Confessions of a freelancer – dealing with clients and recruiters.
“Expert opinion comes highly priced and chiefly ignored” – The Long Dog 2009
On and off, I’ve been freelancing for a decade. In that time I’ve had some great clients and recruiters … and some not so great. So here are some observations and tips from my world.
Getting the gig – standing out from the recruiting hopefuls crowd.
Recruiters see hundreds of CVs (résumés) a week, so why are you special? Sadly most recruiters don’t care if you live or die (unless you can make them money). They also copy/paste your details into a database and whoever’s CV meets whatever they’re searching for gets the gig. Just like Google. Best bit of job application advice I got was from Nick at Zebrapeople – apply SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to my CV. What are the words and phrases recruiters searching for? ‘Experienced and accomplished consultant’? Or ‘IA, UXD, interaction designer with 5 years experience’ / “Internal communications professional specialising in intranet and online communications”?
I’ve also asked previous clients to provide recommendations on my Linked In profile. When I send my CV to new recruiter or client, I also send a separate document with these recommendations copy/pasted in. Know what? They read them ever time and don’t have to be bothered to click on links to websites.
Expectations: How much should you lie to your clients?
‘Not at all’ is the simple answer. Get found out – you get fired and a bullet hole in your reputation. “Under promise and over achieve” is a maxim I’ve often heard. People are constantly surprised by your ability to cough up the goods faster than was imagined. It works fine. Until, that is, some smart arse promises more and still delivers. And yes, I’ve been that smart arse. What did it get me? Extensions to a contract that lasted nearly 18 months. Nice.
Just be realistic, make sure you can deliver what you promise, actually deliver it and when it’s needed put some extra work in. But make sure your client realises this. When I was 20 I worked in a department store, on the management training scheme *snore*. I was a little too modest (no, really) and my manager / mentor would say “When you’ve done something good tell me! If you don’t tell me, someone else will show me what they’ve done and why should I think you’re any better?”. Doesn’t mean show off, just make sure people realise when you’ve done something good for them and they’ll appreciate it.
Win battles, don’t fight wars.
If you’re a freelancer or consultant, you’re not the Director in charge. You’re paid to provide expert knowledge and to argue the case if necessary. If your client chooses to ignore your advice because they know better (and a lot think they do), then you’ll have to decided whether to fight your corner or let them send in the Light Brigade and see what happens. I’ve had to present my feeling on a real shocker of a project. I wrote a polite, but honest one page report which was presented to the board, considered and then ignored. I wasn’t happy, but there’s a point where your opinion becomes a problem. May I refer you to the recent sacking of drugs advisor to the UK government because of his unpopular opinion? Ok … so … find the balance between your integrity and your desire for the continuation of employment and don’t let pride get in the way. Or move on – that’s the joy of freelancing.
Be nice: People like nice people … and re-employ them
I had an odd conversation with a colleague once who angrily complained that “it seems to be the people who are all smiles and ‘nicey nicey’ who get listened to round here”. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that despite his academic qualifications and that he’d run his own 2 man agency, he was aggressive in meetings and no one was listening to what he said because they were too busy worrying about him.
We all like nice people so, without being fake, be nice. It’ll make it easier for you to communicate with your client and if something goes bad, they’ll see you as a human being, not just a resource. Being nice – much underrated. Just think: Who would you prefer to be working with?
The rest? Work it out for yourself – that’s why you get write “experienced” on your applciations.
The Long Dog
Tags: career, case study, comms, digital, social network
Interesting article, Long dog. What strikes me is that this should all be “common sense” but somehow it isn’t…….. until you point it out. An intersting question to ask oneself is how often have I made these errors!?
This also could be applied in any moderately large organisation. How does the big boss know how wonderful you are unless you tell her/him (politely)? Does the boss want a grump?
Some argue every point, rather than win the battles that can be won, or fight the ones that must be fought.
Perhaps, to paraphrase usability impresario Steve Krugg, “it’s not ‘rocket surgery’, just advanced common sense”.
Thanks Long Dog, quite amusing. One area you missed out though, the part where the freelancer gets blamed for all of the nasties, even if they weren’t around when the nasties were forming! The blame coming mainly from insecure permanent employees who might be a tad exposed! Or have I just had some really crap assignments?
Brownstone – Ah … the “why have I turned up to work and you’ve offered me a blindfold, cigarette and a niec sunny spot in front of that big wall” freelancer slaughter? Perhaps another article on “Practicle self-defence for freelancers?”. Hmmm … got me thinking now.