Comments on: One small step for mankind, one big leap for Hat

By: monkeyhands

monkeyhands — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:08:22 +0000

Thank you!

By: hatmandu

hatmandu — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:02:32 +0000

Yes, yes, definitely agree with all these! Oh, and good luck with the NUJ thing (sorry, too lazy/busy to post in the right place…)

By: monkeyhands

monkeyhands — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:17:41 +0000

I’d like to add to your list of factors-that-make-freelancing-work:

3. A plausible manner (combined with a talent for sounding like you know more than you really do, you’re more experienced than you really are and you’ve done more preparation than you really have).

4. The ability to stop at “good” or even “OK” and not keep working towards “perfect”

5. Putting yourself out there – on the web and in real life

6. Luck

I’m still working on it, but your ten-year landmark is something to aspire to.

By: undyingking

undyingking — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:46:32 +0000

Congratulations on the ten years! The first ten years are the worst, so they say. Then the second ten years, they’re the worst too. The third ten years you don’t enjoy at all. After that it goes into a bit of a decline.

By: skorpionuk

skorpionuk — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:23:26 +0000

Oh, thank you very much! It’s nice to have kind words on what is essentially a solitary path 🙂

Best of luck with your next ten year too. I hope you find a good balance and exciting new things.

By: lisekit

lisekit — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:41:45 +0000

Thanks for good wishes! I do think I’m more naturally inclined to work this way, but it does leave one bouncing around from project to project – fine when times are flush and you can pick and choose, but worrying when times are less so.

I think in the next couple of years I might anyway want to move into something more like education management (or even consultancy – in the sense of one you consult rather than one who does nothing all day!) rather than chalkface deliivery. I’m getting a bit old and stiff for all this endless jumping around….

By: hatmandu

hatmandu — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:30:57 +0000

Sorry, should have added my good lucks to you too, of course! Yes, tricky times… I always keep at least the corner of an eye on jobs, and there’s one of my regulars I’d turn to first if I needed one, but as I say, hopefully it won’t come to that. I really hope it works out for you too!

By: lisekit

lisekit — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:27:18 +0000

I’m currently feeling gently terrified. When I decided to go freelance six months ago, I think it was definitely the right choice for me – it allowed me to develop a better relationship with my three main schools (both students and staff – my old post could get a bit lonely when I only saw people once a week and most staff wondered who the strange person in the corner of the staffroom was!)

It also allowed me to take on a variety of exciting projects, like the Ballet Boyz project I’m working on at the moment, and finally it does allow me to get paid something approaching market rate instead of peanuts.

With all these advantages, however, comes a certain lack of stability, and I’m feeling a bit nervous about the short-term future now. On the one hand, it’s quite a useful time to be working in the public sector, as large amounts of money have already been committed to promoting a variety of physical activities “in the run-up to 2012” (and although I would generally protest that my discipline is an art, I will happily call it a sport if somebody pays me to do so). On the other hand, I can see the funding situation getting bleaker and bleaker in the next few years. It’s already started, and the current crisis isn’t going to make that any better.

So let’s just say I’m keeping one eye on the permanent jobs market right now.

By: drcosmos

drcosmos — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:45:56 +0000

I think the only true path for the likes of you and me is the dilettante one: we’re not really generalists or specialists but rather there are obscure specialised areas where we are expert and based on this, we can blag the rest.