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A Summer Job Search

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014|

A persistent job search myth: No one hires in the summer.

The truth is most companies hire at about the same rate in summer as they do the rest of the year and summer can be the best time to look for a new role. If you spend your time wisely, you still might be able to fit a couple of beach days in.

Why is summer a good time to look for a new job?

Time for onboarding and training–While many companies may have fewer projects to work on in the summer, they can take the time to interview, hire and train new employees without a lot of the stress of deadlines that come around during the rest of the year.

Temporary work–While some permanent employees are on vacation, companies can bring in new people on a temporary basis to try them out before hiring. As a potential candidate, you can show them how you work and how you would fit into their culture on the spot.

Less competition–Because other job seekers will believe the no-one-hires-in-summer myth, there are fewer candidates with whom to compete.

More relaxed–We are well trained to change our mindset in the summer to a calmer, less worried one than in the fall. Being more relaxed–as long as you are still prepared–can only help you in your interview process.

Fall is coming–The busier season will soon be upon those potential employers and if they want to have new, trained, skilled workers at their desks in September, they have to start the process in July or August.

Summer is when quality time management comes into play in your job search. Don’t spend all day, every day sending out online applications–get some recreation time in, too. But equally don’t give up your job search for the warmer months. Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for talent–help them find you.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Fun in Freelancing

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014|

There are lots of positives about being a freelance creative, but one that often gets overlooked is the fun of starting something new in a new place more often than people with permanent jobs. If you can look beyond the anxiety inherent in lots of “first days,” you can appreciate the great things about new starts:

Make connections–Like to make new friends and network? Short-term freelance jobs let you meet new people often and show them what you can do. You can never meet too many people, especially in your field.

Learn something new–Every project has unique challenges. Embrace them and you can keep learning throughout your career.

Explore neighborhoods–When you work in the same place for a long time, you can get comfortable, but you can also get bored. Ask one of your new friends to walk around with you on your lunch breaks for a few days. You never know what you might find.

Discovering a hole-in-the-wall restaurant or park isn’t the only perk to that walk. We came across a study from Stanford University this week that showed that “walking boosts creative inspiration” by as much as 60%.

So, when you start that new freelance gig, don’t be shy about walking around on breaks or at lunch. Ask your co-workers for the best places in the area to eat or read. Find outdoor spaces you’ve never seen before. You might find yourself an expert on parts of your city no one you know has ever seen, and you might also find it makes you more creative and more successful.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Freelancing and Sick Days

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014|

Illness comes upon us all on occasion. No matter how we eat or exercise or how many times a day we wash our hands, we get sick. But for freelancers, getting sick has an added bonus: no paid sick days.

Many freelancers will work on days they would take off if they worked in corporate jobs. Missed deadlines and unhappy clients are bad for business. Here are our tips for working when you’re under the weather, without missing part of your paycheck:

Don’t push yourself–Today is not the day to tackle a big project that isn’t urgent, even if you planned to. Your best work may be unattainable and you might end up having to do things over again later. Take it easy, slow and steady.

Let your clients know–If you get to the point where you really have to stop for the day and rest, communicate that. Most people are understanding–they’ve been there, too.

Keep it simple–Make a list of what really needs to be done today and another of what can be done tomorrow. Stick to today’s list.

Put it off–If there is flexibility about when your work gets done, put it off for a couple of days until you feel better. Working on Saturday may not be the most fun, but if it means you can take a nap on Thursday, that might be the best thing.

Do you work through illness or take time off? Let us know in the comments!

Wendy Stackhouse, Consultant for Artisan Creative

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Spring Cleaning Your LinkedIn Profile

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014|

Spring is here even in colder climates and it’s time to clean out your LinkedIn Profile as well as your closet. You should be revising your resume every quarter, listing new accomplishments and adding job responsibilities, volunteer experience, and of course proofreading again. Your LinkedIn Profile could probably also use a fresh eye.

Summary

Make sure your summary reflects what you are passionate about now, not what you were doing last year. If your focus has changed, it’s time to rewrite.

Files

LinkedIn lets us add files, photos and videos so if you have some more current writing samples or other work product, post it now.

Experience

Freelancers have probably worked for new clients in the last few months. Make sure you add those clients to your experience on LinkedIn and your resume.

Skills

Added anything to your skillset this winter? Add it to your list. When you add skills to your list, your connections can give you new endorsements. And if you haven’t learned anything new lately, go do that!

Connections

Take a few minutes to send invitations to the people you’ve met over the winter. They will be happy to have some fresh faces in their connections, too.

Landing a new job isn’t the only time to revise your LinkedIn Profile, and it is easy to let it get stale. Open the windows and shake out the dust!

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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Tax Tips for Freelancers in 2014

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014|

More and more of us are freelancing in 2014 and the numbers are expected to go up dramatically in the next few years. Freelancing brings its own tax challenges that some may have not encountered before. We are not tax experts or CPA’s at Artisan Creative, but we do keep track of tax issues for freelancers and there have been some changes this year that might affect you.

If you were already freelancing in 2013, we hope you took our advice last year and:

Tracked your mileage
Created a dedicated office space
Kept receipts for business expenses
Saved
Made a list of clients who should send you a 1099

What’s different this year?

Home Office Deduction

In 2014, this deduction is simpler–still based on the square footage you use for your home office, now the IRS uses a flat $5 deduction for each square foot up to 300 or $1500. Much easier than figuring out the percentage of your household expenses for the year, but it may be less for you since it is capped.

High Earners

If you earned over $200,000 last year as a freelancer, congratulations! The downside is that you will pay a 3.8% Medicare surtax on your income. But you did well!

Reducing Your Liability

Personal exemptions, allowed contributions to IRA’s, and contributions to health savings accounts were all raised for this tax year.

If you get to the end of the year owing self-employment tax, you should be paying that on a quarterly basis, so be sure to do so if you are having a great year or don’t have many deductions.

And if you get one, Happy Refund!

Wendy Stackhouse, Consultant for Artisan Creative

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Loving the Freelance Life

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014|

As it becomes more common–and easier–to choose the freelance lifestyle, more workers are finding out why their freelance colleagues love it as much as they do. They might even be getting a little jealous. Why do we love freelancing?

Entrepreneurship–Freelancing is the simplest way to run your own business. It’s just you, but you are the boss. Enjoy it.
Flexibility–To be a successful freelancer, you must be disciplined about getting everything done well and on time, but when and how you tackle your work is up to you.
Giving back–My personal favorite thing about freelancing is being able to make time to volunteer for my favorite organizations, even during typical working hours–when they need me most because so many other volunteers have to be at the office.
Control–Most jobs require you to accomplish a variety of tasks, some of which you love and some of which you most definitely do not. Ideally, freelancing allows you to choose projects you are passionate about and pass on the ones you are not.
Diversity–As a freelance writer, I get to vary the topics I am writing about from day to day and sometimes hour to hour. It’s never boring!
Building Relationships–Freelancers meet new people frequently by necessity. The perfect networking opportunity is a freelance gig at a new company. Not only can you bond with the people you work with, you can demonstrate your skills and get referrals for more freelance work in the future.

Sure, there moments when I wish I had someone just tell me what to do and let me do it, check everything off a list, shut off the lights and go home. Only moments, though. Then I look around and remember how grateful I am to have a life that works for me, my family, my soul.

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Freelancing in 2014

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014|

Whether you are already enjoying the benefits of freelancing or still thinking about taking the plunge, 2014 is a terrific year to break free of office life and go it on your own.

Experience

Think about when you learned the most on your last job. Probably in the first three to six months. If you’re a fan of lifelong learning, freelancing puts you in a position to learn new things on every project, with every client.

Flexibility

Although successful freelancing takes a lot of self-discipline, it also reaps rewards in self-actualization when you can spend your time in blocks that make sense for your lifestyle and your temperament. Nightowl? Fine. Love volunteering? Carve out the hours you need.

Ride the Wave

Entrepreneurship is on the rise and you could be part of a generational shift in the best way. Rather than changing jobs every few years, you can have a chance to try out different companies, find a niche for yourself, make important network connections and be a part of the 21st century economy. Forbes is reporting that one of every three workers today is working freelance and that will be one of every two by 2020.

Environmentalism

Working offsite reduces your carbon footprint, from the gas in your car to the power needed to heat and cool that giant office building you’re not working in. You also have more control of your food (lunch local) and the indoor environment where you are working.

Healthcare

Whatever your political persuasion, you now have access to health insurance that freelancers have never had before. Letting go of employer-based insurance is no longer the risky and expensive prospect it was until recently.

I’m excited to be starting a new year of freelancing with many once-in-a-lifetime experiences ahead. How about you? Tell us what you have planned in the Comments!

Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative

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Gift Ideas for the Creatives on Your List

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013|

Santa is not the only one making a list and checking it twice–we at Artisan have been finding some great gift ideas for the creatives in our lives all over. Wonderful design and clever ideas come together to make some really cool gifts this year:

You never know when or where your friend might get a brilliant idea, but if they jot it down in one of these Moleskine Evernote Notebooks, those ideas will never be forgotten. Take a photo with the Evernote Camera and their wireframe idea, doodle or blog topic will be saved in their online notebook as well as on paper. They come as journals or sketchbooks.

Designers think in color and drink a lot of coffee to keep to their deadlines. You can combine the two with these Pantone Coffee Mugs or if they don’t drink coffee but do love color and you have a pretty big budget, how about a full set of Pantone Color Swatch Books?

If your coffee-drinking friend is a copywriter, they might appreciate these mugs when they are proofreading. Sure to make them go “Arrgghh!”

And to keep all that coffee warm while they are working at their computer, how about a USB coffee warmer?

Don’t know why I love them, but tea towels are some of my favorite gifts. These tea towels designed by former Art Director, Writer and Creative Director Emily McDowell are perfect for your creative foodie friends:

We were really inspired by this list of 100 Gifts for Freelancers at Design Blender and here are a couple of our favorites:

Solar Phone Charger–even works stuck to an airplane window!

The 13th Edition of The Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines–Freelancers are always nervous about how much they should charge for their work and how to handle difficulties with clients. This should help in 2014.

Make their year with a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.

Only 8 days to Christmas! We would love to hear what your favorite gifts for the creatives on your list are this year!

Wendy Stackhouse for Artisan Creative

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How to Get the Best out of Your Recruiter

Thursday, November 14th, 2013|

For some job seekers, recruiters are a necessity in their job search. If you’re working full-time, new to a city, or generally unsure of how to approach prospective employers, a recruiter can turn what could be a long and daunting process into a pain-free and simple one. But how do you get the best out of your recruiter and how can you make the recruiting process an easy one?

Recruiters have to be prepared for the unexpected. Jobs can go on hold, candidates can change their minds, budgets can be cut and the market can be competitive. Working with a recruiter should work both ways. As a candidate, you should be up-front and forthcoming with information. After all, you’re trusting a recruiter to represent you to a future employer. It’s up to you to get the job; the recruiter just paves the way.

If you’re a freelancer, update your recruiter with your availability. Did you just get booked for several months meaning you’ll be off the market? Email your recruiter and let them know. That way they will know to get in touch when your contract is drawing to an end.
Realize that you may not be the perfect fit for that dream job you saw advertised. On paper, you think you have the exact qualifications and experience for a position, but aside from skill-set, there’s also cultural fit which, at times, can be equally important. You could be the wrong fit for a multitude of reasons: design aesthetic, years of experience, background, education, location. It’s nothing personal.
A recruiter’s day is a hectic one usually filled with multiple calls, meetings, and a mountain of emails. If you don’t hear back from a recruiter right away it usually means that you aren’t the right fit for the particular job they need to fill that day. If you don’t hear back after a few days, follow-up with an email.
Be proactive. Send a bi-weekly email to check in with your recruiter and see if they have any new positions. Check their job postings regularly and if you see something you like, get in touch. If you know of a company hiring and think you could be a good fit, ask your recruiter about it. They may be a client or have an existing relationship.
Be honest and up-front about your experience and situation. The clearer you are about your experience and what you can and can’t do, the easier and quicker your job search will be.
Refer people to your recruiter. Not only will your recruiter appreciate the gesture, but it will also forge a stronger relationship between you.
Engaging your recruiter doesn’t always have to be work-related. Connect with your recruiter on LinkedIn and Twitter. Invite them to industry networking events and make a connection outside of the office.

Working with a recruiter can be a great experience. Friendships and long-lasting business relationships can be built, so it’s important to choose a recruitment agency that puts candidates first. Have your own experiences or comments? Tweet me at @LauraPell_ or email at LauraP@artisancreative.com

Laura Pell, Talent Acquisition

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Messy Desk? Congratulations!

Thursday, October 24th, 2013|

I have a confession to make. Clutter does not bother me. Which is a good thing, considering I share my workspace with 2 teenagers, 2 dogs, a cat and a spouse. Luckily, dogs take naps, teens go to school and my spouse goes to work elsewhere, but they do leave behind enough clutter to drive anyone else crazy.

A recent study we read about in Pacific Standard Magazine discovered that I may not have to clean the house before I finish this post:

“‘Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights,” a team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota’s Kathleen Vohs writes in the journal Psychological Science. “Orderly environments, in contrast, encourage convention and playing it safe.’”

The study used the challenge of having to find something innovative to do with ping-pong balls while working in a neat room or a messy room. The messy room subjects and the neat room subjects came up with the same number of ideas, but the messy room folks’ ideas were more innovative.

You might have noticed that we like these kinds of studies: what makes people more creative or helps them get past creative blocks. Of course, we are all different and have our individual preferences. If you need a tidy space before your ideas can flow, plan time to tidy up before you sit down to work on that project so the clutter doesn’t get in the way. But if you’re okay with a little chaos in your workspace, you might come up with better ideas.

The bottom line is know yourself. Your process is yours–own it. And try to be tolerant of colleagues and co-workers who have different preferences. The person in the cubicle next to you might need all those post-it notes on the walls to help her to think outside the cube.

Wendy Stackhouse, Consultant for Artisan Creative

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