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…

This blog goes out to all the great candidates who find themselves unemployed despite having top agencies and great account experience featured on their resumes. I have been there. And ‘there’ is akin to hitting rock bottom and picking up a shovel. The ad industry is not for the faint of heart. Accounts go into review and the smart agency people send out feelers for employment in the (likely) event that the account heads out the door. Very few people who have been in this business for a decade or more have escaped the hatchet of circumstance. There are things…

The fine line between the ideal and the reality of the next job opportunity spans the time most creatives are reluctant to discuss. The freelance years. In your search for a full-time position, it is common practice in this business to worry about being pigeon-holed into a specific industry. It is a more common misconception to believe you have avoided the same pigeon-hole with a nine-year record of freelance work on your resume. Creative Directors will see this almost-a-decade as time spent with feet glued to the flypaper of advertising life. At this point in your career—especially if you want…

Let’s face it, if we could all work from the coziness of our own home, we would. Should we, however, is the real question.

Those of us who started freelancing post 9/11 did what we had to do. The market took a big dive and everyone was scrambling for work, trying to pay the bills and, well, eat. Since then the job market has improved, and is still experiencing steady growth. Interestingly enough, an enormous amount of talent is still freelancing.

Freelancing affords various luxuries a full-time job doesn’t: making our own schedules, picking and choosing which clients to work with, increased…