not hiring any more writers. They're looking for engineers. Another slap in the face with my degree.
So where am I now? Really hating myself for taking a job that I really didn't want in the first place for a paycheck. A meager, sliced up one at that with all the taxes and insurance payments that I didn't have to worry about before. I'm not using my brain at all, I feel pretty stupid and it's been barely a month since I started doing data entry in a cube. I feel even more stupid knowing that I'm the laughingstock of the office because I took this job with my stellar resume.
I'm kind of hurt, and lost at the moment. Trying to figure out what I want out of my career, so I can go after it, and leave this grey box of click...ctrl+C...click...ctrl+V.
Showing posts with label freelancing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freelancing. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Freelancers: You're Not Invincible
As a freelancer, it's easy to think that you can do anything. This is especially true when you've never failed on a project, have met all of your deadlines, and have been blessed with great clients.
Up until yesterday, I was pretty confident that if it had to do with writing, or social media, I was on it. I've done alright on oDesk and have taken on some big contracts for companies all over the country. But I had a contract practically handed to me in a Skype interview, and it just didn't feel right to accept it.
When you get an assignment for something that you aren't exactly qualified for, you have two choices. One, you can take it on and research like a crazy person to prepare for it. Or two, you can admit that you can't do it and move on.
I was so confident that I could take this contract as a Research Analyst that I pitched the guy everything I had. I matched the description perfectly, and I made a stellar impression. Then he explained the job, and the scope of it... just astounded me. I've done social media work before, managed entire accounts on my own, but I specialize in content and communities. So when he asked for projection plans and budgets, I was quick to point out that I'd not had the opportunity to control that side of an account before. He was so confident that I could make it happen that he said not to over-think it, and to get him a plan by the next day. I would be writing all the posts for the blog and social media, as well as managing the advertising and publicizing of the product. I'd track everything, propose costs and execute... Everything.
Now, I know people who do this kind of thing on a regular basis. One of my previous employers (Blue Volcano Media) can take an account already knowing the time frames and costs to get X amount of followers by X date. It's not rocket science once you've done it a few times, but I haven't! I've worked for a company like this where the goal of the account is to get followers and make sales, not to increase engagement and interaction with the brand. I wrote it about it in my blog post Social Media Marketing as a Science. Sadly, my part in that company was as a Community Manager, not as a strategist or scientist.
I signed out of the interview with the potential employer raving about my talents, and how much he trusted that I could get this done. It was fee-based, or fixed-priced, though, so I had to come up with how much to charge. I actually don't have the slightest idea of what to charge most of the time, so I asked for a ballpark price from a friend. That's when it really sunk in: I can't do it.
I'm not afraid of failure and I'm not afraid of turning down an account, but it was so hard letting this guy down. He was excited, but I had to tell him that I didn't have the experience needed for his project and would have to withdraw my application. He then switched tactics, asking for me to only do the research and writing aspect of it. Once I get the courage to turn something down, I'm pretty blocked off from it, so I had to do it again and explain that research and writing is so tied to the marketing side of things that it'd be best to hire someone who can do it all, or be prepared to have a team on it.
Not only was it best for me to turn this job down, even being as jobless as I am, it was better for the employer and his vision.
Up until yesterday, I was pretty confident that if it had to do with writing, or social media, I was on it. I've done alright on oDesk and have taken on some big contracts for companies all over the country. But I had a contract practically handed to me in a Skype interview, and it just didn't feel right to accept it.
When you get an assignment for something that you aren't exactly qualified for, you have two choices. One, you can take it on and research like a crazy person to prepare for it. Or two, you can admit that you can't do it and move on.
I was so confident that I could take this contract as a Research Analyst that I pitched the guy everything I had. I matched the description perfectly, and I made a stellar impression. Then he explained the job, and the scope of it... just astounded me. I've done social media work before, managed entire accounts on my own, but I specialize in content and communities. So when he asked for projection plans and budgets, I was quick to point out that I'd not had the opportunity to control that side of an account before. He was so confident that I could make it happen that he said not to over-think it, and to get him a plan by the next day. I would be writing all the posts for the blog and social media, as well as managing the advertising and publicizing of the product. I'd track everything, propose costs and execute... Everything.
Now, I know people who do this kind of thing on a regular basis. One of my previous employers (Blue Volcano Media) can take an account already knowing the time frames and costs to get X amount of followers by X date. It's not rocket science once you've done it a few times, but I haven't! I've worked for a company like this where the goal of the account is to get followers and make sales, not to increase engagement and interaction with the brand. I wrote it about it in my blog post Social Media Marketing as a Science. Sadly, my part in that company was as a Community Manager, not as a strategist or scientist.
I signed out of the interview with the potential employer raving about my talents, and how much he trusted that I could get this done. It was fee-based, or fixed-priced, though, so I had to come up with how much to charge. I actually don't have the slightest idea of what to charge most of the time, so I asked for a ballpark price from a friend. That's when it really sunk in: I can't do it.
I'm not afraid of failure and I'm not afraid of turning down an account, but it was so hard letting this guy down. He was excited, but I had to tell him that I didn't have the experience needed for his project and would have to withdraw my application. He then switched tactics, asking for me to only do the research and writing aspect of it. Once I get the courage to turn something down, I'm pretty blocked off from it, so I had to do it again and explain that research and writing is so tied to the marketing side of things that it'd be best to hire someone who can do it all, or be prepared to have a team on it.
Not only was it best for me to turn this job down, even being as jobless as I am, it was better for the employer and his vision.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Invitations to Interview w/ oDesk
Most of my freelancing jobs through oDesk have been from invitations to interview. In fact, my first job came two weeks after making my profile and taking a few tests in Technical Writing, Email Etiquette, and Phone Etiquette. I didn't expect anything to come of it, but sure enough, I was invited to be a beta writer for a software development company.
A lot of people who join oDesk think they'll get a job pretty quickly just for making a profile and doing well on a skills test. I knew this wasn't the case and ever since, I've been warning people against thinking it's just some vat of jobs. Of course, oDesk is this overflowing vat of jobs, but it's also an overflowing ocean of international workers. It's nearly impossible to get noticed.
About once a month, I get an influx of invitations to interview. They range from article writing, to product review writing, but usually for low pay. I ask, "How did you find me out of everyone else on oDesk," and they always say, "Because of your test scores." I don't think I have outstanding test scores. Even if I'm in the top 10% of almost all of them, they aren't difficult tests! Maybe someone at oDesk is putting me higher in the listings!
I received two invites yesterday, one for product descriptions and the other for editing. I declined the first (with a message thanking the person for the invitation) and responded to the second. Editing is simple. I'm no professional, but people came to ME all through school and uni for help.
The job seems kind of crappy, paying $0.50/article to check them over for quality. If I get it, I'll have money for fast food, if I don't, whatever. I almost think the job was automated, but I could be wrong.
A lot of people who join oDesk think they'll get a job pretty quickly just for making a profile and doing well on a skills test. I knew this wasn't the case and ever since, I've been warning people against thinking it's just some vat of jobs. Of course, oDesk is this overflowing vat of jobs, but it's also an overflowing ocean of international workers. It's nearly impossible to get noticed.
About once a month, I get an influx of invitations to interview. They range from article writing, to product review writing, but usually for low pay. I ask, "How did you find me out of everyone else on oDesk," and they always say, "Because of your test scores." I don't think I have outstanding test scores. Even if I'm in the top 10% of almost all of them, they aren't difficult tests! Maybe someone at oDesk is putting me higher in the listings!
I received two invites yesterday, one for product descriptions and the other for editing. I declined the first (with a message thanking the person for the invitation) and responded to the second. Editing is simple. I'm no professional, but people came to ME all through school and uni for help.
The job seems kind of crappy, paying $0.50/article to check them over for quality. If I get it, I'll have money for fast food, if I don't, whatever. I almost think the job was automated, but I could be wrong.
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