—This post is in response to Brian Clark’s Magazine Remix challenge—
You’re new to the game of freelancing and find yourself being pushed around by those that have more education, experience, and expertise. Every time you find a job that fits your desire, it mentions the ideal candidate as being somebody with three years under their belt and more schooling than you’ve ever wanted to consider. Even when you find a job that doesn’t require those things, you find yourself losing out to somebody that has them anyways.
You’re disappointed, frustrated, and tired of running into barriers every time you find an ideal project. But you don’t have to worry anymore. I’m going to pass along a few tricks that will make others want you because of your “inexperience”. But first, lets get rid of that word and replace it…here are a few options you might want to consider:
- Youthfulness: If you’re young, then you probably deal with inexperience everywhere you go. It doesn’t matter if you’ve worked as a writer for three months or three years. People still notice your age and consider themselves to be above you…use that to your advantage. Clients love feeling important and you can position yourself as somebody that looks up to them, learns from them, and applies their input to whatever you do. In fact, some clients would rather be the ones making the decisions instead of having some hot-shot writer come in and tell them what works. It doesn’t mean you’re not a hot-shot if you listen to them, but it does mean you’ll walk away with a few more jobs.
- Enthusiasm: The older you get, the stereotype goes, the less enthusiastic you tend to be about your work. While we all know this isn’t scientific, as there have been thousands of cases that prove this theory wrong, you can still emphasize an enthusiasm for freelance writing that others won’t be able to match. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether you’re inexperienced or overqualified…displaying enthusiasm for what you do will always give you an edge over your competition.
- Creativity: Creativity is not bound to one age group or another – some people have it and others simply don’t. If you write a creative proposal that catches people’s attention, then your prospects won’t care how much experience you have or don’t have – they’ll see that you’re the right person for the job. Toss in some incredible samples and you’ll be stealing jobs from people with 10 times the training.
So now that you know what you need to emphasize to overcome judgments based on age, education and experience, you’re ready to find a few tools that you can implement that will not only put you on par with others in the business, but push you all the way to the top. Here are a few ways to make yourself stand out in the crowd:
- Emphasize Your Computer Skills: You might not have a bunch of experience on your belt, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a great communicator or extremely computer savvy individual. If you’re in the under 25 crowd, then there’s a good chance that you’re more computer literate than most of your competition.
- Price Check on Aisle Four: Let your prospective clients know you can offer unbeatable pricing since you’re still looking to build your portfolio. By explaining that you’re capable and confident of completing the job, but willing to offer your services at a discounted rate – your application will shout: “LOOK OVER HERE – MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!”
- Exceed Expectations: If you’re inexperienced then you likely have some free time. Use your open schedule to your advantage by explaining that you’re able to dedicate more time to their project than others that are looking for work. By showing that you’re willing to exceed their expectations, you’ll improve your odds of winning your bids and earning some cool cash.
There are a number of ways to make your inexperience work to your advantage. While I’ve listed a few here – there are many other ideas out there. Be creative and search for tactics that work for you while continuously testing new ideas. While you won’t win them all (nobody does), you’ll find new ways to make your inexperience sell like solid gold!
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This was interesting, Chad. I’ve never thought about how someone younger than me (and damn you, I’m not old!) might struggle because of age prejudices. You have some good ideas to fighting that negative perception.
Personally, I like younger writers. They’re dynamic, eager, motivated… I like older writers too, because they’re calm, dependable, and experienced. A good mix makes the team work well, I think.
Oh, by the way? I nearly choked on my coffee: Better Bang for your Buck! Not sure about you guys, but over here in Quebec, a bang is a roll in the hay
You might want to switch out that word lol
Chad,
Great site. Can’t believe you’ve only been at this a month!
What I love about this post is that you don’t complain about being young, or make it me-centric, which so many in our generation tend to do, not realizing how it can hurt their career prospects – or just not help them get ahead. Our generation truly needs more thinking like this.
Looking forward to seeing more like this!
@ James…well, the saying “more bang for your buck” is used quite frequently, so I figured I’d throw this one in. But I must admit, the double-meaning crossed my mind and made me chuckle, but then I had to pretend that my mind didn’t think like that
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@ Tiffany – thanks for coming over to the blog and checking it out! I’ve run four different blogs before this one for clients (a couple of which I still maintain) and have been freelancing for about six months – but definitely still a newb when it comes down to it! I’m looking forward to having you part of the (hopefully) growing ProFreelancing community.
I enjoyed this post – these are all really good ideas, and I hadn’t thought of all of them.Thanks for sharing.
I’m not too far from thirty, but I look like I’m sixteen–check the picture by my blog if you don’t believe me. I absolutely believe it hurt my credibility, particularly when I was just starting out, but I’ve always been 100% confident in my writing ability and for the most part, once I can show the clients I can do the job, the “looks factor” ceases to matter. Also, in web writing, looks matter less because for the most part you’re interacting with your clients via phone and email.
Hey Jennifer – I would have never put you near 30…my guess would have been around 25. But I agree, looking young does hold you back a bit, but once you prove yourself people will get over it.
It’s not too near thirty–let’s not get carried away. But it’s more than halfway
Haha…I’ve always looked young for my age as well. It used to bug me all the time, but now I consider it a good thing.
It is true people love to judge a person by the age they appear. The fact of the matter is that we just need to go out of our way to demonstrate our abilities and professionalism.
Jennifer,
I started to go gray at sixteen. I was almost totally white by thirty. I have to say people treated me different. Probably better than most twenty somethings. When I was twenty three someone once guessed I was a little under forty. I felt pretty bad about that, but I tried to use it to my advantage. Looking young is only a liability when you really are young. Once you’re old, almost all of us would take younger looking.
I am 57 and been teaching young people in Thailand and while many of the differences are obvious it is amazing that excitement, love of what your doing and spirit de corp can overcome any talent, perception or age barrier.
Que