Benefits of Being Self-Employed

In my last post, I wrote about the realities of self-employment. To show that I'm not a complete cynic, I'll list some of the major benefits of being self-employed in this post.

Benefit #1: You determine Your Own Success

How many times have you worked your butt off for an employer only to get passed over for promotion, receive a ridiculously small raise (if any) or get laid off? When you're self-employed, you enjoy the benefits of your hard work. There's no one else to take credit for what you do. You can boast about your accomplishments to the media, to prospective clients, and to your family, friends and neighbors. (Just don't overdo it, dude.) And you can reward yourself for your successes. Your former boss can keep his tacky awards and congratulatory speeches.

Benefit #2: You're the Decision Maker

You decide what projects you'll take on and which ones you'll pass on. If you have a client who is a regular pain in the ass, you can FIRE him. (Yes, it's true!) Just be sure you've got other clients so you can pay your bills.

You make all the decisions when it comes to buying computers and other equipment for your office. You don't have to justify anything to anyone. One of my biggest frustrations when I was employed was jumping through hoops to get software applications purchased and installed on my computer. Now I can buy what I need when I need it. (Uh, of course, I have to PAY for it myself and get the damn things fixed when they break, but we're focusing on benefits here.)

Benefit #3: Choose Your Own Title

When you own your business, you can give yourself whatever title you want. You're not restricted to owner, president, or CEO. You can call yourself the Big Cheese, Giant Head, Dictator, the Next Bill Gates or any other title that suits you. Just remember to put your title on your business cards and marketing materials so everybody will know you're a big shot.

Benefit #4: The Short Commute

If you're self-employed and work out of your home, the route to work usually consists of getting out of bed; going to the bathroom; entering the kitchen to make coffee and/or breakfast; stepping into your home office (still in your jammies) where your computer, phone and other technological tools of your trade await your command.

Now, I know some of you are sticklers when it comes to "getting ready for work" by going through the same morning ritual that you did when you were employed. The rest of us are creative types who can't wait to get to the computer. I don't need to be showered and dressed to check my e-mail or answer the phone.

Benefit #5: Work When You Want To

When you're self-employed, you can pretty much set your own hours unless you spend a lot of time traveling and visiting clients. Some people are more productive in the morning, others are in the evening. Some aren't productive at all, no matter how they're employed.)You can work at your own pace and even slip in a nap or a play date with the kids.

With all these benefits, why would anyone want to work for somebody else? (Well, there's the regular paycheck...)

So You Want to be Self-Employed?

Ah, yes. To be self-employed is the dream of just about every unemployed person. Take it from me, honey; it's more work than a real job. And it won't make you rich.

Oh, I’ve read those accounts by so-called successful consultants who brag about how they work part-time and make more money than they did when they worked for someone else. What they don’t tell you is that only part of the time they work is BILLABLE. The rest of the time that is spent marketing, keeping records, sending out invoices and everything else a self-employed person has to do is UNPAID.

Sure, you can charge $100 an hour for your time, but you’ll be lucky to bill 1000 hours a year. And don’t forget you’ll have to pay EXPENSES: marketing, insurance (health and business liability), office equipment and supplies, phone bills, travel and so on. It is called the price of doing business.

Of course, you have to pay TAXES on your net earnings to the federal government, the state government and sometimes even the city where you live and do business. Figure that you'll pay up to 50% of your NET earnings in taxes. The federal government will take pay self-employment tax for social security and Medicare. Think you'll see much of that money when you retire? Don't bet on it.

And don't even think of hiring employees. In addition to their wages, you'll have to pay a portion of their social security and Medicare taxes plus workers compensation and unemployment insurance.

So before you get your business cards and brochures printed, be sure you have a product or service that people will want to buy AND will want to buy from YOU.

Not discouraged yet? Good. For my next posting, I'm going to write about the BENEFITS of self-employment.

The Ideal Candidate

Do you think employers have realistic expectations about the Ideal Candidate for their job?

After looking at several jobs posted on online boards, I’ve concluded that most job postings are employers' wish lists. The items frequently involve mismatches in the educational requirements, types of experience and technical skills.

Jobs requiring master's degrees abound. Proficiency in computer skills, especially certification, is a popular requirement even though the actual job may not require it. A position described as having a great deal of responsibility only requires 2 years' experience. "Multi-tasks in a busy environment" is a common catch phrase that means, "does the job of two people in a place that doesn't plan very well or at all." The ideal candidate must have "excellent communication skills" usually because the hiring manager doesn't have them.

My fellow blogger Andy Davidson says he's seen some IT jobs require a ridiculous level of experience and skills. A job that listed requirements such as skills in DBA, software design and testing, project management, as well as packaging and deploying entire projects would call for a whole team of workers, not a one-person IT shop.

Global companies tend to prefer bilingual candidates even though they won't have to use the languages on the job. How many people do you know are fluent in both Spanish and Japanese? (I'll have salsa with my sushi; thank you very much.)

If you think I'm being cynical, read what Ms. “Shoots from the Hip” who used to be a recruiter and an outplacement counselor says about what hiring managers really mean when they say that the ideal candidate:

• Does what is necessary to get the job done (Works 100 hours a week without help and without spending any money)
• Travels 50% of the time. (Read: 100% of the time. Employers ALWAYS lie about this.)
• Works well with others. (Puts up with non-productive people who the manager doesn’t have the balls to fire and expects you to do both jobs while not pissing anyone off)

Is it any wonder that recruiters and employers have a difficult time finding the Ideal Candidate?