{"id":1138,"date":"2017-04-12T13:56:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T13:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/?p=1138"},"modified":"2017-04-12T13:56:38","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T13:56:38","slug":"freelance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/freelance\/","title":{"rendered":"Four reasons to be a freelancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"2017\/365\/18 The Key To Being Defiant\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cogdog\/32246876812\/in\/album-72157676945830671\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/1\/445\/32246876812_dfa93351e9_b.jpg\" alt=\"2017\/365\/18 The Key To Being Defiant\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>After so long time outside of permanent employment, I\u2019ve begun to wonder if there is a job that will a) have me, and b) that I would give up freelancing for. To help me think this through, I have begun to wonder how I ended up as a freelancer.<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was prompted by <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dougbelshaw.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doug Belshaw<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s excellent post on his <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dougbelshaw.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/04\/two-years-consulting\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">two years of consulting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; and it is working well for him and for many others. However, (possibly because I have been doing it for so long) the relative instability of income, the constant business development (ie self promotion), and the relative isolation make it a curious choice for an increasingly risk-averse extrovert like me. So, what\u2019s made it work for me so far?<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>I love learning.<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my twenties, I believed the lie that if you got formal qualifications: developed a love of learning; that this would be valued in the workplace. While my eclectic and enquiry-based learning has been rich and meaningful for me, I can number on one hand the times when my employer valued my learning behaviours. <\/span><\/h4>\n<p>However, as a freelancer, my ability to bring analogies from other fields (history and science, especially) is often highly valued by my clients. These are useful filters to explore challenging problems and to find approaches towards solutions.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being a freelancer means I have the space to remain curious and open to new learning &#8211; and for that to be valued. If only I could find somewhere to work where I could keep learning.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>I\u2019m a \u2018Jack of All Trades\u2019&#8230;<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8230;where most jobs descriptions seek a master of one. I find my mind works best making connections rather than in digging deep. Though I\u2019d admit to being an edtech geek, I do not feel comfortable with the mantle of the expert, and will happily point to someone who really does know about a topic rather than pretend. \u00a0However, in a world where the self-publicist generally wins, admitting when you don\u2019t know something or passing the torch to someone else is all too often seen as weakness.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All too often, I\u2019ve sat in with a project team where a developer is asked about some new tech when he (all too often it is a \u2018he\u2019) only really feels comfortable talking about the one he is an expert in. Or watched a marketing person avoid using social media channels because they know the process of generating print materials inside out. These experts end up trapped by their domains and the organisations they work for miss out on their potential for interdisciplinary working.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While I do know a lot about the education sector, I have been responsible for activities in a number of different roles across this diverse area &#8211; including educator, producer, marketeer, salesperson &#8211; and from Early Years into HE. This means that I am well placed to help coordinate teams and to help find ways for evolving the work they do. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, I often find that this perspective means that managers think I am only interested in \u201cstrategy\u201d work &#8211; as that is how most organisations place this interdisciplinary view &#8211; but, this is a mistake. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For one thing, very little time \/ resource at work has strategic value but almost all of it impacts across teams and domains. Every team needs someone (not just a project manager) who can see outside of their field of expertise. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More often than not, the timeliness of the work I do as a freelancer is that I can often spot jams and build bridges quickly and sensitively because I know (a little) about each trade and respect the work they do. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>I work as hard as is healthy<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This has not always been a positive for my career, I am afraid to admit. In our high-stakes culture, I have struggled to compete with those who will put in more hours than me. I do not enjoy working harder than others and tend to avoid stress. I will actively seek an easier way to do a job, before pulling my neck in and knuckling down. I will question a deadline, challenge scope and find the priorities before overcommitting myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can work hard &#8211; but, in all honesty, I\u2019ve got soft, nimble hands, with few callouses. I\u2019m not work shy- as nearly two years working in restaurant kitchens proves. I have seen that working hard doesn\u2019t always equal more value or return. If a job cannot be done within the hours budgeted for it &#8211; then, often, it is the fault of the resource manager &#8211; not the resource.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most hard working people I know seem to <\/span><b><i>chose<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to work too much with little extra impact, for too little respect or return, and for too long. I do not want to do that, and have come to resent managers who, because this is what <\/span><b>they<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> did, expect this from their team members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I care about my mental and physical health. I am not a \u2018stress bunny\u2019. I don\u2019t want to work in the evenings and weekends. I like being with my family. I think most people are the same.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a freelance resource, \u00a0as I am paid by the hour or day, clients have huge respect for my time. I like this. If more jobs respected people in this way, there would be many more happy employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>I do not suffer fools and\/or bullies, gladly<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been lucky to have had more good managers than bad &#8211; but I have walked out of a few jobs where the office politics has been overwhelming. My patience levels for poor practice, discrimination and petty personal differences are way too low for most organisations. I like doing a job well and, while I have a very healthy ego, do not lose track of the \u2018end user\u2019 &#8211; whether that is the children in a class, the customers of a business or the community using a service. They are always more important and more interesting, and I\u2019d rather focus on them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I assume that, sometime, cooperation can be balanced by a little healthy conflict, to resolve a difference of opinion. If I\u2019ve cocked up or got something wrong, I expect someone to call me on it &#8211; as long as it\u2019s \u2018Kind, Specific and Helpful. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answers \u201cwell, that\u2019s how we have always done this\u201d &#8211; \u201cbecause I said so\u201d &#8211; \u201cthose guys are always blocking me\u201d reveal one of the great fault lines in the modern workplace &#8211; where we often talk a great game of cooperation, but tend to structure the workplace in hierarchical silos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being a freelancer keeps me well out of these unhealthy dynamics and mean that (mostly) I can chose who I work for. If someone is being an arse, I can walk away. I can also stand up against bad managers, speak truth to power, and draw attention to discrimination when I see it. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>I have not given up<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>If the right job came along, I\u2019d jump at it. I am sure there are workplaces that allow space for learning, value the connections between teams, respect the work\/life balance and the people who work there.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There might even be some places where they need someone who can create and manage learning experiences,&#8230;someone like me! Perhaps you could point them my way.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe I\u2019ll end up creating a great place to work again. Maybe, you are looking for a co-founder or setting up a cooperative. If you are, I\u2019d love to know more.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until then, I\u2019ll keep on, keeping on.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk\/i-w600\/keep-calm-and-carry-on-freelancing.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"700\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After so long time outside of permanent employment, I\u2019ve begun to wonder if there is a job that will a) have me, and b) that I would give up freelancing for. To help me think this through, I have begun &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/freelance\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,171],"tags":[20,221,177,220],"class_list":["post-1138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-eylan","category-thinking-out-loud","tag-consultant","tag-employment","tag-freelance","tag-freelancing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2vDki-im","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1138"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1140,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138\/revisions\/1140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezekiels.co.uk\/eylan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}