Job Hunting Chronicles

Happy Friday and Happy Halloween 🎃 This week has been long. A potential client reached out to me last week about an on-going freelance job. She's in her 80's, doesn't have a cell phone, and her landline doesn't have voicemail or even an answering machine, so email is her preferred communication mode. She's been unable to really articulate what kind of help she's looking for (she initially reached out to me about bookkeeping) so I've been trying to set up an in-person meeting with her. She's been quick to reply to all emails (within a few hours) until I tried to pin down a day and time to meet, then it took her 2 days to reply (which started with "just finding this" - no excuse, no apology), and she didn't give any days/times she was open (well, that's not true, she said she was available "today" - the day she sent the email 🙄), so I replied with a specific day and time I could meet and asked if that worked for her, and if ...

This morning I had a recruiter (on the other side of the country) email me about a relatively local (to me) position, after seeing my resume on a job portal. It's not in a city that I'd consider commuting to, so I thanked him for reaching out but stated that the commute wasn't doable for me. I then asked him where he found my resume because to my knowledge, my resume wasn't available to the public. Not surprisingly, I haven't heard back from him. I get that ghosting is the new norm, but as someone you reached out to (and who hasn't applied to a job on any job portals in well over a year and a half), don't you think I deserve to know where my resume was found? It's unnerving to me that my resume (or some previous version of it) is floating around in cyber space. Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and other web detectives, if a candidate asks where you found their resume, PLEASE tell them. I personally don't want to think that companies who use job portals t...

As a freelancer, I get to set my rates, and while non-freelancers have said to me, "I'd LOVE to dictate what my boss pays me!", it's not that simple. Yes, I get to decide what I'm going to charge for a job, but it has to be reasonable. It has to be in line with what the market will bear. What it deems acceptable. What someone is WILLING to pay. I can't decide to charge $2,000 for a bank rec because I think knowing your cash balance is key to running your business successfully. I have to be reasonable about what it's actually worth. About what someone's willing to pay for it. But here's the thing: so do people looking to hire.  Recently, I had an inquiry for some services on another social media platform. I quickly replied with a preliminary quote and answered all the questions the potential client asked in her message. I received a reply back thanking me for my time but saying she couldn't afford me. Because I wanted to understand w...

Happy Thursday 🧡 I've seen a few posts about Upwork lately and am throwing my own post into the ring... I'm new to Upwork. And while it (along with Fiverr) has been recommended to me by a few people, none of them are actually on it. Not as a freelancer and not as someone who's hiring a freelancer. But still, I decided to try it. So far, I'm not impressed with it at all. From having to "buy connects" to apply to a job, having Upwork take 10% of your fee, shockingly low pay rates (at least to someone who lives in the US), and now my profile automatically being switched to "private" because of inactivity (read: because I won't spend money to apply to a job), it seems to be very limited in actually helping a freelancer find work. Which is a shame because in theory, it seems like a freelancer's dream... My freelance jobs have been mostly through word of mouth, and it looks like that will probably continue. Lesson learned: don't buy into somet...

Let's talk following up. How many times do you follow up to a potential job as a freelancer? Personally, I limit my follow ups. If I KNOW that my message was read, I don't follow up at all. Some people think that's not the best strategy but it works for me. Having to follow up to a message that I know was read signals a potentially difficult client right from the start and honestly, I've hung up my "mom cape". I no longer chase stuff. I get that everyone is busy but if you can't take 20 seconds to reply (even a quick "I'll get back to you") to someone who is reaching out to you after YOU posted a plea for help, I've lost interest in working with you. If I sent the message via a platform that doesn't indicate a read status, I'll probably follow up once, but again, I'm not interested in chasing someone for a reply. I'm good at what I do and you'd be lucky to get me, but I'm not going to waste a lot of time trying ...

Job seekers, take some time off from the job search this weekend and do something just for you. Here are a few ideas that cost nothing (or very little): ° Go for a walk outside and enjoy nature. Autumn is a wonderful time for walking, in some places the leaves are changing colors and it's just beautiful. ° Read a book for fun. Maybe there's a book you've been wanting to read but haven't had time. If you don't have a book in mind, go to your local library, you can see what's new, what's popular, or even pick up a classic. ° Call a friend or family member you haven't spoken with in a while and talk about anything other than the job search. ° Go to your local animal shelter and see if you can take a dog out for the day. Most shelters are overcrowded and dogs sit in cages day in and day out getting more stressed and depressed. Having someone take them out for a day helps give the dog a break from shelter life. It also helps the shelter learn more about t...