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Ken Poshedly wondered: <<I would LOVE to work from home, but no
matter how much business talks-the-talk, they refuse to walk-the-
walk...>>
I've heard this many times. To fix this, you have to understand the
problem from their perspective before you can figure out how to solve
it. The usual problems are that they don't know you from Job, and
thus have no idea whether you can do the work; they have no idea
whether they'll be paying you to play Solitaire rather than to do the
work; and they have no idea what kinds of problems will arise if
you're not available to come to the office at a moment's notice to
discuss something.
If you can reassure them that none of these issues will affect the
job, you can sometimes make the sale. For example, providing strong
references from someone they have reason to trust and portfolio
samples can prove you've got what it takes; setting a fixed price
rather than an hourly rate ensures that you won't be padding the
bill*; and explaining how you plan to communicate ensures that they
can count on you being there when they need you.
* Of course you _will be_ padding the bill to cover surprises. But
the point is that you don't have a perceived incentive to let the
work drag out for hour after hour -- which clients often fear if you
set an hourly rate.
Even then, the argument doesn't always work; I couldn't convince my
former employer to allow this, even after 10 years working for them.
They'd simply grown too attached to being able to drop into my office
at any time to discuss something or to haul me off to a meeting. The
ca. 15-minute walk to work from my home? Too long to wait. Oh well...
<<So how does one secure an at-home tech writing contract job for a
client far too far to actually meet with? Occasional visits onsite at
client's expense are just fine, though.>>
That's a good start. It's human to be more confident working with
someone you've met in person than with a disembodied voice at the end
of a telephone or the complete lack of voice in an e-mail.
<<I myself have over 22 years documenting everything from computer
accessories (2 years), to factory equipment (12 years), to heavy
earth-moving equipment & forklift trucks (7 years), to cement
manufacturing plant design and startup (now over just 1 year). Plus
10 years before that in other journalistic positions.)>>
In that 22 years, have you made any professional friendships you can
leverage? There's nothing like a personal recommendation from someone
trustworthy to get your foot in the door at another company. In fact,
something like 75% of my business comes from exactly this kind of
personal recommendation. On the downside, it's led to exponential
growth in one of the less-lucrative segments of my clientele, but
them's the breaks.
<<At my age (57, which we covered in previous posts late last year),
it's harder to secure fulltime permanent employment>>
Although this is often described as age discrimination, my sense is
that more often the problem is economic. Someone half your age will
ask much less money for a full-time position, but may have enough
experience to do a comparably good job. The solution is to directly
attack the compensation issue: prove that you can do the same job for
the same or less money. That removes one of the biggest obstacles to
hiring you.
The other issue is, indeed, age stereotyping. For example, anyone
over 50 may be perceived as a health risk. Again, the way you fight
stereotypes is by providing evidence that reassures them they won't
have to worry: a clean bill of health from your doctor, for example,
plus the assertion that you no longer indulge in extreme sports
(unlike your younger colleagues) and are thus less likely to end up
hospitalized right before a major deadline.
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