Things I hate about my job
Being a pest. I can’t tell you how much time I spend bugging people – e-mailing, calling, leaving voice-mails – continually trying to schedule interviews, follow up on things I’ve sent or I’m waiting for, get approvals, etc. The struggle is constant. Then again, it could be worse. I just heard a woman named Jackie Spinner on NPR who lived in Iraq for 13 months while reporting for the Washington Post. Now she had a struggle. I must remember that next time I’m feeling sorry for myself.
No-shows. Here is a great example of something that happens more often than you’d think. On Thursday I got a quick turnaround job that was due the following Thursday. I had to interview a guy for the story and wanted to set it up early the next week to give myself some time to work on it before the deadline. Monday was already full with other interviews and meetings all day, so I had e-mailed him saying, “Would you be available to talk next Tues. around 2-2:30? Or possibly Monday at 11:00 a.m.? If not, maybe you could give me a day/time that you're available and I’ll try to work around it…”
He e-mailed me back: “Let’s meet Monday at 2:30…” Well, I thought maybe he misread my e-mail, but rather than point that out, I decided to let it go and just assumed that was the only time he was available. So I juggled my schedule a little because he’s a very busy guy and I wanted to get him when I could.
I managed to show up at 2:30 on Monday, and when I arrived, his assistant tells me not only is he not there, he’s not even in the office that day! So on Tues. I get an e-mail from him apologizing for the mix-up, saying he had meant to write “Tuesday,” in his e-mail (and that’s what he put on his calendar) but wrote Monday by mistake! I guess I should have questioned it. And the bad news was that now he couldn’t together till Wednesday at 3. But, of course, my copy was still due end of day on Thursday, and am I gonna write my editor and tell her that big ol’ tale of woe? No, I am not. (Note: when I did finally meet with him, he rather lightheartedly told me he’d been skiing with his kids on Monday…Grrrrr.)
Concepting. I used to like doing this, but continually coming up with “fresh” new ideas is hard. People always say, “We want an ad headline that will really grab the reader’s attention.” I want to say back to them, “How about this one: ‘READ THIS F-ING AD OR I’LL KILL YOU.’ Think that’d get their attention?”
Time sheets. It’s not easy keeping track of every moment you spend working on every job. For instance, last night in an effort to get to sleep, I started thinking about a brochure I’m writing. I spent about an hour on it (and actually came up with a good idea) but I feel kind of guilty about putting that down on the time sheet. So I usually don’t.
The other thing that’s hard is that I’ll be in the middle of one job, and somebody sends an “urgent” e-mail about some little thing that “has” to be done asap on another job, so I stop what I’m doing to deal with the emergency, then before you know it, a half hour is gone and needs to be recorded. Kind of annoying.
Invoicing. I really don’t mind doing invoices (nice to see what my hard work earns); it’s the math I hate. All those little quarter hours that have to be added up: .25, .50, .75, 1.5, 2.5, etc. etc, It’s excruciating for someone like me who hates dealing with such an exact science. And I’m always making mistakes! Just today I got an e-mail from a gal who said, “Keasha, are you sure your invoice amount is $2398.75? I get $2388.75 when I add it up.” She was totally right! I had inadvertently written $887.50 for one of the projects that should have been $877.50, so the final tally was off by $10. Thank God the people who hire me are not the same people process the invoices or I’d probably never work again.
Meetings. Corporate people have no idea what they’re asking of freelancers when they invite us to meetings. Easy for them, they’re right in the building, probably happy to be away from their desks for an hour. But for us, a ten o’clock will kill an entire morning. First, you have to take a shower, then find something to wear, get dressed, fix your hair, put on your makeup, gather the files, pray there’s gas in the car and then drive 20 or 30 miles to get there! Geez. Haven’t they ever heard of conference calling? (Preferably the kind without the videocam.)
Those are the only things I hate about my job that I can think of at the moment. But I’m sure there are others, so stay tuned.
No-shows. Here is a great example of something that happens more often than you’d think. On Thursday I got a quick turnaround job that was due the following Thursday. I had to interview a guy for the story and wanted to set it up early the next week to give myself some time to work on it before the deadline. Monday was already full with other interviews and meetings all day, so I had e-mailed him saying, “Would you be available to talk next Tues. around 2-2:30? Or possibly Monday at 11:00 a.m.? If not, maybe you could give me a day/time that you're available and I’ll try to work around it…”
He e-mailed me back: “Let’s meet Monday at 2:30…” Well, I thought maybe he misread my e-mail, but rather than point that out, I decided to let it go and just assumed that was the only time he was available. So I juggled my schedule a little because he’s a very busy guy and I wanted to get him when I could.
I managed to show up at 2:30 on Monday, and when I arrived, his assistant tells me not only is he not there, he’s not even in the office that day! So on Tues. I get an e-mail from him apologizing for the mix-up, saying he had meant to write “Tuesday,” in his e-mail (and that’s what he put on his calendar) but wrote Monday by mistake! I guess I should have questioned it. And the bad news was that now he couldn’t together till Wednesday at 3. But, of course, my copy was still due end of day on Thursday, and am I gonna write my editor and tell her that big ol’ tale of woe? No, I am not. (Note: when I did finally meet with him, he rather lightheartedly told me he’d been skiing with his kids on Monday…Grrrrr.)
Concepting. I used to like doing this, but continually coming up with “fresh” new ideas is hard. People always say, “We want an ad headline that will really grab the reader’s attention.” I want to say back to them, “How about this one: ‘READ THIS F-ING AD OR I’LL KILL YOU.’ Think that’d get their attention?”
Time sheets. It’s not easy keeping track of every moment you spend working on every job. For instance, last night in an effort to get to sleep, I started thinking about a brochure I’m writing. I spent about an hour on it (and actually came up with a good idea) but I feel kind of guilty about putting that down on the time sheet. So I usually don’t.
The other thing that’s hard is that I’ll be in the middle of one job, and somebody sends an “urgent” e-mail about some little thing that “has” to be done asap on another job, so I stop what I’m doing to deal with the emergency, then before you know it, a half hour is gone and needs to be recorded. Kind of annoying.
Invoicing. I really don’t mind doing invoices (nice to see what my hard work earns); it’s the math I hate. All those little quarter hours that have to be added up: .25, .50, .75, 1.5, 2.5, etc. etc, It’s excruciating for someone like me who hates dealing with such an exact science. And I’m always making mistakes! Just today I got an e-mail from a gal who said, “Keasha, are you sure your invoice amount is $2398.75? I get $2388.75 when I add it up.” She was totally right! I had inadvertently written $887.50 for one of the projects that should have been $877.50, so the final tally was off by $10. Thank God the people who hire me are not the same people process the invoices or I’d probably never work again.
Meetings. Corporate people have no idea what they’re asking of freelancers when they invite us to meetings. Easy for them, they’re right in the building, probably happy to be away from their desks for an hour. But for us, a ten o’clock will kill an entire morning. First, you have to take a shower, then find something to wear, get dressed, fix your hair, put on your makeup, gather the files, pray there’s gas in the car and then drive 20 or 30 miles to get there! Geez. Haven’t they ever heard of conference calling? (Preferably the kind without the videocam.)
Those are the only things I hate about my job that I can think of at the moment. But I’m sure there are others, so stay tuned.
posted by Keash at 10:56 AM
2 Comments:
'First, you have to take a shower, then find something to wear, get dressed, fix your hair, put on your makeup, gather the files, pray there’s gas in the car and then drive 20 or 30 miles to get there!'
omg so true! For me, by the time I get back home from that morning meeting, the entire day is shot, and it's time for a nap!
fun stuff, keash.
Looks like you made it so I can post, Keashie.
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