|
Northwest Independent Editors Guild Meeting, May 10, 2010
After introductions, the speakers talked about using recruiters in landing contract work. The question was asked, What kinds of work are available and what kinds of skills are needed? The Guild is also hoping that the recruiting agencies can help publicize the Guild to those who hire.
Skills and Schedules Having a website is good and being experienced with web sourcing is becoming necessary as its popularity grows rather than sending PDFs or links. Creative Circle is mainly looking for people who have experience in web development, project management, design and marketing. They can be freelance, and part-time or full time. Editors with experience in marketing and advertising are preferred, and people are recruited to work on annual reports, and with design agencies, too. A wider set of skills makes recruiters happy, plus the ability to edit in many different mediums. Pay attention to layout and content, and not get hung up on just the words. Aquent, which recently purchased Sakson and Taylor Consulting, prefers people who have a variety of skills. They recruit for positions editing print and web, long and short form. Aquent does provide contract work for Microsoft (skills needed in social networking, technical editing, content editing; vendor management; technical writing; and, especially now, game-writing for Xbox). Aquent also recruits for T-Mobile, Safeco, Liberty Mutual, Isolon, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, generally for full-time positions. Few jobs are off-site; sometimes Fridays are allowed to be at-home workdays. Creative Circle also recruits for positions at companies such as DNA, Heckler, and All Recipes, and works with both full and part-time employees and freelancers. The pay ranges vary from freelance to pay scale per hour which is going to be less, but will include social security, taxes, etc.) There are not many proofreading jobs at Microsoft. The University of Washington and Bellevue College Editing Programs are well-respected, but experience really counts. Be flexible in pay and types of jobs to get the experience. Many contracts go for 3 months with extensions of up to a year. Knowledge of and experience with HTML and XML is very helpful. The website www.w3schools.com is a reference/tutorial for HTML. Having experience with InDesign or Photoshop is useful. Work for free if necessary to gain the necessary experience. The International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (www.ismte.org) is a good resource for technical editors. French, Spanish and Japanese are the foreign languages most useful right now. Proofreading marks are not going away, but would be good to learn or relearn. You can purchase Mark My Words, a workbook to practice proofreading marks.
Relationship with Freelancers Creative Circle has online tests to do during the application process. Aquent now uses a registration process with phone screening; references must be given up front and they will do a background check. Credit reports may be needed, especially for positions within financial companies. Recruiters need to figure out what type of job will fit a person.
Benefits At Aquent, there is a training reimbursement program of $500 credit for classes and they also provide classes through lynda.com free. A person placed in a contract position by a recruiter is working for the recruiting company and will receive a W-2, not a 1099. Benefits are available depending on the number of hours worked per week, and recruiters will send résumés to prospective employers, and will negotiate for jobs on the person's behalf. If there are any problems, does the
recruiter become an advocate? A-dash - term for person who works hourly on-site at Microsoft V-dash - Vendor hired for specific project. (no break required)
Protocols Freelancers can work with others in Aquent who may "own" a job placement, rather than their main recruiter. Larger companies tend to use the same ID# for jobs, and you need to keep track of which jobs you have applied for through recruiting agencies, as well as on your own. You must give permission to Aquent to represent you with the ability to send email on your behalf. Do not play one recruiter against another, and don't find out about a job through a recruiter and then try to apply for it independently. If you do apply for a job on your own, you can't then submit through a recruiting agency for that same job. Sometimes jobs come up that you can ask the recruiter about. Recruiters like to be considered partners with their freelancers and genuinely enjoy finding jobs for people. You don't want to work for an agency that charges you to find you a job. Employers pay recruiters. How often should you check in?
Applying to a Recruiting Agency Aquent moved to social networking and you can't register until you're invited to. Then you get a password and can create your profile. Call or send an email to get started. References - At least 3, two of which could be clients for freelancers, since you may not have worked for a supervisor for awhile. Choice of clients can vary; (e.g., most recent, biggest projects, etc.) Microsoft has a company policy that restricts managers from giving references. Make sure to contact your references to let them know that they will be called, so they can prepare. Before and after jobs, keep up your portfolio. Have some examples in digital form, besides hard copy in a notebook. If you work for a company that has a nondisclosure policy and you are not able to show your work, keep a clean, detailed résumé about the process, your role and effect on the project. Use comments from coworkers, and use screen grab to capture images that have been published and are in the public domain. Should we tailor the résumé to each job?
T
--notes submitted by Kathleen Sidwell |
