I’m hoping someone can help me with my current work dilemma.

Anonymous

October 16,2021 at 11:22AM UTC

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I’m hoping someone can help me with my current work dilemma.

I like many people, I was laid off when my company went bankrupt during the pandemic. I used the opportunity to build a small business in a field I’m passionate about. It’s slowly growing but I’m not earning enough to support myself yet (I’m single and the sole source of income). I began to look for remote work in to my job experience (public relations), And thanks to a recommendation from a good friend, I was offered a contract position with an advertising agency to do copy writing and editing. The pay was about half of what I usually make, but it was part time hours and that gave me time to focus on my business.

Everything was great for the first month. My supervisor would often tell me my writing was magnificent. I was meeting all my deadlines and the feedback from the clients was positive. I was promised two week on-boarding but instead I jumped right in.

The past few weeks I hit a few bumps. Clients were not giving me the information that I needed to do the copywriting. This resulted in pieces that were not up to my usual standards because I had to create information from thin air.

Despite knowing that they did not provide me with what I needed, two clients went around my supervisor to the big boss to complain that they were not delivered what they were promised. For what it’s worth, my supervisor did defend me but it dissolved into the big boss saying that while I’m an excellent writer, I’m not writing in the style the company wants. Which of course I didn’t know because I was not properly on boarded.

They did say that they know I can pivot, but the problem is I’m spending way too much time on this job because now I have to do research instead of having everything provided for me. It’s only supposed to be part time and when I divide the number of hours I’m working into my pay, I’m making about $15 an hour.

I have a weekly meeting with my supervisor on Monday and I’m not sure how to approach this.

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AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 12:06PM UTC
Wow, that compensation sounds very low. I would look for something else or focus on your business full time.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 12:11PM UTC
That is what I’d love to do! I have savings so I can comfortably survive for about six months. I’m just too chicken to leap without a net.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:00PM UTC
For what it's worth, I have found it to be very difficult to walk into an org remotely and "be their writer" and meet all of their expectations straight out of the gate.
There's institutional knowledge that takes time to accumulate -- and, it seems, MORE time to accumulate than it did when there was in-office interaction.
I am being paid hourly and hesitate to claim more than the agreed hours and (once burnt at a prior role, twice shy) also hesitate to work hours for which I'm not being paid. So what should be a straightforward gig that's well within my skill level is more challenging.
With some roles, like sales or software development, if you bring in the sale or get the code working, it's obvious you've succeeded. But with "softer" roles like writing or research, expectations are more difficult to pin down.
This particular point seems like it's a good one to raise with your supervisor. Review your great track record and be clear that the job duties are well within your capabilities, and you believe that you are glad that you could make contributions right from the start and now that they've seen what you can do, would be able to better meet their expectations going forward if they could make time for that onboarding they'd spoken of when you took the role.
I wouldn't necessarily raise the issue of pay (in the current economy, that's probably not going to help you as a part-timer -- if the company could have afforded a full timer, they would have hired one). But I would raise the issue of tasks taking longer than you expected, to complete -- providing examples, and explaining to them what would enable you to complete the tasks more quickly. That is, tell them "we have problem X" and tell them "here is what will fix problem X".
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:47PM UTC
I so appreciate your very detailed response. I feel as there are two competing needs: write fast but also be on point with what the client wants. When a project comes to me, all of the information should already be in place. I need to know what the company wants me to do when I don't have the things that were promised.
You are so correct. With writing, it is hard to pin down what it means to be successful. No one has the definition of it.
AnonymousOctober 17,2021 at 2:41AM UTC
100% -- balancing those competing needs is always the writer's dilemma. And when I don't get the information required to produce work most likely to meet the client's needs, or get SOMETHING but don't feel it's what I requested, it's frustrating because it's difficult to do one's best work, and do it efficiently.
By the way, I speak from experience. I have worked successfully as a writer for 18 years and have a track record. Earlier this year, I failed at a contract because I just couldn't meet the client's needs without significantly more client contact/interaction/feedback than they wanted to spend staff time to provide. People who want writing to be a "throw it over the wall to someone unfamiliar with our organisation, and as long as we have engaged the right person, we will get the results we want, back over the wall" exercise are not being realistic.
Writing isn't secretarial work; the specifics of success criteria are difficult to determine, as you note. One needs to know the client org and the client staff to produce the product they want to pay for. I've had jobs where I was expected not to be productive for the first 3-4 months because of the time it would take to learn the org. Today, an entire contract from start to finish may last 3-6 months.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:06PM UTC
Maybe I am becoming more of a YOU KNOW WHAT but I think in the meeting you should briefly describe the situation--of not being given what you need to be at your best and then having a client told that you are not writing in the correct style--and ask him/her to explain it to you. Push hard and ask how you are suppose to write when you are not given what you need. They will either defend their horrible behavior (which you know what to do then) or agree with you and you can come up with a plan for the next time this happens. FYI $15 is crap. You can work part time at Home Depot for that.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:39PM UTC
I love this answer! I def was not set up to succeed. I like the idea of coming up with a plan the next time I don't get what I need to give a client what the expect.
AnonymousOctober 18,2021 at 4:34PM UTC
You can work at Dollar General now for $18-$25/per hour according to their commercial. You can flip burgers now for $15.00. No stress, no meetings and you choose your schedule.
Go back and state your needs.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:16PM UTC
This may not be the job that fits your needs and allows you the time necessary to get you business off the ground.
Look you can make $15 per hour at many jobs and be allowed control of your schedule.
The only conversation, if you want you business to get the attention it needs, us to set the hours at a specific number per week and an increase in the fee paid for your work. Otherwise, like I said, this job doesn't fit your needs.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 1:37PM UTC
Thank you! I have been thinking the way to go would be a shopper at Whole Foods. I can set my schedule and not have to worry about overtime.
AnonymousOctober 16,2021 at 7:38PM UTC
Exactly.....great idea. Prioritize your business and make you job fit that priority. It will immediately ease your stress and allow you that much needed time and energy to devote to your business.
Good luck!
Karen LaidlawOctober 16,2021 at 11:59PM UTC
I'm sorry you're having this struggle, but it's a great opportunity to renegotiate the role. I think the way you've laid it out here is very succinct. It sounds like your ask is to have all the information you need to do good copy provided so you can focus on writing which is your skill set. What about problem-solving with your boss on ways to make that happen. Failing that, you will need to be paid for your research hours.
Remember this is a business proposition: you have skills they need; you want to be paid fairly for those skills. It's okay to make sure the terms are agreeable to both sides.
Meaghan Wagner, Goal Guru Leadership CoachOctober 18,2021 at 2:49PM UTC
For my $0.02, it sounds like the meeting with your supervisor may be best utilized by focusing on the expectation of material/information provided before starting the assignment.
> Get clear ahead of time what information you need to do the work in a reasonable amount of time.
> Discuss with your supervisor what information you can reasonably expect from the average client
> Lay out a plan of action for what happens when you *don't* get that information -- do you come back to your supervisor for more information? Or do they increase the project scope (and there for PAY) to include research as well.