Freelance Radio, Episode 43: Full-Time Experience
The latest episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast, is now available! This episode, the panel (John Brougher, Dickie Adams, Kristen Fischer and Von Glitschka) talks about full-time experience and its value for freelancers. Subscriptions to the podcast are available via iTunes and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it!
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The Shownotes:
- Theme of the Episode: This episode’s theme is full-time experience.
- Mailbag: Dushan has a question about an ethical dilemma he’s facing.
- Freelance Radio Recommends:
- Dickie: Netflix fun site NetflixOrigami.com.
- John: Web app and iPhone app Taxi Magic.
- Kristen: Site, or “online class about dreaming big” mondobeyondo.org.
- Von: Tax fun:
And that’s the episode! If you like it, please feel free to rate it in iTunes or your favorite podcast aggregator, and don’t forget to email your questions/comments via the Freelance Radio form. If you’d like to record a question/comment or submit an original outro song, you can upload them via this form.
Find out more about the panelists at the following sites:
- John Brougher, podcast host and new media/communications specialist: johnbrougher.com; John’s Twitter is at twitter.com/johnbrougher
- Dickie Adams, designer, photographer, technologist, jack-of-all-trades (and master of all): twitter.com/dickieadams
- Kristen Fischer, writer and author: kristenfischer.com; Kristen’s Twitter is at twitter.com/kristenfischer
- Von Glitschka, illustrator, designer and so much more: glitschka.com; Von’s Twitter is at twitter.com/vonster
I absolutely sympathise with the writer who freelances as a measure of self-defense, and seemingly the only way to work in the field following a hostile recruitment environment. Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do or say on how to automatically land a job after making the “decision” to do so.
Freelancing is, as is said, better than waiting tables/bartending, but an agency existence is always preferred for the first five or so years of one’s career. Save freelancing for later.
The trouble is in how to make the transition from a freelancer [back] to a full-time role. Many employers don’t respect the freelance lifestyle and will often specify agency or in-house experience ONLY (in capital letters). It’s a tough beat, and I think the freelancer-as-job-seeker is a tough demographic.
My advice, stick with it! Don’t give up on your creative side projects, and on the job hunt in general. Stick that shit out and you’ll find an agency role eventually … at least that’s what I tell myself.
Thanks Prescott,
I have resumed looking for agency work more aggressivly as of last week and today not only helped me solidify that idea but has given me another rush of motivation. Sadly my biggest obstacle is I’m located in Montana not exactly a design Mecca but I luckily live in a city that has more of a design scene than other parts of the state.. Biggest obstacle was a few of the agencies outside of the state were interested, but the cost of getting an employee from out of state, was too great compared to finding a local kid.
The biggest thing is to get involved with other designers again and be apart of a creative process and learn how to think like a designer not only, better but faster. Something you learn in school I believe but don’t have enough time to develop fully.
Never the less, I feel blessed to be able to do what i love for a living no matter how much I have to scratch and claw everyday to make it. I have recently created a new personal print campaign and a new website should launch soon, so be on the lookout. Thank you Freelance Switch and The Podcast for all the help today and support!
Ben
The design guy from the podcast
Great podcast as always. I wanted to through my 2 cents in on the writing clients off your taxes. This is only possible if you account with an accrual based accounting system, meaning when you invoice the client you account for this as income – irregardless of when you receive the actual money. So, in reality you’re only writing off income you’ve already accounted for in your books. The majority of people account with a cash-based method meaning when the check arrives you count the income, and thus you can’t count the loss. As always check with your accountant. Keep up the great work!
That was a good podcast (and the first I ever heard) My feeling about getting your feet wet in an agency setting is that you might get trapped. The regular paycheck and schedule may give you a false sense of security and make you complacent. Before you know it, your skills are no longer honed, you become subservient and you’re no longer doing exciting projects.
So it goes -dp
If you are going to talk about US-only resources (which is OK a bit) can you just explain briefly what it is. 1099 and W2 (or whatever it was) mean nothing to most of the world.
I quite enjoy the views, ideas and resources shared by the panel but would love it if say there was a guest or semi-regular host from another country too for a broader perspective.
Also John, can you try to slow down a bit. You have some great ideas but often it feels like a race to get done. I also have this problem and have worked on being more conscious of my speaking speed.
Keep the good work team.
I know this is late to the party for an older podcast (Great, as usual, by the way!) but with regard to the subject of taking down a website due to nonpayment of somewhat unrelated services (if that was the case)…
Although I’ve had plenty of “Joe Pesci” moments where I would have loved to have done something like taking down a site due to non-payment – I’d recommend caution.
I’ve been there, I sympathize, but I think there are limitations when you’re not the actual webhost. Even if you have a back-door login or more clever hacker-esque talent you could put to use… legally I think there could be ramifications for doing so – including trouble with the hosting service for such an “attack.” In the US, I believe the potential is there for Inter-State infractions as well.
I guess this is one of those reasons we so often recommend having an IP-upon-full-payment clause in our contracts and make it non-negotiable and always use a contract. Suing is stressful enough but I do know some contracts (including mine) include another clause (non-negotiable, as well) that if a dispute arises and the judgement is found in my favor… client pays my attorney fees too.
Maybe Serbian collection agencies are scarier than US ones? That’s an interesting possibility!