Comments on: Freelance with Fortune 500s: 10 Tips to Ace the Interview

By: 24 mind blowing tips to ace your next job interview | Will Sullivan's website. Journerdism

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:08:29 +0000

[…] 10 Tips to Ace the Interview […]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:54:09 +0000

Wellll, I don’t believe they’re a Fortune 500, but I just landed my first corporate client–Participant Media, the production company that produced An Inconvenient Truth. I couldn’t be more stoked.

I just wrote out a rather detailed comment, but deleted it after thinking about that NDA. Let’s just say they practically fell in my lap, I donned my dress shirt and slacks and had a meeting/interview in Beverly Hills, and walked out with a contract for “service as needed” at a rate double of what I had been charging other clients. And I’m only 19, a scant year into college and 2 years into freelancing.

I’m so damn happy. First item to purchase, the Macbook Pro I’ve been lusting over for the past year or so =D

By: Donn Lee

Donn Lee — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:53:59 +0000

I think this was an excellently-written article. I’ve read quite a number of books and articles on interviews, but this one came across as the most sincere, and possibly the most applicable (I’m in the IT line, something many HR staff have no clue about, and portfolios and part work experience are vital for getting through).

Once again, kudos to the honesty in the interviewing style espoused here.

By: Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood

Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:55:57 +0000

Excellent article. Having been on both sides of the fence and suffering and excelling in both cases, I strongly agree with this.

…Laughing. Thanks Megan and Spencer for spicing up the forum here. Everyone is right. Everyone is different. I have found myself on all ends of the spectrum of both Selin and Spencer’s preferences, as the freelancer, and also as the person deciding which person to choose. Sometimes you want the personality. Sometimes you want the stellar portfolio. Depends on the project. Spencer, you are the rare case who does not care about where and how a person works; most people do judge such things.

Ultimately, we have to be the best possible versions of ourselves when we are doing business. You are not going to walk into an interview and fart, but you are human and you fart. Likewise, you definitely want to think about what you wear, how you talk, and all of these things when you are interviewing, they definitely matter.

By: Martijn

Martijn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:11:16 +0000

Most helpfull article ever!

By: BANAGO

BANAGO — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:03:09 +0000

Very good article, thanks!

By: Jeffrey Selin

Jeffrey Selin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:23:30 +0000

@Spencer - I think you make a great point here. There were often projects I hired for that were less “high-profile” in the company, i.e., the freelancer never needed to attend meetings other than with myself. And I’ve definitely hired and worked with some amazing artists who were social morons and literary just wackos right out of a cartoon. But man, what amazing work! So there’s the craft. The art. They had the portfolio and the references, just as you mentioned. But in this case the quality needs to far outweigh the weirdness and potential for problems. At least in this market (Portland, Ore) whenever we placed an ad for a writer, designer, or Web developer on Craigslist, we’d have about 100+ applicants within two days. When I have to sort through it all, set up the interviews, and make a final decision, then the points 1, 4, and 6 become more relevant to me.

By: Spencer Lavery

Spencer Lavery — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:32:51 +0000

@Jeffrey - I hear you, and for the most part I agree, but there were 2 tips in there that shocked me. 1, 4, and 6. Perhaps it’s different over the other side of the pond, but when I look for freelancers I care little about anything other than the quality of their work, and their rates.

Full-time employees get the full scrutiny; personality, attire, hygiene, reliability, etc.

Freelancers get one opportunity to win me over, with both a stellar portfolio and excellent references. I don’t mind if my freelancers never leave their bedroom and work wearing a full Storm-trooper outfit - because my client never sees them. I don’t mind if they’re arrogant assholes so long as their work is on time, and good.

I’m not presenting my personal preference as the one that’s correct though, merely offering an alternate perspective to the original article.

@Megan - You lighten up, little lady, we’re having a relevant, topical discussion, you’re just arguing about nothing. Seems to me you’re the one trying to “protect the FSw readership”, by stifling it, ironically.

By: Maicon

Maicon — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:09:42 +0000

a lot of knowledge =).

By: Jeffrey Selin

Jeffrey Selin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:32:20 +0000

@ mj. Thanks for the kudos! There’s so much stellar content on FSw. I’m delighted to be considered among them. Cheers.