Job Security? What Job Security?
August 29, 2007 by Deb Ng
Filed under Freelance Writing
Today one of my clients informed me he wasn’t renewing my contract. It was nothing personal, he said. They hired me to help launch a network, said network is launched, lots of people signed up, thanks and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.
I’m kind of relieved, though it was a lucrative gig, it was far from interesting. The client is a huge name (No, it’s not About.com so don’t even think of running over and applying.) and it looks good on my resume. The people were nice to work for and they paid well and on time. I’m going to miss the paycheck but not the material.
Thankfully I took my own advice and made sure I have plenty of other gigs. We’re not going to starve, we can still put money away and I’m still afforded the luxury of being able to take my time to choose my next gig. I will look for something to pick up the slack though. I was enjoying the heavy pay check and I’m not about to give it up any time soon.
Gigs don’t last. Even those with a big name attached to it. When you’re a freelancer you always need to keep in mind the job you’re feeling secure in today might cease to exist tomorrow. Don’t put your eggs in one basket, always save for a rainy day, never burn your bridges and hopefully the news won’t come as much as a shock, but as a relief.
Now, if you don’t mind I’m going to celebrate by jumping in the pool.
Deb
I had the same thing happen this month. I have to say I’m a little relieved though, it’s almost nice to get back to the hustle of hunting down new projects. I’d gotten way too stale with the steady, and rather boring, gig. I say that now though…
I have the same issues. I hope you all understand that many people work at boring jobs for very long periods of time and don’t seem to mind it.
(Personally, I think they is nuts …)
I try to attract clients who favor a “Family Lawyer” approach. The idea is that if you need a will drafted, you go to a lawyer who does the work and that’s that. You may not come back for a long time, but you’ll come back. It may be a living will or a tax problem or a need to sue someone. But you’ll be back.
My client list is full of nonprofits with very little money on any given day. But they can scrape something together when they need me – and it’s always good to see them again. I like that.
I guess this is the risk you face more than others when you freelance. I am a relative newbie at freelance writing having been at it for a mere six months so my mornings are usually spent searching for gigs and applying away . Luckily for me the gigs have been happening slowly..and sometimes I wish I had an ongoing job with a steady paycheck..but having been an entrepreneur all my life I think I love the challenge of landing something new periodically and then successfully completing it rather than plugging away at one job..
I have a similar thing coming up. The Big Project I keep referring to should be ending this week. Although I am discouraged about how much it has taken over my life, it has provided several decently sized paychecks this summer. However, I will be extremely relieved when it is over — I plan on takin a few extra days off, in addition to the three-day weekend, to celebrate my emancipation.
That should have been “taking,” not “takin.” (No, I wasn’t trying to be cute.)
Am in the doldrums at the moment, what with one client running out of money and in another project, the editor quit without even telling me. I’m lucky because my husband’s income was always enough to support us while my freelance gigs pay for the extras. It’s a bit disheartening though to lose all your eggs in one go. Great that there’s this site to check for gigs everyday. Thanks, Deb and Jodee
Deb, thanks for sharing and for the reminder. I always appreciate your candor.
You do have job security — this wasn’t your only client. If you were at a job and a good paying client left, you could be gone with it. Look at the thousands of people “downsized” (laid off/terminated) in the last several years.
Which is why I market myself half my working time. I send query letters by the dozens. True, oftentimes I find myself drowning in my own workload when clients all contact me at the same time. But it helps cut down dry periods in between big projects.
Slightly unrelated, but Deb, I would really appreciate you doing a discussion regarding clients who do not pay on time (or at all). Talk about a lack of job security. :/ Just had this happen and came here to see if you had any discussions about it, as I’d love to read your input on how to handle that situation.
Bummer! Hope another nice gig comes along for you!
Brenda,
You may want to find out a firm’s payment policy ahead of time. Some only cut checks the same date every month. So if they cut them on the 25th, and received your invoice on the 26th, you’ll wait nearly an additional month.
Some don’t pay until an article is published. I have a few like this. As long as I know this is the issue it’s fine. But for these it’s important to know the kill fee policy (typically 50 percent).
Offer a discount for someone who will pay half up front. This only works if you have a good reputation in the business.
Other companies are typically slow in payments and will cite anything from cash flow to tech problems. Just don’t have too many of these among your clients.
Others are just plain deadbeats. Sometimes there’s not much you can do. Try to have agreements/contracts before starting work, but this isn’t always doable.
Hope this helps.
Hate to hear that, about the paycheck, not the material. I’m sure someone is going to snatch you up quickly! Good luck!
I’m dealing with a no-pay issue at the moment. The excuses keep coming in. It’s been three weeks. I wish the client had a firm payment policy, but he doesn’t. An agreement up front would make sense. I’m learning, little by little.
Thanks for the advice, Phil, that does help. One of my no-pay situations is basically gone- I had to pull teeth to get the first check, and by that time I’d already written for them a second time, and they dropped off the face of the earth right after that got turned in. I’m not sweating it too badly, although they did publish the article I wrote, it wasn’t THAT much money, and it was a good lesson.
My current no-pay situation finally came through today after several weeks of no dependable response. I got “the check is in the envelope and will go out tomorrow” for weeks after the due date, and finally wrote a very terse email yesterday (I don’t plan to keep this client, not after this) and got them to actually speak to the accounting department. It’s still late, but at least I got the truth about when it was coming. Wish there had been a better way to handle it.
A couple of months ago, I got a no-pay situation too. I was really disappointed because I’ve been working for the client for 2 months and she’s never missed a payment before. She ended up paying a month later and also sent me an email asking if I wanted to work for her again. Well, thats really too bad. I know now, at least, that she’s not a deadbeat, but I also got to eat and got to receive paychecks on time.
Thanks for posting this, Im relieved to know that I’m not the only one who was let out of the contract, lol. I enjoyed what I was writing there, yes, although it got kind of tedious having to rewrite the same content I write for my own blog. I’ll DEFINITELY miss the money, lol. I guess I have to get a real world job now :/ Sucks!
Btw I wish they would’ve given us more than, what, 3 days notice? Some people haven’t even received the email about it.
Hi Kim,
I was going to send you a note to see if you received the same kiss off. Sorry to hear you did, but relieved as well. I’m applying to other places to pick up the slack – hopefully something more interesting.
Good luck to you!