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Job Contests, Spec Work and The Self Employed.
By Matt Richardson | March 13, 2008
Recently there has been a lot of buzz in the self employed/freelance circuit about job contests and spec work. Well everyone has their own feelings on this subject, and everyone is entitled to their opinion on this subject, realistically I see shades of both good and bad on both sides of the argument, but for the most part I am against job contests and spec work, and I’ll tell you why…
Job contests and Spec work devalues the talent.
With most job boards and all spec work not only are they typically fairly low paying situations, but there is always the possibility that the designer may get the typical “I don’t like it, so I don’t have to pay for it… right?” Be aware on both sides time is money and although it is the self employed/freelancer’s job to make sure their client is happy, there is never going to be another situation where it is acceptable to say “I don’t like it so I don’t have to pay for it…” it simply does not work.
It breaks the client/provider relationship
Your brand is one of the most important features about your company (or at least it should be). So why would you want just any one to work on it? Face it, no matter how good any one can be at writing instructions, it is VERY hard to fit everything in your brief. Every client should welcome questions and in almost every case every self employed/freelancer should have plenty of questions to ask about the project. However spec work and design contests typically have a connotation along the lines of “Show me what you can do and then we can start a relationship”. This simply does not work either.
Lastly it’s is fairly dangerous to the self employed/freelancer
When you look at most contests or spec work, there is almost always the same set up, the client, what they need, and what they can pay. This to most people may sound that it is fairly simple I mean come on it looks like this is the company, this is what they need and this is what they will pay, well unfortunately this is not the case, most of the time just because they CAN pay is not always what they will pay. With spec work and contests there typically are no contracts and no guarantees for the freelancer. What most freelancers have adopted is the idea of “No contract, No work”.
After mentioning this, my stance on spec work is fairly simple and strait forward. I STRONGLY prefer to stay away from it! When it comes to contests I have a little looser view on them. Although I do not prefer them I know that I am not above them, but only in the right circumstances. How do you feel about this? (From a business perspective or from the freelancer’s perspective?)
Topics: Corperate Identity, Help and advice |
