how do you say...
Out of context: Reply #11
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- AndyRoss0
I hear where you're coming from barbtastic, because I'm going through some of the same things myself.
I worked for awhile for companies that would pay me an hourly rate. I had to work on site with them looking over my shoulder, and there was someone a few desks away who could ask me to drop everything, and work on something else. They could also, at the end of the day, say they didn't need me tomorrow. Then I would be out of work. I would call this sort of work "temping" rather than freelancing, and I'll explain why.
Now, most of the work I do I'm giving estimates to companies on specific, defined projects. I work off site. I work until the project is done, and I usually I have a good idea when that will be, so I can plan other things around it. I invoice them. I think of this as "freelancing" more as I understand the term.
I haven't completely eliminated "temping" from my diet, but I'm trying to. It's been hard to move from "temping" to "freelancing."
I have never managed to go from "temping" to "freelancing" with the same client! Once someone thinks of you as a "temp," at their beck and call, they never really see you as more.
It's far easier to get new work, with new clients, than it is to get old clients to think of you in a more sophisticated way!
So, I use every sample and name to reinforce my resume and portfolio. And I use any down time I get to generate new "freelance" clients.
An old friend of mine taught me it was easier to move up by getting a better job with a new company, than to try to move up within your current company. And is that ever the truth!
- ALL TRUE... i like the mix of temping and freelancing, actually, but freelancing full-time would be idealbarbtastic