Have you ever completely set yourself up?
Right now I'm looking at what I have left to do this week and it looks pretty overwhelming. I think I've managed to somehow completely screw myself over on this one project I've been dying to get off my chest for the past four weeks. It's getting there, but somehow it went from a simple project to something far more complex than the one I had in mind when I had originally set the deadline. How on earth does that happen?
I have an idea and I think it's the client's fault, but when they're signing the checks they can lord almost anything over you. Especially when you need those cheques.
Anyway, I don't know if there should be much cause for concern. Yahoo called me last week about applying for a job opening there. I'm going to apply just to see what could happen. If the salary is right, I might just take it so I can focus on other parts of my life that I'm finding more important lately... like writing and music.
Don't get me wrong, I love web development and I have a burning passion for it still; but I want to do my own projects and for that I need a good financial base. As it is right now, working for clients -- I may never get enough base as I'll always be looking for the next client for another pay cheque. Though I've thought about the possibility of generating enough demand for my services to justify raising my prices so I can put a bit away into savings... but the likelihood of that is pretty low.
So for now we'll just see. Fortunately I'm at the, "who gives a fuck," stage with this crappy project I'm stuck on. It'll get done when it does and I'm not going to stress over it too much any more. If it's a piece of crap, I don't really care because she's not letting me add it to my portfolio anyway. So it doesn't matter really to me if she's not a happy customer.
Therefore as a warning to anyone thinking of hiring a web developer, remember that publicity is a huge motivator for us. We will go out of our way (most of the time) to produce a shining diamond if we know that peers and potential clients will be seeing it and judging us on our work. There are other considerations to be aware of when trying to ensure your web developer does a good job too, but publicity is a big one for quality.
Right now I'm looking at what I have left to do this week and it looks pretty overwhelming. I think I've managed to somehow completely screw myself over on this one project I've been dying to get off my chest for the past four weeks. It's getting there, but somehow it went from a simple project to something far more complex than the one I had in mind when I had originally set the deadline. How on earth does that happen?
I have an idea and I think it's the client's fault, but when they're signing the checks they can lord almost anything over you. Especially when you need those cheques.
Anyway, I don't know if there should be much cause for concern. Yahoo called me last week about applying for a job opening there. I'm going to apply just to see what could happen. If the salary is right, I might just take it so I can focus on other parts of my life that I'm finding more important lately... like writing and music.
Don't get me wrong, I love web development and I have a burning passion for it still; but I want to do my own projects and for that I need a good financial base. As it is right now, working for clients -- I may never get enough base as I'll always be looking for the next client for another pay cheque. Though I've thought about the possibility of generating enough demand for my services to justify raising my prices so I can put a bit away into savings... but the likelihood of that is pretty low.
So for now we'll just see. Fortunately I'm at the, "who gives a fuck," stage with this crappy project I'm stuck on. It'll get done when it does and I'm not going to stress over it too much any more. If it's a piece of crap, I don't really care because she's not letting me add it to my portfolio anyway. So it doesn't matter really to me if she's not a happy customer.
Therefore as a warning to anyone thinking of hiring a web developer, remember that publicity is a huge motivator for us. We will go out of our way (most of the time) to produce a shining diamond if we know that peers and potential clients will be seeing it and judging us on our work. There are other considerations to be aware of when trying to ensure your web developer does a good job too, but publicity is a big one for quality.