25 Reasons You Didn’t Get The Gig
Hi! Seems it's your first visit on Freelance Folder. Welcome! You may want to grab our RSS feed or you can also subscribe and receive updates in your e-mail. So you'd always be up to date! Thanks for visiting!
These are some personal observations, reasons I probably would click away, not hire someone, not call back.
Combined with some personal experiences, and some reasons I believe I didn’t get a gig at some point. Gotta learn from our mistakes. :)
1- Your online portfolio is full of Adsense ads
This can be a huge turn-off. Someone does a search on Google, finds your site, clicks, sees the ads, and then leaves. It is possible to run Adsense on just about any website, but on an portfolio site (which is for you to showcase your work and get potential clients to contact you), Adsense may not be appropriate.
2- Where are the testimonials?
It is really ok to ask clients for testimonials, I rarely got a “no“. It definitely helps get the attention of first time visitors to your site. Sometimes you don’t really need to “shamelessly promote yourself“, let your previous and current clients speak for you.
3- No contact information
A huge mistake many will make. Whether it’s on your site or on your business cards, make sure people can reach you without spending more than 5 minutes trying to find out how. It’s easy enough to create a contact form for your site. As for business cards, putting only your website url won’t do in most cases, add your e-mail and phone number, make it easy for people to get to you.
4- Poorly designed site
It’s really ok to experiment, but if your site looks like you copy-pasted snippets of html found on tutorial websites, chances are people will click away from your page. Always test your site in multiple browsers to ensure compatibility, and check for broken links, broken images, scripts not working, etc…
5- Irrelevant ads on your site (affiliate banners and the likes)
I have no problem recommending products and services to my clients (i.e.: hosting company), and a part of my income comes from affiliate sales. Just make sure, if you want to fill some space on your site, that the banners you put there are relevant and can complement what you have to offer. For instance, if you’re a web designer, maybe TemplateMonster banners aren’t such a good idea.
6- Website in a foreign language
While it’s really ok to target people that speak the same language as you, most internet users, and a huge percentage of sites are in english. If you must have your website in your own language, you may want to consider making an english version.
7- Music that starts automatically on your site
I’m a sucker for nicely designed flash websites, but I usually click away when I hear music. If I want to listen to music I’ll open Itunes. Even worse if I can’t find the “stop” button, or if I have to look for it for more than 30 seconds.
8- Bad references
I’m not talking about references from previous clients, but more from an ex-boss, from the company you used to work for before going solo. It may not happen often, but some agencies will want to give a call to your previous employer. You may say “no“, but that’s a sure-fire way to not get a job.
9- Inappropriate meeting place
I love Starbucks, but if I’m meeting with a client chances are I won’t choose Starbucks. Unless my client mentions it, of course. It depends on who you’re meeting with. For some clients Starbucks will do, for others it’ll be at their office, or at an expensive restaurant. Case-by-case.
10- Inappropriate clothes
Same as the meeting place, if you already know your client, did business with him/her a lot in the past, or you’re friends, “casual” will do just fine in most cases. If you’re meeting with a CEO or something, you might want to consider something more “classy“. Cocktail or picnic won’t do..
11- Poor communication skills
You want to effectively get your message across and be as clear as possible. If your potential client has to process/decode everything you say, that means you may need to work a little on your communication skills. You want your client to understand exactly what you’re trying to say. It is normal to be nervous or anxious, try not to make it obvious, stay calm, professional. See it as a conversation, not as an interview. You got the meeting, you’re half-way there.
12- Too many questions
Asking questions is way fine, but if that’s all you do, it ain’t gonna work. Ask clear and precise questions, avoid unnecessary ones. Again, that falls in the “communication skills” category. Be a great conversationalist, and chances are you won’t have to ask those 42 questions, you’ll get answers faster and won’t break the flow of the meeting or interview.
13- Unreachable (e-mail, phone)
Not answering your phone (cause you’re working), or not replying to e-mails right away is ok. You got work to do. But not returning calls or replying to e-mails once a week are sure-fire ways to not get the job.
14- Not enough experience
If you’re starting out, go ahead and send applications, network with people in your field, don’t be afraid, you have to start somewhere. But don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a gig because of lack of experience, some people will want to hire someone who’s been doing it for years. You’ll get there, don’t worry, it’s not personal.
15- Early is on time, on time is late
Obviously if you got a meeting at 1:30pm, and you show up at 1:45pm, you won’t get the gig. You want to get there before your client. And when that client shows up and asks:
-How long have you been waiting?
-Oh, just 10 minutes.
16- Are you listening?
When meeting face to face (or when on the phone), pay attention to what your potential client has to say (back to “asking too many questions“, just listen and you won’t have to ask all those questions). Oh, and I know it may be hard to take your eyes off the nice looking women over there, but please, stay focused. You want attention, and your client expects the same.
17- Be prepared
Before meeting with a client, why not spend some time doing some research on the company? First it’ll make your client go “wow, this guy knows what he’s talking about“, and it’s better to do some research before a meeting rather than after. Take notes, always bring a note-pad and a pencil, always have business cards with you, etc…
18- Premature selling
Never ever act like you got the gig already. Period. Be subtle about it, in most cases you’ll know if you got it or not by the end of the meeting. Don’t “sell yourself” too much, and prematurely.
19- Going the extra mile
If you want repeated business, you’re more likely to get hired again if you did things right the first time. Go the extra mile, deliver the project early (on time is fine, but early is better). For instance, if you’re a web designer; you finished the project a day or two before the deadline, take a couple of hours to design some promotional material like banners and stuff, you already have all the design files anyway. How much more time will it take you to design 3-4 banners? This can make your client really happy, and ensure he/she will hire you again in the future. Think “long-term“.
20- You sound phony
“Yeah, I worked for this guy, this company, and every single agency in town. I’m telling you! I’m tha man!” - sorry pal.
21- You didn’t deliver the first time
Sometimes people will be ready to give you a second chance, even if you screw up the first time. This time you have to deliver. You have to make sure your client understands you learned from your mistake(s), and it won,t happen again. Do whatever you can to make your client trust you.
22- Trash talking - ranting
Just dont. If you feel like ranting about previous clients, go have a drink with some friends. When meeting with a potential client, keep the bad stuff for yourself. Things like “ah yeah, the last guy I worked for was a pain in the ***“.
23- Asking if you got the job
Keep in mind you may not be the only one on the list. At the end of the meeting or interview, asking if you got the job may not be a good idea, unless you know for sure you got it. Be subtle. A nicer way would be something like “I know you are probably meeting with other designers, and want to pick the best candidate, but can I ask you when I should expect to hear from you?” (or something similar, something you’re comfortable with)
24- Overwhelming enthusiasm
A big turn off. Being enthusiast is good, but to a certain extent. If you look bored it won’t work, but if you’re overwhelmingly enthusiast, chances are it won’t work either. Balance is everything. :)
25- Charging too much or too little
You work hard, and you’re good at what you do. But still you have to be reasonable. Over-pricing: “maybe I can try for a hundred bucks more, and see what happens“. Under-pricing: “wow the guy is so cheap! not sure it’ll all be quality…“. Find out how much others charge for similar work, and start from there.
Your Turn To Talk
It surely happened you didn’t get a gig in the past, or just recently. Share your stories with us, we might all learn something. :)
Jon
31 Rockin' Comments
October 27th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Great tips. As I am beginning to get my foothold in this business, these are going to come in handy.
October 27th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I really like the point about selling too early. One piece of advice that has stuck with me over the years is from Brian Tracy - he says that you really know the clients needs by asking a lot of questions before you have any business selling them anything. nice post!
October 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Can I add one? You act like you need it.
In my own experience and the experiences of many entrepreneurs I’ve worked with, when you act like it doesn’t matter whether you get the job or not, you’re quite likely to get it. Note, I didn’t say you should act like you don’t give a damn. You should act like it doesn’t matter either way. You should act like you would like the gig, but if you don’t get it, you’ve got plenty of other irons in the fire.
In meetings, phone calls, and sometimes emails, if you try to get to know the person and their business, the gig will frequently follow. If you try to get to know the gig first, the person and their business will seldom follow.
October 27th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Hi Rash, I’m happy you found it useful, thanks for visiting.
Hey Christine, thanks!
True, if you are genuinely interested, you won’t even have to ask :)
Hello Naomi! That’s a really good one, thanks for adding to the list. Acting like you don’t really need can definitely help, you have other projects and clients anyway. If you look like you desperatly need it, in most cases it won’t work. There’s a fine line between “not needing” and “not caring” :)
October 27th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
hey Jon!
May I add to the list?
This should probably be Reason No. 3.1:
No ‘About Me’, no photo.
Clients would like to know a little bit about who’s working for them, his/her experience, credentials and maybe even what’s he gonna do with the money… hehe.
October 27th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
You know, we at The Baldchemist don’t run any ads at all on our site because we are not Internet marketers.
But I have to congratulate you on your perception and observations.
They apply not only to IM but to business generally.
To be honest, the time and effort required writing “blogs” we put into the more lucrative and satisfying, creative part of our business. Most, who attempt to make money from IM haven’t the faintest idea of how to write for themselves with meaningful ,fun copy and consequently the content is boring and uninviting.
Once again you are so correct about “content” with ads.
I have lost count of how many times I have received the “congratulations you are the 99999999″- who do they think they are kidding?
Keep writing my friend you are a breath of fresh air to a business that will soon die out thanks to the crap most are putting out.
As I say ” if you present yourself with dull, low budget, uninspired, same as everyone else crap- guess what you get ? A small piece of the dull uninspired, low budget market. And- your prospects suspect that if they do business with you- the risk is they get more of the same”.
The Baldchemist
October 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I liked most of your points however one or two just struck me as wrong.
Point 6 - Website not in English. Yes, English is the most popular language on the net, but it is only as popular as Chinese, Spanish and Japanese combined. You still have another 160 languages out there. I guess you don’t want to much of this pie?
Point 23 - Asking for the Job. In my experience, asking for the job is fundamental. If you don’t and the other guy does, he is already a step closer to the the job than I am!
You don’t need to ask for it tactlessly though. Ask something like, Do I other all the skills you think you need? Is there anything that you don’t think I will be able to do to satisfy your needs?
Other wise, its a good list - hope it helps you get the job!
October 28th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Hi Zakman, you can feel free to add to my lists any time :)
You got a good point there, an about page, with photo, or at least an “about blurb” somewhere can go a long way.
The Baldchemist, thank you very much, really appreciate it. You’re right, some people are good at IM, some aren’t, some are great bloggers, but have no idea how to monetize, it’s all about balance I guess :)
Hi f0ul, good points. Well like you said, english is the most popular language on the net. Of course, if you put a translator on your site or even translate it yourself it might help. As a blog designer, it usually depends on what my client needs, and where he/she’s from.
As for the second point, I personally prefer more optmistic questions. The example you gave is fine (Is there anything that you don’t think I will be able to do to satisfy your needs?), but rephrasing it and saying something like “Now that you know more about me, do you think I have all the right skills for the job” (something like that).
But still good points, thanks for adding to the conversation. :)
October 28th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I interview a lot of people at my work for jobs and go through a lot of resumes. Number one reason people don’t even make it to the interview? Resume typos! Seriously, 97% of resumes I see have typos on them.
October 28th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
These are all good reminders. From personal experience I’d like to add “Keep the meeting formal and professional”. I met an attractive woman client at Chili’s, had a very successful presentation, and asked to see her again for a dinner date. The woman accepted but the dinner date went terribly. I don’t want to get into specific details, but the woman accused me of exposing myself to her (not true at all, just forgot to zip pants). I lost the sale and was practically arrested. Be careful!
October 28th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I think the biggest reason that a person does not get the gig or the job besides the required ability to communicate is not having the competence or the required knowledge to do the job. Unfortunately, many of us drink the Hollywood KoolAid of “Style over Competence.” Life does not imitate lousy arts :-D. Many of us have this grandiose self belief of “I am so intelligent and I can pick what I don’t know on the job once I get pass the gate keeper”. Competence can not be faked and it takes years to acquire and a life time of practice to maintain it.Competence, should be the buzz world of 21 Century!. Cheers.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
You didn’t get the job because you’re in a hyper-competitive field with a very low threshold of entry (no college, nothing except for experience and a HR person that doesn’t know what the hell they actually want.)
Don’t beat yourselves up over it. Seriously.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Hi Ro, really good point there! Thanks for adding to the list.
Jayson, that’s a pretty funny story, hope it ended ok. :)
Hi Joe, competence should definitely be the buzz word of the 21st century. Getting the job is one thing, delivering and making sure the client is satisfied is just as important.
Hi Steve, thanks for adding to the list. I agree, it depends what field you’re in. Experience is really important though.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
If you’re a white male and didn’t get the job it’s because of “multi-culturalism” diversity in the workplace, outright discrimination and quite likely outsourcing.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
1, 8, 13 and 20!
Thumbs Up!
October 28th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Charles - bullshit.
If you are well qualified, you will probably get the job. The whole issue of equal candidates is bull - one always stands above the others. The client will pick the one they think will do the job. Sure there may be some discrimination either way but I suspect it’s like .01%…
October 28th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
great list !!!!!!! … i’ll try to remember some of those for my next client …
October 28th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
An addition to #14:
If you have zero (lets say programming) experience, and want to build your resume, there’s always freeware, open source, and for-fun projects. Same for web work (there’s always someone who can use a hand), and design work (make banner ads, free avatars, advertisements, viral video, product mockups)
Whenever I see someone who went to college for design and they don’t have a single piece of work that was done outside of class, it really makes one question the validity of their desire to work in the field.
October 28th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Hi Charles and philsterific, well I do agree with Charles to some extent, but if you’re talented and you got a nice resume, most likely you’ll get the gig :)
ajabgajab, thanks!
noway, cool, I’m happy you found it useful.
Zacharias, excellent point, I can totally relate to that. I started learning php because I was working (a lot) with WordPress, I’m not a php guru though, but I can definitely find my way, which helped me get some gigs in the past. ;)
October 28th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Hey,
I’ve been checking out 25 Reasons You Didn’t Get The Gig and I love the stuff you guys are putting up. I actually have a website that aggregates and promotes news content like yours. If my users vote your content popular then a link to your articles gets put on my front page and the users get redirected to your site.
The easiest way to get your content in our site is to put a small button at the bottom of your posts which allows your users to automatically add your stuff to our site. Would you be interested in doing something like that?
Also, if you’re willing to make a post about my website on your [BLOG] then I will put a permanent link on my content partners page to your site with whatever keywords and description you would like. The partners page is linked from every page on my site. Content partners page: http://www.egallon.com/partners.php
Anyways, the site is http://www.egallon.com
If you’re interested please let me know,
Aaron
October 29th, 2007 at 9:36 am
May I add one?
Always take the portfolio or the laptop with you. You might just need to show the potential client something : )
October 29th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Hi Cristina, that’s a good one, it’s always a good thing to have samples of your work handy, in case you need to show your client some examples “on the spot” :)
October 29th, 2007 at 10:36 am
well that’s one written from my personal experience :) b4 i got my laptop i always took the printed articles wt me, now i take the laptop ;)
October 30th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Great article admonition on gig-landing. Other healthy reminders that’ll get us through the panic attacks and heighten our chances along with cozying up to a potential client is keeping solid references and updated portfolios. In line at the top of the list, whenever you sit down and discuss a project with a client always do your homework in advance. This has been a boon for everyone who’s always showed up to a meeting prepared. The long term effectiveness of preparation is that the overall meeting will have less creative idea restrictions and your client will have gained valuable insights from your meeting. The take home message for repeat work is always hard and consistent work–this will earn you repeat gigs. Without colliding with your own pricing belief system, though you shouldn’t over nor under price your work, an introductory offer/discount may be a good strategy on getting the ball rolling and may be just the thing to turn an opportunity to your advantage and seal a potential deal. I’ve written some on the subject on my blog if you want to check it out. All these will do a fantastic job off winning you work and your client’s affection for the type of work you do.
October 30th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I have already linked this from my blog, and reading this post and its comments got me thinking about something that has bothered me for quite a while.
I am looking for a job and having just graduated from university and having been for a number of interviews I am constantly told “worry were going to go with someone with more experience” but why? why does experience = greatness? surely *if* you find someone who is more talented why not pick them for the job and then hone them for greatness?
surely natural talent trumps experience! /sigh
October 30th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
@Charlie
Experience = reliability = a known factor
Without experience, you don’t have proof that you are able to complete the job, that you can work well with others, that you can listen to what’s required and follow instruction properly.
In short experience is proof that what you say you can do is true!
The only way around this is to try and get the experience at any cost. I used to work in a quite technical role for minimum wage for ages - but eventually, the experience opens doors that my qualifications couldn’t. It might mean that your dreams of a walking into a well paid role might lie shattered, but in the long term, its the only way!
January 14th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
These are some great points and many of them are mentioned in my eBook on freelancing…along with some others that aren’t mentioned.
I’ve been a successful freelancer for ten years now and I finally know exactly how to get almost any job I want.
I’m moving on to teaching others how to do it. You can check out my new blog at http://freedomfreelancing.blogspot.com/ or check out my report at www.virtualfreelanceguide.com
Trackbacks
Share your thoughts, leave a comment!