Ah, the office competition; remember it well. Who made the most sales this month? Which team member generated the most profit or new business? No doubt about it, a little competition is good for the soul.
But when you’re a freelancer, when do you ever get the chance to put yourselves up against your peers? Whose goals can you measure your own targets and performance by? The goldfish?
For many contractors, the challenge is not comparing your performance to permies (although your client might). It’s to turn up to all of your assignments, check your timesheet in and double-check that what you’ve ‘picked up’ is healthy and compliant.
The only real judge of your ability happens towards the end of your contract. Will the client offer an extension? Or will the agency put you forward for an assignment with more responsibility and remuneration?
If you can remember how and where you’ve hidden it, it’s time to get your competitive head out of storage.
IPSE looking for the best freelancers of 2015
IPSE is staging its Freelancer Awards 2015. Are you an exceptional freelancer or contractor? Does your service soar head and shoulders above all else in your field?
If you answer yes (or even ‘maybe’ – as I say, it’s difficult to judge your own performance), why not enter?
It’s not in the nature of many freelancers to put their public foot forward. If it was more reflective, recruitment and recluse wouldn’t sit so close to each other in the English language.
But to incentivise the 68,000 independent professionals IPSE represents, there are big bucks on offer.
For those at the top of their game, there’s up to £5,000 in prizes per person. Okay, IT Contractors may not think it’s worth sacrificing a day’s pay for such an amount. 🙂
But outside the confines of the wealthiest freelancers, we wouldn’t sniff at £5,000, would we?
No time like the present to exhibit your pro prowess
No doubt there’ll be more awards of this nature as the self-employed sector continues to grow in the UK. IPSE puts the current figure at 4.5M who are going it alone.
A quick bit of maths, that means the association formerly known as PCG represents only 1.5% (-ish) of the entire self-employed populace.
If there’s ever a time you’re going to win this thing, it’s now. 68,000 may seem like a lot of competition, but that’s nothing compared to IPSE’s potential membership.
Seriously, if you’re an ace freelancer or contractor, just do it. The branding itself is priceless. For IR35? Let the taxman try to prove you’re not self-employed if you’ve got this award under your belt.
