Posts

post #34 - stay open to opportunities

Image
Happy Saturday 💙 This week (including today) was busy in the fostering and cat sitting part of my life but I love it 🐈 Yesterday I met with someone who has been in assisted living for a year and is looking for a long-term foster for her 9 year old cat. Her vet's office got my name and number from the rescue I foster for, and after a phone call earlier in the week where I was hired on the spot (well, hired is a bit of a misnomer since fostering is not a job that actually pays me 😂), I went to the assisted living facility to meet with the cat's owner to help ease any concerns she may have had (turns out, she had none 🤩). This cat is clearly loved and rehoming her is out of the question for the owner so I'm happy to help. Since I have two out of town cat sitting jobs already scheduled, we decided that I'd pick up the cat in April. So why am I telling you this? I'm not sure, other than maybe to remind people (especially job seekers) to stay open to op...
Read more

post #33 - control what you can, forget the rest

Image
Happy Thursday 💙 I took this picture on my walk to the park this morning. This park is farther away from my home than the one I usually walk through so I had a lot of time to think. The job market right now is brutal for job seekers like me. Companies and recruiters have the upper hand and they know it. And they're taking advantage of it. It's up to candidates to start pushing back. I've seen many posts from job seekers complaining about being ghosted. About not getting feedback. About being rushed to interview and then finding out that others had rescheduled theirs. About doing projects that took a lot of time and then have been told the role is on hold. About another round of interviews being added. The list goes on and on. And I get it, it's frustrating. I find myself commenting things like "until candidates stop doing free work, companies are going to continue to ask for it" and "you have the option of bowing out anytime you want". I don...
Read more

post #32 - great clients

Image
Happy Friday 💙 One of my regular cat sitting clients is moving this weekend so I had to stop by their house earlier this week to return their key. I am going to miss this view (I usually took a picture like this every time I left their place) 🌊 They are moving out of my service area but wanted to try to retain me, so we worked out a new rate schedule with the intention of trying it once to see how it goes. I truly appreciate clients like these. Not only do they care about their cats, they care about me as well. Have a great weekend! #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #CatSitting #CatSitter
Read more

post #31 - just state the pay 💲

Happy Thursday💲 Recruiters and others reaching out to candidates, PLEASE put the pay rate in your message.  I live in a state where it's mandatory to disclose pay*, yet close to half of the recruiters who reach out to me fail to include the pay in their message ("competitive pay" is meaningless for those who are wondering 🤔). It's always going to be my number one question if it's not included, you want to why? Because the bank won't accept my love of fostering cats as payment for my mortgage 😹 Let's stop with the games. If you're serious about filling a role, be serious with your pitch. It's not rocket science 🚀 End of PSA ✔️ *companies with 15+ employees are required to disclose pay in job ads. Yes, technically reaching out to a candidate is not a job ad but that's just splitting hairs IMO #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #SalaryTransparency #JobHuntingChronicles
Read more

post #30 - current read (on freelancing)

Image
Happy Wednesday 📖  This is my current read on freelancing. If you've read it, I'd love to know your thoughts. I'm always on the lookout for freelancing books. What books have helped in your freelancing journey? Feel free to comment below or send me a message with the title, I'll add it to my TBR list. #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork
Read more

post #29 - recruiters, stop complaining about ghosting

Happy Tuesday 💙 For a couple of years now, there have been a lot of posts on LinkedIn by candidates complaining about recruiters (and hiring managers) ghosting them. We all know it's going on but I'm not sure complaining about it really helps. I get it though, if it's not called out, the behavior gets normalized and it shouldn't be normal to ghost someone you've interviewed. For the last year, I've seen recruiters posting about candidates ghosting them, and again, I get it, it's unprofessional, but it's not really the same thing. Yes, in a broad sense, ghosting is ghosting. But when a recruiter is ghosted, they can just move on to the next candidate (I'm simplifying it, I know there can be repercussions with your client). When a candidate gets ghosted, they don't have that luxury. It's borderline insulting to candidates who have been ghosted to see recruiters complaining about the very thing a lot of recruiters have done to them. As a job se...
Read more

post #28 - don't disqualify candidates because they ask about salary

#MerryMonday  💙 I actually had someone reply to my comment with a variation of "calm down". Are you kidding me??? Here's the backstory: Recently, a headhunter posted that he sent cold-call emails to 50 people about a position he was trying to fill. Of those 50, 4 replied almost immediately. But here's where it goes off the rails, 3 asked when they could talk (to which OP replied and scheduled times), the other person apparently had the audacity to ask questions, some of which, like what's the salary, should have been covered in the cold-call email. The OP's reaction to that email? "And we never spoke again". I'm pretty vocal about this topic because I live in a state where it's mandatory to disclose salary, yet at least half of the recruiters who reach out to me fail to mention it. It's been my experience that recruiters who aren't up front about salary have a client who doesn't pay well. I'm not saying that's an abso...
Read more