Real vs freelance jobs (was Re: [thelist] Job Change Question)

[Laura Lynch]

At 12:12 AM 10/25/02, Carlos Costa Portela wrote:
>Laura let us know something that exists in the industry:
>work for employers is more important that freelance work. Freelance work
>is more important that 'work for myself'.

Actually, this is not necessarily true. I worded it that way only because,
in the context of the question (and my answer), I felt it was important to
distinguish between those jobs that I list on my resume ('real') and those
that are covered under my freelance blanket, not all of which would come up
during an interview.

I have found that employers are very interested in my freelance work,
probably especially since that's all I've done for the past year and a
half, but I don't always mention all of my clients. Also, if your 'work for
yourself' serves a greater purpose (i.e., not a blog or some such),
employers are usually pretty interested in it, esp. if it's been up and
running for awhile. For instance, I created and run a Fantasy genre review
site with my boyfriend (referred to as my 'partner' during interviews).
This was purely for us (free books!), but employers think it's great that
a) I've generated a site that's serving an audience other than my friends
and family and b) I'm constantly working to evolve and maintain it so that
it remains a good site for that audience to use. Anyway, my point is that,
depending on what the employer wants to know about you, all three types of
work can be important.

Also, as Jon pointed out, often they're looking for info on how you work
with others. If you've only done freelance for awhile, I recommend
emphasizing the teamwork aspects of that, such as working with other
contractors, compromises with clients, etc.


Laura L Lynch
Design Doyen for Hire
http://www.cyberwhirled.com/laura
laura at cyberwhirled.com