Tag Archives: independent contractor

In today’s job market, which is stronger? The need to remain loyal? Or the instinctual desire just to survive? Based on recent polling numbers, I’d say the pendulum is swinging toward survival when only 45% of those currently employed can express any type of job satisfaction. And seriously, when the second best reason those polled state as a “good thing” about their current position is the commute, there’s something very wrong.

When I explore my feelings on this subject, it’s from a different perspective. I don’t have a full-time gig. I’m one of those currently swimming in the independent contractors’ pool. But I AM being faced with a similar dilemma.

Do I continue to remain loyal to the small, regional agency I’ve been freelancing for over the past 9+ months with the hopes that the “job offer” they verbally extended months ago will actually materialize? Or do I respond to the job posting for one of their competitors?

My heart tells me to remain loyal because I’ve really enjoyed working with the agency. And feel the work has been outstanding.

My bank account says “go for the possibility of a regular gig that is currently open.”

Sure, this is totally hypothetical. First, the current opening is just a posting on a job board. There’s no guarantee that they’ll A) be interested, B) actually want to interview me, and C) offer me the job. Granted, there’s no way to know if any of that actually happens unless I pull the trigger and send out the email that has been sitting in my Draft folder for days.

The challenge with all of it, is an upcoming trip planned to the city where both agencies are located. I need to respond to the posting soon if I hope to have any possibility of an interview. But if I do, and because it’s a small market, do I run the risk of spoiling any possibility with the other agency I’ve been freelancing for? I mean, these people have to talk. And when I list some of the work, people are going to connect the dots.

I’ll admit that I’ve been struggling with this. I believe my pendulum continues to swing more toward the loyalty side. But I have to be realistic that, with our desire to locate to a smaller (and more affordable) market, my choices are more limited. Sure, I continue to get freelance from other agencies, but the whole battle to keep work coming in gets tiring. Especially if one of my biggest sources is the one agency.

I have about 24 more hours to struggle with this before I need to “shit or get off the pot.” And this decision is honestly causing mental hemorrhoids. And I’m not satisfied with that in the least.

I love the English languange. And in this particular case, I’m talking about the Queen’s English.

Recently, during a lull in freelance projects (Why is it that projects all come in at once, and then, like the ocean’s waves, all go out to sea at the same time?) I sat down and watched the movie, Kinky Boots. It’s the story of an old world shoe factory that has to come to terms with a changing marketplace.

And like so many companies, trying to create a niche wherever they can find it. (I won’t spoil the storyline of the movie by saying exactly what this niche was for this particular industry.)

But what I did find relevant, is that this factory was facing the same issues our current workforce is dealing with – layoffs. Or as the English like to call it….redundancy.

I’ve never felt redundant in any position in my life. I always felt like I was bringing something unique to the table. But apparently that isn’t always enough to keep your job. And now, those that are lucky enough to still have a full-time position, it’s not just a fear of redundancy that is creating tension.

Last Sunday, I was reading an article in the Los Angeles Times (pictured here with a link to the article). In it, they talk about the current workforce is toiling longer and harder just to keep their job.

Many U.S. workers are being pushed to toil harder and shoulder the load once carried by colleagues who’ve since been laid off. That can mean long days without overtime pay or raises, less family time, and more mental and physical fatigue.

Don’t like it? Walk out the door and you’ll join 15 million unemployed Americans, the largest segment of whom have been idle for more than three months. Your former boss will have plenty of replacements to choose from. There are about six job seekers for every opening.

I’ve been in those situations before. My first job after post-grad work was for a publishing company. My next door cube mate was released of his responsibilities, which I inherited. On top of all my other ones. And, of course, without any additional compensation. But I needed the job. So I did it. (Granted, I made more money working 3 nights/week waiting tables and bartending than I did in 40 hours there, but it was the experience I needed.)

Another time was back when I was managing a restaurant in Texas during the oil bust of the mid-80s. There were no PR jobs, so the only thing my recently acquired college diploma was good for was wall art. While managing, a sr. manager (to me) took a “medical leave” which left me doing all my normal duties AND hers. So when she came back, of course I naturally assumed that she’d take them back over. Oh contraire! I was actually reprimanded for not performing all these duties because “once I’d taken them on, I had to keep doing ’em.” Granted, what I didn’t know at the time was that this particular manager was “doing” the regional manager who just happened to be married. To someone else. But that’s a whole other story….

I can honestly say that, no matter how stressful the constant search for new projects can be, that this “break” from punching someone else’s clock has been good for me mentally/physically/spiritually (and probably kept me from punching someone’s head during the past few months of my most recent FT gig). And I’ve managed to do pretty good for myself, and produced work that I’m quite proud of.

And I know, that while I’m ready to consider (and hope to find) a position with a new agency or company, that I’m not ready to sign back up for 12+ hour work days. Or picking up additional work when someone is made redundant.