After some thought and consideration on the best way to say "no thanks", this was my response to the company looking for some work on spec:
Good morning, Ms. Xxxxxx,
Thank you for your interest in my work. Though the project sounds interesting, spec-based work is not something I'm pursuing at the moment. Should you be interested in contracting my services in the future, please feel free to get in touch me for further job quoting.
Regards,
r
Did I handle it right?
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The neverending argument over spec
There's been an ongoing argument over spec work within the design community for quite some time now (I'm not going to rehash it here, since right now the most likely readers of this post will already be aware of it). I have my opinions on the subject (the short version boils down to "yeah, no"), but it was always something that happened to someone else, and never to me.
Today, however, things appear to have changed. But I feel I need to give a quick recap of the last 9 months to give things a bit of perspective.
At the end of last June I fully joined the ranks of the unemployed for the first time. At first I thought it would amount to not much more than an extended vacation, and things would return to normal. After the 6th month, I wasn't as optimistic. Now, 9 months in, I've decided that I need to take matters into my own hands and am in the process of getting some sort of career as a full-time freelancer of the ground. I've been lucky to have found recently a client that's been consistent with work. I know that I can't prosper with just one client, so I've been trying to round up gigs through other means. Which brings us to the point of this post.
As a rule, I'm pretty particular and wary about answering online ads. I answered one earlier this week that had a flat fee and was very specific in it's scope. Everything about it appeared legit to my overly active spider-sense. Today I got an email in my inbox that says otherwise.
Here's an image of the email:
All the basic earmarks of spec are there-- (according to them) lots of applicants, the promise of payment if selected, with the added dangled carrot of lots more money if chosen, or the promise of potential future work if not chosen this go around.
I haven't decided quite how to answer back. I'm trying to strike a balance between principled indignation and professional politeness, but am drawing a blank. Comments, thoughts and crits are welcome always.
r
end trans
Today, however, things appear to have changed. But I feel I need to give a quick recap of the last 9 months to give things a bit of perspective.
At the end of last June I fully joined the ranks of the unemployed for the first time. At first I thought it would amount to not much more than an extended vacation, and things would return to normal. After the 6th month, I wasn't as optimistic. Now, 9 months in, I've decided that I need to take matters into my own hands and am in the process of getting some sort of career as a full-time freelancer of the ground. I've been lucky to have found recently a client that's been consistent with work. I know that I can't prosper with just one client, so I've been trying to round up gigs through other means. Which brings us to the point of this post.
As a rule, I'm pretty particular and wary about answering online ads. I answered one earlier this week that had a flat fee and was very specific in it's scope. Everything about it appeared legit to my overly active spider-sense. Today I got an email in my inbox that says otherwise.
Here's an image of the email:
All the basic earmarks of spec are there-- (according to them) lots of applicants, the promise of payment if selected, with the added dangled carrot of lots more money if chosen, or the promise of potential future work if not chosen this go around.
I haven't decided quite how to answer back. I'm trying to strike a balance between principled indignation and professional politeness, but am drawing a blank. Comments, thoughts and crits are welcome always.
r
end trans
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