Archive for June, 2007
I finally updated my Events page. Here is what’s coming up…
June 21, 2007 - Talk and Q&A on boosting your freelance career
WHAT: “Career Advancement for the Self-Employed”
WHEN: Schmoozing at 6 pm, dinner at 6:30, talk and Q&A at 7
WHERE: Hale’s Ales, 4301 Leary Way NW, Seattle
REGISTER: Online or by voice mail, (206) 781-7315
Sponsored by the Association for Women in Computing
June 24, 2007 - Panel on getting published
WHAT: “Publishing: From Literary Journals to Magazines,” at the June 21-25 Writing It Real writers conference
WHEN: 3:15 to 5:15 pm (on a Sunday!)
WHERE: Harborside Inn, Port Townsend, WA
REGISTER: Email conference@writingitreal.com
July 9, 2007 - Talk and Q&A on boosting your freelance career
WHAT: “How to Cherry-Pick the Best Clients and Grow Your Freelance Business”
WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 pm
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle
REGISTER: Free for interested editors; just show up!
Sponsored by the Northwest Independent Editors Guild
August 4, 2007 - One-day book publishing workshop
WHAT: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Publishing Your First Book (But Were Afraid to Ask)”
WHEN: 1 to 5 pm (on a Saturday!)
WHERE: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Seattle
REGISTER: Email registrar@hugohouse.org or call (206) 322-7030
Fall 2007 - Four-week class on freelancing
WHAT: “Cultivating Your Client List” online course
WHEN: Exact dates TBA
WHERE: Your computer!
Offered through the Editorial Freelancers Association
October 6, 2007 - Panel on flex and freelance work
WHAT: Seattle Women’s Summit
WHEN: Exact time TBA
WHERE: Seattle University, 901 12th Avenue, Seattle
Sponsored by the Seattle Women’s Commission
To stay updated about future anti 9-to-5 events, subscribe to my mailing list.
June 20th, 2007
Aimee writes: I just finished reading your book and loved it! It’s been going around my office like crazy. I was wondering, since you’ve lived in Seattle (and so do I!) if you could tell me if there are any temp agencies that specialize in placing people to do writing? Or is there a way to find temp agencies with different specialties?
Aw, thanks, Aimee. A couple temp agencies in Seattle that have multi-week or multi-month contract gigs for writers: Filter/Talent and Big Fish. A couple bigger agencies that have more tech-oriented gigs for those with geek experience: Volt and Sakson & Taylor (aka S&T Onsite). Also Resources Online has freelance gigs for writers with a tech background. (I have worked with some of these agencies but not all of them, so please don’t take my mentioning them as a blanket endorsement. Also note that I’m more familiar with the kind of Seattle temp agency that puts you on a multi-week contract or a freelance job, not the ones that call you at 7:30 a.m. and say, “Can you come in today?”) More on finding agencies in a moment…
Getting a call back: It can be hard to get an agency to pay attention to you if you merely submit a resume through their web site, so make the extra effort to connect with someone there. Go to their office sometime to drop off your resume, chat up the receptionist, and ask to meet one of the recruiters, who you should then charm mercilessly. Or ask everyone you know if they have a contact you at your dream agency and ask them to make an email introduction (or just email the person using your friend’s name). Or get on a local listserv like DigitalEve or SeattleWritergrrls and ask the list if anyone has a contact at your dream agency they wouldn’t mind sharing. Even if you have a contact to work, you have to follow up — not daily, which is annoying, but every couple weeks (give it at least three tries before you call it quits). Otherwise, you may never hear back from these resume-inundated people.
Finding other agencies: If my list of agencies doesn’t float your boat, or you don’t live in Seattle, here are a few ways you can find additional agencies near you. I’m assuming you’ve already asked everyone you know if they have agencies to recommend; if not, do that first. Because you do want to go with an agency that people you know and trust have nice things to say about. Other ways to track down agencies, listed in order of my preference:
- As mentioned earlier, join a free local listserv like DigitalEve or SeattleWritergrrls, both of which have branches in other cities and accept out-of-town members. Ask the list for recommendations. You will probably also see a number of actual temp jobs posted to these lists each month by agency recruiters who subscribe to the list(s).
- Go to a couple of schmooze parties to hobnob with other industry pros. See Mediabistro’s events page and ILoveSeattle.org for ideas. Ask people you meet for their thoughts on local agencies.
- Post your question in the Mediabistro forums. You will probably get an earful.
- Look on job sites like Seattle24×7, SimplyHired, PayScale, Monster, CareerBuilder, Vault, etc. Agencies will list their longer-range contract gigs (three months or more) there. In Seattle, these will often be high-tech.
- See what you can dig up on Yelp. I tried this and noticed that (a) lots of local temp agencies were listed, and (b) some even had reviews by other temps. Bonus!
- Look in the Yellow Pages (print or online) or do a Google search on “Seattle temp agency” and “Seattle temp agency writers” (you can also replace “writers” with “editorial” or “creative”).
Breaking into the tech sector: In Seattle tech is of course king, and people ask all the time if they need to get a tech writing or editing certificate at UW in order to land this work. I don’t have one; then again, I fell into tech work 15 years ago, and from there, slid right into the dotcom world in San Francisco. I doubt the certificate will land you any jobs (you’ll still have to look for them after you nab your certificate), but it may help familiarize you with and train you in the wonderful world of high-tech writing and editing. In other words, it should give you some skills and boost your confidence.
A couple ways you could transition from low-tech to high-tech writing sans costly certificate:
- Get some freelance or temp experience writing about various business sectors, either as a journalist or a copywriter: real estate, finance, sales and marketing, manufacturing, whatever. From there, writing about telecomm, web, or software products is a natural leap — it’s just another business sector.
- Get into the fold of an agency like Filter/Talent and then ask them to try you out on a small tech project. Once they know and love you and see that you can write about anything from coffee beans to bat guano, they’ll be more likely to give you your first big tech break.
If anyone else has tips about Seattle agencies, breaking into tech writing, or finding a temp agency in general, feel free to chime in. And if you have a question for the Cubicle Expat, ask away.
June 19th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Michelle Madhok, New York, NY (interviewed in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide!)
My job: Founder and fashion expert for online shopping sites SheFinds.com and MomFinds.com; both started in February 2004.
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: I run my own business, so although I probably work more hours, they are my hours. Working for corporations for ten years, I grew tired of all the politics and inefficiency. I had lots of great ideas but felt frustrated and stymied by the structure. I also don’t like being told what to do — and that kind of doesn’t jibe well with the corporate structure.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: Director of marketing for a television network, and director of editorial for a large Internet service provider.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: I had saved up some money, but the real boost was a severance package that gave me a four-month head start.
My biggest obstacles: Fear. I’d been a good corporate citizen all my life and I was terrified of going broke or not being able to get another job. I ended up doing some consulting part-time while I built the business in order to ease the transition. I highly recommend HiredGuns.com — for those in NYC looking to make a move to freelance.
My tips for other cubicle expats: Make your mistakes on someone else’s dime. Try to get projects in your current job or take on consulting gigs that will allow you to learn what you need to know and meet people that can help you when you make the break to run your own business. For example, after I left my full-time job I took a consulting gig with a company that wanted me to come up with an email marketing plan. I spent two months learning everything about best practices in email marketing. The company I consulted for paid for all the research reports and for my time!
What’s that link again? SheFinds.com and MomFinds.com
Read past anti 9-to-5 profiles. Then fill out your own profile to be featured on this site.
June 18th, 2007
I’m guessing many of you saw this MSNBC article on how women and men who delay breeding (a) because they want to focus on career, etc. first, and (b) because they see fertility technologies as a sort of impregnation fallback, may find themselves getting bitten in the womb when they decide they’re ready for parenthood.
Now before you get your panties in a twist, let me say that the focus of the article was not on pitting mothers against non-moms, or employed moms against stay-at-home moms (thank god). Nor was it on commanding all able-bodied women to squeeze out a litter as soon as humanly possible. The focus of the article was on how many would-be parents who put off breeding till their late thirties and beyond find that, even if they can afford the costly fertilization hacks, the odds are often stacked against them.
As someone in her late thirties, I’ve given the baby thing a lot of thought lately. I have friends my age who are trying to conceive, and it has not been anything close to a cakewalk for them. I have a guy in my life that I feel deeply committed to, and I feel like we need to get square on where we stand on the conception thing, given that the window of biological opportunity is rapidly slamming shut. And in case you’re wondering, my mom-o-meter is currently on pause, which is pretty much where it’s been for as long as I can remember.
Given the above, I initially came away from the MSNBC article thinking, “Hmmm… so… if by the time I’m 40 I’ll only have a 5 percent chance of getting knocked up, I wonder if I can stop using birth control…” To which my far more practical, mathematical boyfriend replied, “That’s still a 1 in 20 chance of getting pregnant.”
After I stopped gazing at my bumpless navel (and purchased another case of condoms), I started to think how sad it was that career and motherhood have become so either-or for so many women in this society. How many women would have a kid sooner if more companies would make it easier for them to do so without career or financial penalty? And by “easier,” I of course mean offering flex and part-time schedules, as well as the same wages and advancement opportunities as their non-mom counterparts. I’ll try to dig up some stats on the number of women who say they postponed motherhood because they didn’t want to sacrifice career. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think on all this.
June 17th, 2007
In honor of Dad’s Day, I thought I’d pass these along:
HR Magazine: Flexible work schedules are the workplace benefit fathers appreciate most (53 percent), followed by telecommuting (34 percent), on-site child care (12 percent), and paid paternity leave (10 percent).
FOX News: More dads say they struggle with work-life balance than moms, found a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Adecco USA, a career-services consultancy. Curiously, a majority of men also said they would not take paternity leave if their company offered it.
BusinessWeek: In a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, employers cite child-care issues as causing more problems than any other family-related issue in the workplace, with increases in absenteeism and tardiness reported in nine out of ten companies. And 80 percent of the companies surveyed said that work days were cut short because of child-care problems. (Moral of the story: Give us flex work or give us death!)
New York Times: When it comes to U.S. CEOs, men still predominate. (Duh.) Even in the nonprofit sector, women make up just 29.6 percent of chiefs. But that looks like progress when set against the number of head honchos of semiconductor companies (3.1 percent) and aerospace firms (4.5 percent).
Downtown Women’s Club (press release): More than half of working women do not think that they are affected by the gender wage gap. (Newsflash: They’re dead wrong.)
PRWeb (press release): Nearly one-third of all married women in the United States now make more than their husbands, according to the Census Bureau.
The Economist: By 2020, more than half of the UK’s millionaires may be female.
June 16th, 2007
I had a blast yesterday doing an interview on Felicia Sullivan’s web radio show, Writers Revealed. (Podcast here.) I loved that I was on the “cubicle edition” of the show, right after novelist Joshua Ferris, whose book on office life — with a sticky-note-riddled cover! — is now at the top of my reading list.
Felicia asked me something no one’s asked me about the book so far, to list some of my top tips for negotiating a raise or rate. Studies show that women have a harder time than men asking for what we’re worth. We don’t want to brag, and we certainly don’t want to talk cash — we’re taught that both are pushy, crass. To that I say, get over it! Do you want to make friends with the hiring manager or do you want to make rent? Besides, career coaches and HR experts say that managers respect you more when you don’t undersell yourself.
Here are the negotiation suggestions I made on Writers Revealed (some live on the show, some on the show’s blog):
- Don’t beg, whine, or whimper. Just put on your poker face and cough up that dollar amount. Then, as painful as it might be, wait for the response. The idea is to sound confident, not desperate or unsure of yourself.
- Do the market research. And don’t just use sites like Salary and PayScale. Talk to people doing what you do or aspire to do, and check with industry associations, which often do salary surveys. Ask people on listservs to email you off list to talk cash. (Many lists have rules against talking turkey online because it could be construed as price fixing, which is illegal.)
- Don’t flat out ask someone’s salary. Most people find this rude. Instead, ask what salary range or fee they think someone with your level of experience in the field can command. Or ask what their company might pay someone with your background. Or call your competitors and pose as a potentially interested customer. Or check your competitors’ sites; some pros will post their rates online (though if you work as a service provider in something like writing, editing, or web design, I wouldn’t advise this — rates vary from project to project).
- Cozy up to your calculator. Before you negotiate, figure out what amount of dinero you need to be paid for the gig to be worth your while, of course factoring in what the going rate is for someone with your experience level in that industry and geographic region. If that amount is $50K a year (or $50/hr), tell the hiring manager you want 10% more. That way if they haggle with you, you’re not starting at your “no way i am doing it for less” bare bones amount.
- Remember, it’s not personal. This is a great tip I got from Michelann Valterra, one of the fab speakers at BizJam, a rocking indie business conference I spoke at this weekend. Your self-worth is not determined by your hourly rate, or whether you get the gig. Try to remember that. In other words, compartmentalize and grow a thicker skin.
June 11th, 2007
Just a quickie to say that I’m headed down to Portland (OR) this a.m. for two Single State of the Union readings. I’ll be joined by the book’s editor, Diane Mapes, and several of the book’s contributors. Though I’m reading from my story “House Without a Spouse,” if you come to either event I’ll be happy to answer your anti 9-to-5 questions before or after the reading.
The deets:
Monday, June 11, 7 p.m.
Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd.
Beaverton, OR
503-228-4651
Tuesday, June 12, 6:30 p.m.
In Other Words — Women’s Books and Resources
8 NE Killingsworth St.
Portland, OR
503-232-6003
June 11th, 2007
…Martha Early of EarlyGirl Designs, purveyor these amazing jewels. Here’s her tale of workplace woe, which she promises me is true.
I was a junior attorney at a slimy personal injury firm. The paralegals won a radio contest about why they wanted to throw their boss (the head attorney — biggest cheese of all) out of a plane at 20,000 feet. The prize was a free skydive for the boss. He acted all brave on the radio but told me in private that he was terrified of heights and I had to go in his place — or else. On the morning of the skydive he faked a back injury and I went. While being broadcast on the radio to the whole city, I crash-landed and sprained my ankle. He didn’t care.
Oh, the irony: A Personal Injury Legal Peon sustains an injury trying to save the (Wimpy) Big Cheese of Ambulance-Chasing from his own bodily harm. Priceless! Thanks for sharing, Martha, and have fun at BizJam. And thanks to everyone else who sent in their job horror stories.
June 7th, 2007
If you already are or long to be self-employed and live in the greater Seattle area, you’ll want to know about BizJam, an indie business conference/party happening all day and night this coming Saturday, June 9th. The event is put on by the fine folks at Biznik, an online/offline business networking group that rocks the tagline “business networking that doesn’t suck.” (Here’s some press on Biznik in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.)
I’ll be leading a one-hour workshop on how to ditch your day gig at BizJam. But that’s only one fiftieth of what’s happening at the event. There are a 20+ other workshops and panels for bootstrapping business owners scheduled too, on topics like radical accounting, raising your rates, lining up your own benefits, writing a killer business plan, blogging, raising your Google rank, guerilla marketing, creating an accountability group, and the ever-popular more. BizJam also features a swanky catered lunch, a fashion show, 300 other local indie pros to rub elbows with, and an evening bash — complete with booze, DJs, and an aerialist.
Here’s the BizJam schedule. Here’s where you register for the daytime event, the nighttime soiree, or both. And here’s the time and location for each:
8am to 5pm - Youngstown Cultural Center, West Seattle (View map.)
7pm to 2am - New Little Red Studio, South Lake Union (View map.)
As an added bonus, BizJam has given me one half-price registration coupon for both the daytime conference and evening bash ($65 value, which means instead of paying $130 for the whole shebang, you pay just $65!). And I’d like to give it to one of you! So we’re going to have ourselves a little online raffle-slash-storytelling contest. The ground rules:
- Email me your best 100-word-or-less story about the absolute worst job or worst boss you’ve ever had by 6 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, June 6th.
- Entries that look excessively long (obviously several thousand words, despite my request for just 100) won’t be read.
- If you have questions about the assignment, please post them in the comments below so others can benefit from them.
- Remember, your (short) workplace tales of woe in my inbox by 6 p.m. PST this Wednesday, June 6th. Late entries won’t be read.
- All ages and genders and job situations welcome, of course. You don’t have to be a business owner to enter — or to attend the conference and/or evening shindig.
- I’ll notify the winner by email on Thursday, June 7th and post the winner’s name — and story — to this here blog that same day.
Good luck, people!
June 4th, 2007
The anti 9-to-5er: Rachel DuBois, Orkney Islands, Scotland
My job: I started Do Good Design, a web design company for people who “do what they love.” I handle the creative stuff, like design and writing, while my partner does the techie side.
What makes my gig anti 9-to-5: Let me count the ways…
- I work in my living room in front of a fire, not in an office.
- My hours are when I choose, usually evenings and late nights.
- I do work I love, in the way that I work best.
- I live on an island of 16,000 people in the northernmost part of Scotland, where we don’t lock our doors.
- I take plenty of time out to chat with my husband (also self-employed), play with cats, and read.
I could go on, but it sounds smug and I don’t mean to be. What I do hope is to help others escape the drudgery I felt in my 9-to-5 life and the accompanying compulsion to buy junk to compensate. I started my own business because I wanted to make the most of my beliefs and skills, in a way that allowed me to have plenty of time to be with my husband and future children.
My husband is British, and we spent the first two months of our relationship traveling around the UK to figure out the best place for us. We settled on Scotland, and later on Orkney, because it gave us the community, clean air, safety, and slower pace of life we both craved. We lived in a yurt (tent) for the first three months here, and we’ve learned what we need to have and what we don’t so that we aren’t spending what I alone was spending in my corporate life.
We both feel we’re on a mission: to be happy and to help others be happy. I could wax poetic on the subject, but suffice it to say it’s a challenge (yes, a challenge — it’s hard to be happy with what you’ve got and know what it is you truly need), but we’re getting there.
What I did in my former 9-to-5 life: Web manager for a major telecom company in Washington, DC, then for local government in Scotland. I did that for five years.
How I made the anti 9-to-5 leap: Saved up for two years and cashed out all of my retirement. We also sold the only thing we really owned, which was a small parcel of land that could have been used as a down payment on a house.
My husband started his business first, so we devoted ourselves to getting that off the ground for a year until I figured out what I wanted to do. I spent a year just helping my husband and living life for a while. I hadn’t not had a job since I was 12 (lots of babysitting gigs then), had worked my way through college, and always felt a steady income was a necessity.
By cashing out everything we had, we got to lead a free life for a while. It’s been two years since I left full-time employment, and it’s been great. Not without stress, but miles better than before.
My biggest obstacle: Money was an issue at first. The looming fear of it running out almost any day now. But gradually we noticed that somehow, the money would come. My husband would get another booking for his work, I’d find some cost savings, something. Then we realized money fear in our case was a state of mind: we could spend lots of time worrying about it going away someday, or focus on the fact that we have it right now.
Lack of advice and support was also an issue. My husband’s business idea of teaching courses in ancient survival skills was met with a lot of skepticism and derision. My idea of running a web design business only for people who started their “dream business” was slated as too “narrow” a focus. We’ve stuck to our guns. Ultimately, we decided that to modify our businesses to suit the professional advice of others would ruin them.
Instead, we support and advise each other. We sit down everyday to talk over our businesses, and problem-solve and cheer each other on constantly. We never could have done it without making the conscious effort to take the time, every day, to sit down and talk.
My tips for other cubicle expats: The first major tip of mine would be: DO WHAT YOU LOVE. If you’re not sure what that is, take the time and space to figure it out. I found Finding Your Perfect Work by Paul and Sarah Edwards enormously helpful. It walked me through not just finding what I’m good at or interested in but helped me shape that into a viable business. That made all the difference. [Note from Michelle: Or your could just buy The Anti 9-to-5 Guide, a much fresher, hipper take on the topic.]
Tip two: Take it step by step. It can seem such a steep mountain to climb, the path to your new life. I still don’t know what my summit looks like — I just follow the tiny waymarkers on the path, trusting I’m going in the right direction.
What’s that link again? Do Good Design
Read past anti 9-to-5 profiles. Then fill out your own profile to be featured on this site.
June 2nd, 2007
Previous Posts
