TLK-FREELANCE

Joel Larner - Freelancer      Chris Wharton - Freelance    Jane Richardson-Aquent

This was a very useful networking session, providing advice on the relevant skills and a eye opener for what to expect within the freelance pathway. Helpful tips came out like creating some allies and regular clients. Make sure that you have a good quality about you something that is needed and a style/quality that may not be there. It is important that as a freelancer you find work and continually contact companies about working on with them and provide your skills assisting their creatives. It is important that when you get work and agree a sensible time scale in which to complete work, do not be false.  

Whilst in the networking talk I had the opportunity to hear about the company Aquent. This is a freelancing agency that allows you to have an external party manage you as a designer, whilst still giving you a sense of freedom. They have clients who come to them and then the process of finding a suitable freelancer for that job begins. You as a desginer have a workplace, a phoneline and a chase to start up your business. In order to get into their agency they put you through a skills test and then you are then graded in terms of skill.

It sounds like a very good opportunity which I am sure it is but it comes with a downside. The jobs are reliant on caparison with the client and it comes with the risk of not always having the financial stability. This can be improved and your set up towards freelancing will put you in great stead. 

Good tip: Dont take on too much as the quality drops. The quality is what keeps you reputation.

Note good and bad clients as these may jeopardise your schedule. 

It was a very useful talk and I am beginning to find these networking talks very beneficial to my professional development and I look forward to the next one.