Today I fired off emails to half a dozen former employers, prospective employers, and professional contacts -- people I've been waiting for the right moment to reach out to.Not sure why, but today was the day.
Said hi, told them about my past year in good old Cali. And, asked about work.
Of these emails, one was to someone I've never worked with before. Someone famous. He's sort of the Emeril of my industry. A head honcho. A grand guru. A daunting dude. I told him how much I like his work and, rather out of the blue, asked him three things.
1. How did he decide to tackle a certain issue?
2. How did he go about resolving a certain problem?
3. Hire me?
I wouldn't be surprised if he never wrote back. On the other hand, people have been known to reply to my even stranger requests, over the course of this year...
Meanwhile, one of my old bosses already wrote back and told me he'll welcome my contract bids! Yay.
Gained: One more prospective part time job, and fingers crossed about the rest.
UPDATE:
Two days ago, I wrote about my paycheck dilemma. I got several answers readers, for which I am grateful. Claire wrote:
About getting that check you are owed. I have been freelance so know how difficult that can be, but the longer you let them do that the more likely it is to somehow become impossible. So I would call, remind whomever that you finished the work xxx days ago and you'd like a check by the end of the week, by Monday, by a time not too far away. Then say that you will be "coming over to pick up the check" on that day and what would be the best time. Then do it. I have always left with a check.And from Anonymous:
I write a memo to the person who was supposed to approve the check and follow up - EVERY week - with another written memo and a copy of the previous memo(s) attached. Eventually they get sick of getting the memos.Judging from their thorough experience, seems like this is more common than I thought. Yuck. I can't wait for freelancers and contractors to get their due. As the economy changes and more people ditch (or are expunged from) the permanent payroll system and all its benefits, one trade-off workers should expect (nay, demand) is reliable and guaranteed payment for services renedered. Amen!
Also, if you leave the job, for whatever reason, you have a paper trail that shows they still owe you money. When money is involved (or comp time) always create a paper trail.
In fact, this afternoon I shifted tactics from and called HR directly. The woman laughed sympathetically, like she's heard it 100 times before. She figured out why I hadn't been paid (a communication glitch between parties), and then her supervisor said the check should finally be on its way.Thanks for the pep talk, dear readers!!
Gained: My paycheck. Yayyyyy!
