What and who am I sick of today? People who continue to think that their freelance rate should add up to the same amount as a base salary. That’s great that you are making fifty even sixty dollars an hour as a freelancer. You should be making that much if you have to pay your own medical benefits, begrudgingly allow the government to take more of your money for taxes, AND having to deal with the paperwork/collections of your little one-man show. However, if you decide that you want more stability and start applying for a full-time, agency position then you are going to need to recognize that your base salary is going to be lower than what your freelance rate indicates. Why? For the reasons I just mentioned. You are no longer covering full medical benefits, they do all the client leg work for you, and unless you work for Crispin, there is a controlled amount of work you are going to put out. That’s why you contacted me about a full-time position in the first place isn’t it? To add a little more structure to your life?

But possibly the most frustrating part about these conversations I have with candidates is that I can’t seem to get it through their heads that they ARE NOT taking a step down. Get a freakin’ calculator out for goodness sakes and we can go through all of your finances together and I will show you that you are coming out ahead in a variety of respects. This will cost you a small fee, of course, as I am not your accountant but for fifty dollars and the sake of rightness I’ll do it. Where I find the most humor in all of this is when a candidate tries to convince me he’s worth X amount of money because he’s been running his own business all this time not JUST freelancing. (laugh) The fact that you have jargon on your website that indicates, in a round about way, that you may have employees at FunkE-Designs does not make you the President of an ad agency. Just as much as putting “we” instead of “I” in the “services offered” description on your site doesn’t mean you have employees. I know it’s just you over there on the other end of the computer wearing a dirty t-shirt and some tighty whities knocking out some graphics for some agency reject project. So stop with the whining. The jig is up. I don’t care if you want to spend your whole life freelancing. Do it. It can be a really great option for certain lifestyles. However, if you are questioning whether the freelance or full-time life is right for you then keep reading my blog because there are some things you ought a know first. When the time is right, you’ll know when your ready to contact me for a job.

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