culpwrit

   Jeff Holmquist 

Thinking about becoming a freelancer rather than an employee of a company?  While the flexibility and variety of projects and organizations may be appealing, you need to do your due diligence and prepare before making the switch. 

Start by looking inward and realistically determining if you have the characteristics required to be an entrepreneur:

·         Do you like frequent change in assignments, teams, and schedule?

·         Do you enjoy learning new things?

·         Are you willing to do whatever it takes to complete client assignments on time in a high quality manner?

·         Are you willing to devote the time necessary to find new assignments? 

Websites such as entrepreneur.com and inc.com can help you determine if you have the characteristics necessary to be a freelancer.  You may also want to take an interest inventory at a local college’s career and placement office to see if business and management come out high on your results.

As part of your introspection, reexamine your career and life goals.  When you are older and contemplating retirement, what do want to have accomplished both professionally and personally?  What is your passion?  Depending on what is important to you, you may not want the instability that can come with freelancing or may not have the time to develop your business.  

Next, determine what skills you can offer potential clients.  Beyond education, this is where your experience as an employee can really pay off.  What skills have you learned or deepened in your career so far?  What do you enjoy doing?  The services you have to offer are the crux of your business plan.  In addition, you need to consider:

·         Who are the customers you will target for your services?

·         How will you differentiate yourself from competitors?

·         What is your financial plan?  How much money will you need to begin your business and what is the minimum you need to live?

In addition to the websites mentioned previously, the Small Business Administration site at sba.gov has advice and resources on writing your business plan.

Finally, you need to execute your plan.  You can even begin before quitting your job.  In fact, this is preferred to see it you really have what it takes and really want to be on your own.  Think of it as a trial period or pilot of your plan to see if it will work.  You can complete part-time assignments and begin to build your clientele while earning a second income!  You may find that you prefer the “stability” of being a full-time employee and the ability to do freelance work when desired on a part-time basis.

Whether you decide to freelance on a full- or part-time basis, you will need to operationalize your business plan.  Determine what type of business structure (i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation) makes sense for you.  The websites mentioned previously help with this along with the Internal Revenue Service’s site at irs.gov and your state’s tax department site.  From a liability standpoint, you may want to incorporate as a subchapter S corporation or limited liability company (LLC), or purchase errors and omissions insurance.  You may also need to register with the IRS and your state, county, and city as a business enterprise.  An attorney or CPA can help with this.  

To track income and expenses, initially you may want to use Excel or another spreadsheet package.  Over time, you can migrate to QuickBooks or other more sophisticated software package.  You should also plan to make estimated tax payments during the year to the federal and state governments on your income as a 1099 contractor.   

In addition to working on current assignments, you will need to develop new business by networking in person and through websites such as linkedin.com.  Websites such as guru.com, sologig.com, and elance.com also provide leads on projects.  Over time, word-of-mouth from clients will help bring in additional business.

It is also important to interact with other freelancers to stay up-to-date on new developments and regulations, support one another, and take a break from work.  Associations such at Freelancers Union provide an on-line connection, and you will also want to seek out events in your local area.

Although the grass may appear greener as a freelancer, you need to do your due diligence and prepare before making the switch.  You may find that you prefer the security of a regular paycheck and navigating the political waters of your current employer after all.

Friend and former colleague Jeff Holmquist is President of JRH Consulting, Inc., a management consulting firm that helps organizations transform and improve operations.  He has 25 years of business experience in corporate and consulting roles, multi-billion dollar companies and start-ups, and has generated performance improvements and cost savings totaling nearly $100 million on an annual basis.

   Bob Kornecki 

There’s been so much talk lately about finding a job, the question is:  What do you do to keep a job after you’ve worked so hard to land one?

My first boss at Burson-Marsteller told me that one of the surest ways to get ahead is to work harder than your peers.  “Come in an hour earlier to get a head start on the day, and work an hour later, and you’ll be just fine,” he said.

If I had been a cynic, I might have scoffed at the idea.  Surely, his advice was purely meant to increase my billability every week.  What about my work-life balance?  Wasn’t I supposed to be working smarter not harder?  The concepts weren’t even invented back then.

I simply appreciated having a job at a respected firm following graduation, respected my boss’ advice, and followed it almost subconsciously throughout my career.

Clearly there are many other ways to impress the boss and to thrive in the public relations business, but most successful people will tell you that there is no real substitute for hard work.

Bob Kornecki spent 35 years in the public relations agency business with Burson-Marsteller and Edelman. His book on How to Thrive in the Public Relations Business – 35 Tips from a 35-Year Veteranis available on Amazon.com and recently was published on Kindle.  He currently teaches public relations and organizational communication at DePaul and Loyola. 

I lost my prescription sunglasses last week, and spent several hours on-and-off looking for them.  Finally, I gave up the search and decided it was time to buy a new pair.  That evening, they mysteriously turned up on the floor of my car.  Once again, I was reminded that sometimes the best way to find something is to stop looking for it.  The same sometimes goes for a job search. 

Pressures of landing a job are so intense that we sometimes need to take a break.  Guest poster Tim Conway sent me an article from The Miami Herald that suggests if you’re working harder looking for a job than you ever did in your last job, maybe it’s time for a break.

More often these days, the right opportunity comes from connections.  Lauryn Franzoni, vice president of ExecuNet.com, says that her recruiting firm’s research shows only 20 percent of jobs available are advertised.  The best places to learn about hiring, she says, are the golf course, basketball court, a book club or church meeting.

“Get involved in something you love and wish you had time for and use it as a way to meet others who can help you,” Franzoni says.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of stress associated with any job search.  Circumstances driving urgency of landing a job include rent and mortgage payments, student loans and expiring unemployment benefits.  However, if you’ve been searching non-stop for a job, don’t let guilt keep you from taking a break.  You need to recharge your mental and physical batteries, and someone you meet might lead to the job you’re looking for. 

One of my favorite idiomatic expressions before offering a point of view is “here’s my two cents worth.”  For me, it’s a self-effacing way to offer up ideas and suggestions without sounding overly authoritative.

I was told by a regular reader last week that she often wants to add a comment, but is reluctant to do so for fear of asking a silly question or sounding arrogant.  After that revelation, I queried a few other readers who said they feel the same way, although one said he reads so many blogs that he never takes the time to offer his own points of view. 

Culpwrit readership has grown dramatically since I first started posting here two years ago.  Daily hits average 6K, yet comments remain sporadic.  When you read something of interest, please take the time to share your point of view.  If you have suggestions for future posts or questions, you can send them anonymously to me via the Contact link. 

Let me set the record straight:  I love reading your comments and am willing to pay you a penny for your thoughts.

   Aaron Levie   

Two years ago, I read Inc. magazine’s top 30 under 30 feature story (a.k.a. America’s coolest young entrepreneurs).  At the time, I wondered how many would find ultimate success in business.  Today’s New York Times Corner Office column validates the career and wisdom of one of those young entrepreneurs–Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box.net, an online file storage company that allows access of data from anywhere. 

What I love about the Corner Office column is the weekly questions about how CEOs hire.  Hearing how a 25-year-old CEO thinks about hiring is especially relevant to young job seekers as well as hiring managers.  Here’s how Aaron responded to two key hiring questions: 

Q: Let’s talk about hiring.

AARON:  One thing that’s really important is understanding what they’ve done in their career.  Just walk me through how you got to where you are today.  What are the factors that led to specific decisions — that can give you a level of insight into behavior and how they make decisions. One thing that I’m asking now is to talk about a project or job — “What could you have done differently to do that bigger or get more revenue or execute better?”  You see if they can look back on their decisions and find out where they could have improved.

Energy and persistence are the two most important factors, in addition to just having a clean résumé where there’s nothing crazy going on.  In a business like ours, we have to be super, super competitive, and we have to be able to get people who are going to be persistent and relentless and have a level of energy that gets them through challenging things.

Curiosity is another big thing and a way to identify who’s going to be energetic and have the right attitude. Sometimes the best people are the ones who are very curious about our business model, how we’re going to grow.  They actually care a lot about us as a company; that’s actually been a pretty good way to find people who are going to be really dedicated to the business.

And ultimately, we’re looking to hire people who can adapt to what a role might become, not just what it is today.  When you’re at a start-up, things move and scale very quickly, and you want to hire people who can grow with the company and into roles that expand beyond the job description they were hired for.

Q:  If you could ask a job candidate just a few questions, what would they be?

AARON:  “What questions do you have for me?” That will help you see how they’re thinking about the challenges.  A lot of times I’ll say, “When you’re thinking about Box as an opportunity, how do you compare it to other organizations? What do we have that you want to be a part of?”  Getting them to articulate the values back to you about what kind of organization they want to be a part of can actually be very useful.

When I began my agency career seven years ago, I hadn’t yet heard of a Social Media Strategist.  Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing the title until maybe two years ago.  Today, agencies and corporations have created a bull market for the digitally savvy.   

Individuals addicted to social media are the best candidates for careers in online networking.  College students should hone their skills in social media–going beyond routine texting and Facebook.  Those with a true passion for everything digital emerge as top candidates for excellent, fun social media jobs. 

CareerBuilder blogger Rachel Zupek cites the following five prospective jobs for social media gurus:

1.  Recruiter
2.  Strategist
3.  Enterprise architect
4.  User operations analyst
5.  Director of social media

Q.  I have been looking for jobs at ad agencies and I see many positions that are available.  I’ve made a lot of contacts through LinkedIn.  The issue I face is that I do not have any traditional ad agency experience.  My major was a discipline that I designed to cover all aspects of advertising from the creative to the management.  Many recruiters have told me to get an internship, but I work to support myself.  Currently I do advertising sales.  What is the best way to approach this situation? I feel like the longer I stay in my current position the more difficult it will be to reach my goal. 

A.  Since my primary focus is on PR, I asked two friends in the ad world to offer their suggestions for your dilemma.  One heads a major agency, and the other is an account executive in her third year at a major agency.

EnergyBBDO President and CEO Tonie Paul says you’ll need to get serious about finding an entry-level job at an agency before it  is too big a step back for you financially. 

“Depending upon his experience to date, it is possible that he would be a candidate for an entry level position,” Tonise says.  “The most critical thing he needs to do is to determine what kind of position he is looking for within an agency.  Then he needs to start hunting to determine his entry options.  He might even explore different kinds of agencies (e.g., events, healthcare communications, digital).  If he is intentional, he can do it!”

Taylor McDougal at Draftcb feels relationships within the industry and through LinkedIn are important, but they only get you in the door, they do not get you the job.

“The most integral part of finding a job at an advertising agency is having relevant experience,” Taylor says.  “So although it may be rough financially for awhile, the best choice would be to take any internship offers so that you can start building your skill set within the agency.  After that first internship, it’s much easier to move up and get hired within the same agency, or look for entry level positions at other agencies.”

Q.  After reading your answer to the “Dealing with Disappointing Job News” question, I decided to ask my own version of that question.  After receiving an offer letter from one agency, I accepted it immediately.  The offer letter had every bit of information I needed to know: the dress code, start date and time, where/how to park, etc.  Everything was set for my summer internship, but exactly one week before my start date, I got a disappointing call from the agency, informing me that my offer was rescinded due to company budgets.  I was very disappointed, and did my best to sound polite and positive on the phone, but I have not talked with the company or internship recruiter since the phone call.  Should I send them a “thank you for the offer” note?  Should I contact them in any way, especially since I am graduating in December?  -GB

A.  Fluctuating workloads are common in agencies today.  As agencies attempt to meet stricter utilization and billability goals, staffing decisions are made closer to need than ever before.  Unfortunately, you were caught in the middle of this staffing mishap.  You did the right thing by staying positive and understanding during the difficult call.  Yes, you also should send a thank-you note to the hiring manager and HR recruiter–noting your understanding of the situation and expressing interest in joining the agency in the future when other opportunities arise. 

As graduation nears, you should re-contact the agency and subtly remind them that you had been hired this summer, and disappointed that you were not able to work with them due to last-minute client budget cuts.  The fact you had been selected for this internship and good old-fashioned guilt should position you well for the next opening at the agency.

Agency culture will be the deciding factor for a friend who has been interviewing for a new position with several agencies.  Feeling he made a mistake in chosing his current firm, he now lazers in on the all-important corporate culture.  He’s also found that it’s a two-way street since a couple of employers are equally interested in his fit within their particular cultures.

After having just discussed the importance of the right cultural fit with my friend, I was intrigued to read the Corner Office interview with Drugstore.com CEO Dawn Lepore in today’s New York Times.  In discussing hiring, Lepore mentions some of the subjective (a.k.a. intuitive) factors of hiring decisions.  It’s more than what’s on the resume.  Here’s how Lepore describes her hiring decision-making process and the importance of culture fit:

“I’m a very intuitive interviewer, so I want to get to know people. I always ask them to tell me their background.  I can read it on the résumé, but I always want them to describe their background to me, because it’s interesting to see what people choose to tell you about themselves, how they describe the moves they’ve made, the changes they’ve made.

I’m looking for intellect, I’m looking for experience level, I’m looking for cultural fit, which is hard to describe.  It’s more of a soft thing.  And then I am looking for this whole commitment thing. Are they willing to stick it out during hard things?  How have they handled setbacks?  How have they handled tough times?  If you ask them about things they’re most proud of, are they things they’ve done themselves or are they things where they’ve helped a team do more than they ever thought they could?”

Q.  I’m attending a liberal arts college that doesn’t offer a PR curriculum, but I want to pursue a career in PR.  One of your earlier posts seemed to indicate that communication degrees aren’t required to land a job in public relations.  Did I make a mistake in my college choice or can I still land a PR job when I graduate in two years?  -HG

A.  When I started out in PR, many bosses sought out liberal arts majors since they felt they were good thinkers, who could be taught what the organization needed them to do.  But that was before the significant advancements in college PR education that have occurred over the past 15 years.  Students coming out of accredited PR programs have a definite advantage due to their PR-specific training and and hands-on experiences.  However, you can enhance your competitive chances significantly by building a resume that includes PR volunteer experiences with campus organizations, relevant internships and attendance at PR seminars or conferences.