This https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and...nt/freelancing does it for me. I always think of self-employed photographers when freelancer is mentioned.
-
-
No need to contrive definitions.
Freelancers originally worked in teams; in those days the teams were called armies.
I believe that the term first appears in Ivanhoe [Scott, 1819].Comment
-
Let's go back to basics... In our world:
A Freelance is basically a worker for hire to any client that requires their services and expertise in an engagement that has been formally defined with a range of suitable agreed conditions. They may work outside the client's organisation (like I used to) or inside, either individually or as part of a wider team.
A Contractor is basically a worker for hire to any client that requires their services and expertise in an engagement that has been formally defined with a range of suitable agreed conditions. They may work outside the client's organisation (like I used to) or inside, either individually or as part of a wider team.
I hope that clarifies things...
Outside our bubble in the real world, a freelance is usually someone in the creative arts or media working for multiple clients and a contractor is any one person or organisation that works primarily for someone else under an agreed contract. For example, most MPs (being largely ignorant people) think contractors build things like walls and ships. OTOH the MOD call anyone working for them who is not directly employed by them a contractor, be that me building a service desk or Ernst & Young delivering a £2bn programme of work.
Or to put it another way, your basic premise is rather badly flawed.
Blog? What blog...?
Comment
-
These days I freelance direct to companies for day walking events. I would have a contract to supply my services, but I need and have the qualifications and insurance in order to do this.Originally posted by gables View Post"I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
- Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...Comment
-
I suppose there’s a more basic way of looking at it: do you sign a contract to deliver a specific project or individual piece of work? If you’ve signed a contract to do that, then you are someone who takes on work based on signed contracts.
Someone who drives is a driver.
Someone who codes is a coder.
Someone who skis is a skier.
What would be a valid term for someone who contracts?
The funny thing about freelance photography is that most photographers get signed contracts before they go on shoots. A freelance photographer is one who goes out without anyone having agreed to buy the photos, then after processing them, they try to sell/licence the finished images to whoever they can. So, the equivalent for a coder would be someone who writes a piece of code, tests it, debugs it, all without a contract or requirement from a client or any payment/deposit, and then goes to market to see if anyone will buy it as-is, without any support or fixes.
…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
-
-
-
I tend to use freelancer when I'm trying to get across that I'm someone to hire for project work, not BAU. Some clients think a contractor is just an overpaid temp so I will drop in things like "I've been freelancing for x years" or "as a freelancer, I've worked with similar clients who..." in interviews to reinforce that I'm not from Office Angels but am actually an independent resource for hire.
When in the company of people who know what we on CUK think of as contracting then I'll just say contractor.
To me, the two terms are interchangeable but I switch depending on circumstances and what I want the audience to think.Comment
Comment