Magic Pot of Jobs

One of my coworkers has a client who expressed irritation that a long-term freelancer he was working with had demonstrated the audacity to - gasp! - bring in a small framed photo to put on her desk.

“Freelancers are like guests in my home,” he pontificated. “They shouldn’t act like it’s their home.”

First of all, I don’t think I’d ever want to have dinner at this guy’s house if he’s that uptight. Of course there’s a line that a professional shouldn’t cross on a temporary assignment, but a small, tasteful, framed photo isn’t anywhere near it, particularly on a long-term gig.

Secondly, and more importantly, this is a stupid attitude to have toward temporary staff. Freelancers are more like the plumber you call into your home to fix your flooded bathroom. No, it’s not his house, but you called him in because you needed his expertise in solving a problem that was beyond your ability to handle yourself. So if he leaves a wrench on the back of your toilet seat, you don’t get all bent out of shape, because he just fixed your bathroom.

And frankly, it would be nice to bake him some cookies to show your appreciation.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 5:25 pm and is filed under For Employers, Tales from the Field. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.