By Jacqueline Dooley
October 2006 marks my four-year anniversary of self-employment although technically I took a seven-month hiatus from self-employed bliss (from August 2005 through February 2006) to work full time at a media buying agency.
Now that I am a full-fledged freelancer once again, I am frequently in the position of selling my services to various companies.
In the past, I’d found that large agencies — the Madison Avenue type — were reluctant to work with a remote employee and dead set against working with a freelancer. In fact, it almost seemed like freelancer was a four-letter word, but this perception seems to be changing and I am beginning to work for some very large agencies or directly for well-known companies.
In many cases, I am the first freelance marketer working directly with these companies. This is a great opportunity for me to prove freelance and/or remote employees can be as dedicated and effective as internal employees.
I would love to be the person who opens up a CEO’s eyes to the tremendous hiring potential of a remote, freelance, nontraditional work force. I know there are others out there like me — eager to work, dedicated to their industry, but disenchanted with traditional 9-to-5 jobs. In many cases, this work force consists of parents who must juggle the needs of child care and family with their careers.
I’ve never been a big proponent of climbing the corporate ladder. I love doing the work and I’ve been dedicated to figuring out how I can keep doing it rather than being promoted to a management position that takes it all away. Freelancing is my solution.
Follow the rules
There are some rules I think are essential to follow to prove your worth, dedication and capacity to be an indispensable resource to a company as a freelance, remote employee.
Be extremely accessible: When I speak with nervous human resource departments or vice presidents who have never worked with freelancers, they are very concerned I’m going to misrepresent their company, harm their client or be inaccessible when I’m most needed.
I address this by providing several ways for them to contact me including an e-mail address, phone number and often my instant messenger nickname. I also inform them of my standard response time to e-mails or phone messages (generally one to two hours).
Set regular office hours and stick to them: This is a very important fact to communicate to new or prospective clients. Stating that you are at your desk and available for questions, assignments and support from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or whatever hours you decide on) seems basic, but it’s easy to overlook. Simply stating it on the phone and reinforcing it via an e-mail can often ease the concerns of people who are wary of freelancers because of the misconception that we are unreliable.
Reach out frequently: Working on my own does not truly give me the freedom to come and go as I please. I have deadlines to keep and people who depend on me to get things done. If I’m going to be late to work, I send out an e-mail. If I’m going to miss a deadline, I call my client and explain why and ask for an extension. A five-minute phone call to touch base works wonders for client confidence — even if my 2-year-old is in the background crying or singing her ABCs.
Keep an updated resume: Traditional employers respond well to traditional employment documentation.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, June 24th, 2006.
By Jacqueline Dooley
In honor of Father’s Day, I think it’s only fair to devote this week’s column to my husband, Jim, a full-time stay-at-home dad. His dedication and commitment make it possible for me to work full-time and run my own business.
Last week’s article focused on comparing my plate versus Jim’s plate and how neither of us can fully understand the other’s day (in spite of being under the same roof during the work week). Jim commented that now that he’s home with the kids full time, he has a much better understanding of just how hard a job it is.
Jim was a cabinet maker in his pre-daddy days and, while he doesn’t miss the daily fear of cutting off a finger, the discomfort of breathing in sawdust on hot summer days or the mind-numbing detail work that was required of him, he confesses there are some days when the hours drag by and he feels less-than enthusiastic about his responsibilities.
‘‘It’s not just the fact that there’s a lot of work to do, it’s also about the type of work that is not necessarily rewarding.’’
Cleaning dishes, doing laundry, changing diapers, filling juice cups, brushing uncooperative teeth and hair and any number of endless mundane tasks now fill his week. ‘‘It can be demanding and thankless to the extreme. The kids are tougher bosses than any foreman I ever had,’’ he said.
Add to that the boredom and often unstructured nature of full-time domesticity and suddenly making cabinets doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. Men aren’t immune to beating themselves up and doubting their parenting skills, just like women do. It’s understandable that if you’re in a situation where you have no experience and are learning as you go (e.g., new parenthood), you’re going to have some doubts along the way.
‘‘I’ve always been very bad at organizing and don’t necessarily think I do a great job all the time,’’ Jim confessed. ‘‘With the kids, it’s hard to have a process because things change from day-to-day. I’m sure some parents are very good at getting that process down, but I have to work at it.’’
Connecting with the kids
From my perspective, he’s doing just fine. The kids adore him, the dishes and laundry are (relatively) clean and, most importantly, I don’t feel like I have to juggle 90 percent of the parenting responsibilities on top of working full time. I have complete confidence in his parenting skills and that gives me a tremendous sense of well-being when I have to be far away from my kids for business or otherwise.
When I asked Jim if he thinks these years at home with the girls are worth it, his response warmed my heart.
‘‘Absolutely. Working full time just to pay someone else to raise my kids doesn’t make sense. You have to develop a connection with them at this age (they are 5 and 2).’’
At this point I must have looked slightly distressed since; after all, I do work full time and have not had the opportunity to make the same day-to-day connection with the girls as he has. But Jim reminded me that since I work from home, the kids see a lot of me as well.
‘‘I think it makes a huge impact on their lives for them to see us a lot because you’re in the house working and I’m home watching them. If it was just you home and I was out working full time like a traditional nuclear family, the girls would have a much bigger connection with you. But we both change lots of diapers, we both do all the parenting ‘stuff’ and we equally share the responsibilities because we get to see them all day long.’’
What did I get Jim for Father’s Day? A new bicycle. I’d say he’s definitely earned it.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, June 17th, 2006.
By Jacqueline Dooley
Like many couples with kids who have one full-time working parent and one parent who stays home, my husband and I have been known to get into the “competition” mindset of who has more on their plate.
I’m well aware that taking care of small children can be an exhausting, unrelenting and often thankless full-time job (which doesn’t come with benefits or time off), but I don’t fully understand what it’s like for him since I’ve been far removed from five straight days in a row of full-time child care for quite a while.
I’m way more familiar with the nine-to-five grind that can be tedious, stressful and endless to the point where I cling to those brief moments of working-mom respite — weekends, vacations and holidays.
In my household, there are two interesting twists to this age-old debate of “my plate is fuller than your plate.” First, the mommy/daddy roles are reversed since my husband is the full-time caregiver. Among other things, his responsibilities also include housework, grocery shopping, cooking and shuttle duty (to and from preschool).
The second interesting twist is that I’m home all day long with him and the girls, which can make me (mistakenly) believe I understand his day perfectly.
It is an ongoing challenge for me to temper the urge to complain that I have more to do than he does, or that I am more in need of a break. I don’t think this is an aspect of working from home, but I think that being home all day brings this issue up more often than it might otherwise come up.
Social life is gone
This is because I work differently from home than I did when I had an off-site job. At the “real” office, I actually took two breaks a day and had a one hour lunch, for example. I chatted with colleagues and friends. Sometimes I went out after work and went shopping or went for a drink with a friend. In short, I had a life.
Those moments of socializing purely for the fun of it are pretty much gone. My days are starkly divided between work hours and personal hours. But personal is almost always all about family and this leaves little room for socialization. My friends are no longer in the cubicles across from mine.
This lack of focus on my social life and my own personal needs has a detrimental effect on my relationship with my kids and my husband. When there’s no down time for me, I become admittedly passive aggressive.
For example, my husband may ask for a break five minutes after I’ve finished working and I’ll say yes because I know he needs it, but I am reluctant to let him go guilt-free.
Even though I don’t want to dredge up the tired old tally of what I do versus what he does, it somehow comes up anyway. We both feel guilty. He doesn’t enjoy his break and I don’t fully enjoy the kids or the reprieve from work because I haven’t had time to decompress.
I’m not sure what the solution to this dilemma is, but I think it may have to do with communication on one hand, and respect for each other’s day on the other. The lesson I’m finding hardest to learn is to stop feeling guilty about asking for something — like a break once in a while.
I think once I can figure that out, it will work in my husband’s favor, too, since I’ll stop bestowing guilt. Maybe then we can finally put an end to the “more on my plate” competition.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, June 10th, 2006.
By Jacqueline Dooley
My computer is my closest companion during the work day. Most days it’s my only companion. Considering this, it’s no surprise that I have an arsenal of digital resources at my disposal to help me accomplish my job — not the least of which is my instant messaging program, Trillian.
Trillian allows me to chat with colleagues, associates, friends and family across several different IM platforms, including Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and the tried-and-true AOL Messenger. In fact, I send instant messages to my husband regularly even though he’s within shouting distance (an absurdity that I’ve grown accustomed to.)
We both use IM as a tool to help communicate throughout the day. It helps me avoid the unpleasantness of prying a tearful 2-year-old off my leg each time I need to tell him something.
If IM is my trusty right-hand tool of choice, then e-mail can be considered my left hand and both legs. I have my e-mail program set up to scan three different e-mail accounts every five minutes.
I use my e-mail not only as a means of communication, but as my primary to-do list and also as a way to track my hours. I have an elaborate e-mail filing system that breaks down each and every project, person and client that has cause to send me an e-mail in a way that makes it easy for me to retrieve messages that may be months old in just moments. I have grown so accustomed to this electronic way of tracking my files, I run a near paperless office.
Merge calendars
Another important tool is my daily calendar. I use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, but also for scheduling. My husband and I even e-mail appointments to each other so our schedules sync up. My calendar is a hodgepodge collection of business-related conference calls, doctors’ appointments, evening jam sessions (my husband is a musician) and bill payment reminders. I can’t believe there was ever a time I managed two separate schedules — one work-related and one personal.
The heart of my day is spent online, thus my (other) most important tool is my Web browser (primarily Internet Explorer, but I also use Firefox). I try to stay focused on completing work-related research and marketing campaign management, but when I need a break the mom side of me creeps in. I have been known to update my daughter’s blog during the work day, I’ll admit, or check to see what’s on sale at OldNavy.com.
I’m an information junkie, which is practically a job requirement because my profession — online marketing — is a fast- moving industry driven by technology. Thus my online tools of choice include feed readers so I can scrape news headlines from all over the Web, podcast aggregators, so I can listen to the latest web-based ‘‘talk radio’’ shows relevant to my industry, customized news pages on Google and Yahoo and tons of e-newsletters that get delivered to my e-mail box in bulk on a near-daily basis.
At the end of the day, I’m never sorry to close my laptop and dash downstairs for some very low-tech domesticity that may include bubble blowing, laundry folding, potty training and, in general, much needed time away from my computer.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, June 3rd, 2006.
