7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Contractors
Sometimes the best way to learn how to do something well is to learn how others have done it badly. Each of us in the world of contract work must find our own way as we push through our various fields, but a few things are universal. For example, these seven terrible habits – no matter what your specialty – are likely to drive away employers and prevent you from earning at your highest potential.
Habit #1: Applying for jobs and contracts for which you aren’t truly qualified. Winging it is not the way to win friends and influence people in your chosen field. Stick with what you know, and be honest about your experience. When it comes to potentially daunting projects, a good freelancer will know where to find that fine line between a challenge and a suicide mission.
Habit #2: Missing deadlines. When there is a gap between your employer’s expectations and the reality of your performance, you leave a negative impression trailing after your actions (or lack thereof). Leave that negative impression often enough and you’ll find yourself losing jobs or barely hanging onto them. Take your deadlines seriously, meet them and make a great impression throughout the process.
Habit #3: Frequently going over budget on contract work. Of course there are times when unforeseen circumstances cause a project to take more work/cost than originally estimated. However, this should not be a pattern — and should never be done without the client’s approval. If you consistently close out projects at a higher cost than expected or promised, your employer is eventually going to stop contracting with you. It’s that simple.
Habit #4: Treating the client with disrespect. Remember who is putting money in your bank before you take out a bad day on your employer. Like all small business owners, good contractors should have high standards of customer service – or they may find that they won’t be getting any repeat business.
Habit #5: Going AWOL. We know it happens. Your mother ends up in the hospital and you stop checking your email and voicemail while at her bedside for three straight days – during which time you were supposed to turn in a project and take a conference call. You’ll be forgiven, of course, but your reputation will be tainted. Don’t go AWOL; there are very few excuses that will make up for the damage.
Habit #6: Never admitting mistakes. People are far more likely to forgive and forget when you’ve owned up to your errors. Contractors who are overly defensive or try to gloss over the gaping holes in their performance will not only have greater stress — it takes a lot of work to maintain a facade of perfection — they will lose their credibility quickly.
Habit #7: Missing the big picture. Turning in adequately completed work will get you by, but it won’t get you ahead. Employers will come back to you if they are impressed with your high standards. People will pay you more when you demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of their goals and how to reach them. Don’t lose sight of your relationship with the client and know that everything you do today will affect the work you bring in tomorrow.
Working from home can either liberate you or weigh you down — it’s all about how you do it. Having worked from home for over a decade, Tamara Rice has learned what works and what just creates more work. Tamara is one of several freelance writers on the oDesk Blog team.
habit #0 not planning ahead….. one thing about being in freelancing is the perpetual lack of resources… it is important to walk through the job you are about to apply for and check to see if there is
enough time to finish it
additional resources required particularly when things go wrong
the offer is worth the effort..
otherwise… do not get into it and fall into a trap you wont be able to get out of..
You are so right. And planning ahead is the key to so many of these. It will prevent missing deadlines, prevent going over budget, etc.
i fall under habit #7… i miss the big picture… thank you for the great article…
Awesome job… keep it up
thats very good article. thanks
I remember reading about “the meandering agenda of a scientist” in William H. Calvin’s “Cerebral Symphony.” I’m easily distracted, and after it happens once, it tends to lead me further and further from my intended objective. I have to improve on dealing with the alerts on my screen: It seems easy to dismiss them with a check-mark, but they’re often better noted for later.
As to accepting assignments, my colleagues were stunned when I voted “no bid” on a contract where several consulting firms had tried before: I asked for the recommendations of the 7 previous and found them all reasonable. The client was looking for someone to endorse an unworkable solution. I’m sure each firm thought they could change the client’s mind once they had the contract. If the first 7 couldn’t, I was sure we wouldn’t either. Meanwhile, the client had spent more looking for a contractor who would agree with their error than they would if they’d taken the wise advice of the first consulting firm.
Ernie, that is such an interesting situation. A lot of truth in there too. It’s okay to say no to a job.
I was contacted earlier in the year about a particular contract gig. I found in the brief email correspondence we had that my questions were not being answered and a lot of red flags were revealing themselves. I turned it down, and while the money might have been nice, I just didn’t need the nightmare.
Great article! specially for newbies , I would like to add that communication with buyers during the process of doing the job is also important. From my small experience in Odesk I can say that a good communication gives good feedbacks and gives a good impression.
I really love the post and same i am giving lesson to all my employees.
Thanks
Shiromani
Great article, Tamara. As a newbie – not just on oDesk but to freelancing in general – I’m tempted to just turn in a project, thinking, “Well, it’s good enough for the price we contracted for.” I need to be bidding on other projects and working for other clients in the race to make a decent living.
I fight that temptation for two reasons:
1. It’s not the employer’s fault if I underbid the project. They deserve my best and I deserve to produce my best. The worst that can happen is that I learn to bid better, and the employer is surprised at the quality I put in.
2. If I can never break into better markets if all I every produce is sub-par writing. By consistently delivering superior product, I can eventually request superior compensation.
My ego was recently popped – even while trying to give my client my best, I was still rated 4.5/5 stars. Rather than become angry (after all, I had rated them with 5 stars), I let it be a challenge to perform better.
Thank you again for your post – I’ll keep your habits in mind as I work to be an effective contractor.
Derek, thanks for sharing your thoughts about this topic. You are so right. It’s easy to slack off on jobs that aren’t paying for your best … but it’s not wise to give less than your best if you want long-term success. Thanks for sharing your story, and your determination is inspiring!
“Habit #7: Missing the big picture.”
Yup, that’s me a lot. It goes along with “not walking the extra mile”. Sometimes there’s just so much on my plate all at once that it’s tough to do more than the basic requirements on any one job.
Guess the key is being aware and then making the effort. Thanks for the article, good stuff.
D
I am appauled by the extremily low pay for writers. I was looking through the assignments and find that I can’t bid on any because of the pay being sometimes less than 1 dollar per article! Wow, I’m sorry, but I believe a good, well researched article of about 400-600 words, giving up full rights to it, is worth at less 10 dollars and usually much more. I have yet to see that kind of pay here at O’desk. Is this the norm or will I eventually see higher pay?? Thanks
I think natural selection will weed out the incompetent and weak. If you do a poor job and dont deliver your bottom line will show it! Its only a matter of time.
I was just looking here to see what this site offers in comparison to other freelancer sites. I liked the article although it was mostly common sense (i’m older) and most of the comments are very good.
However, Steven Reese, I’m dyslexic and know it, but even I can spot some howlers in your post. I would never post back on this sort of thing, but the fact that you’re putting your self forward a professional writer had me falling out of my chair. Thank you I needed a laugh today.
Thank goodness I havent experienced these habits with any of the work I have outsourced to oDesk. This sounds like a nightmare. I have been very pleased to date with the quality of work I have received.
Sir,
I am just new in oDesk.
how way i can win it?