irc333 Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 I was just wondering, now why all of a sudden people are getting suspicious of those who are "self-employed"? It seems they think that's just as bad as being unemployed, or it's some "cover" to make it look like they're making money? I would say being self-employed is just as good as being EMPLOYED, it's a VERY common thing in this ecomony. And apparently, prospective dates think that if you don't take some kind of commute to work and report to a boss, that you might as well be unemployed. Why is this? There are ALOT of 1099 workers out there, and it's becoming more and more common, but hey, SELF-employed happen to have an income by the way.
Professor X Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 What??? I never heard this nonsense before Being self-employed is better than being a slave in a monkey suite.
Sunstar Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 Here in The Netherlands being self-employed is seen in a higher regard than being an employee at someone else's company. In fact self-employed people are required by law to register as a company at the Chamber Of Commerce. Being self-employed is quite common here.
carhill Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 Self-employed people who employ others generally are considered to be more 'legitimate', as are those who work as part of 'teams', like in the trades. Solo practitioners are more nebulous. As an example, if I ran a shop with a 1MM+ payroll and sales of 5MM, I'd be considered more 'legitimate' than running a one-man shop with 100K revenues. Having those big numbers and 'responsibility' for others are signs of greater success and legitimacy in a society which defines success by numbers. I heard exactly this from my best friend's wife last night, after which he tossed some daggers her way, showing that we all define success and legitimacy in our own way, and he respects that my way is different from his. He tried, over the years, to communicate this aspect to my now exW, but failed. She believed in the more general consensus that bigger numbers are 'better' numbers. I commute 200 feet every day. These days, with high energy costs, it sure saves on gas.
thehead Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Yup you nailed it. The words self-employed to some people means "this person isnt working and is embarrassed to admit it."i helped screen resumes and youd hear the team comment along those lines.
Shaun-Dro Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Yup you nailed it. The words self-employed to some people means "this person isnt working and is embarrassed to admit it."i helped screen resumes and youd hear the team comment along those lines. That's so stupid and ignorant. I've been self-employed for the past several years before going back to school. I used to pull over a grand a week with online auctions. I loved the crap out of it and beats the hell out of racing into work at a certain time, punching a clock, and dealing with people on the job that you may not like. With self-employment, you get to live the life you want and on your terms and the only reason I'm in school now is because the economy slowed too much for me to resume with that same kind of success to make it. But that's okay because I'm going into a business that will never die .
thehead Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 That's so stupid and ignorant. I've been self-employed for the past several years before going back to school. I used to pull over a grand a week with online auctions. I loved the crap out of it and beats the hell out of racing into work at a certain time, punching a clock, and dealing with people on the job that you may not like. With self-employment, you get to live the life you want and on your terms and the only reason I'm in school now is because the economy slowed too much for me to resume with that same kind of success to make it. But that's okay because I'm going into a business that will never die . I agree its stupid and ignorant.
Limin Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Self Employed has the highest failing rate. It is all about the 6 months break it or leave it.
Dust Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 What do you do, because at this point I'm just going to have to assume you sell drugs.
Woggle Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 They are jealous that somebody has freedom and still makes money.
Pyro Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) I was just wondering, now why all of a sudden people are getting suspicious of those who are "self-employed"? It seems they think that's just as bad as being unemployed, or it's some "cover" to make it look like they're making money? I'm only suspicious if they can't explain what it is that they do or their story doesn't add up or they refuse to say what it is. Edited May 3, 2011 by Pyro
Disillusioned Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 They are jealous that somebody has freedom and still makes money. That. Bosses hate it when their workers hint about going into business for themselves. They start bad-mouthing entrepreneurship like slave owners telling their slaves that Canada is a terrible place to go! Guess why, they want to keep that CONTROL.
Nexus One Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Bosses hate it when their workers hint about going into business for themselves. A way around that is to start doing business with your employer's company. Keeping your current job part time, running your business when not working for your employer and at the same time doing business with the company your work for. What better way to do business with short communication lines like that? What they don't like is employee's leaving, then using the company's knowhow to start a competing business. I've seen this happen more times than I can count.
carhill Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 A way around that is to start doing business with your employer's company. Keeping your current job part time, running your business when not working for your employer and at the same time doing business with the company your work for. What better way to do business with short communication lines like that? What they don't like is employee's leaving, then using the company's knowhow to start a competing business. I've seen this happen more times than I can count. Yep, that's what I did, until the company, my former employer, decided that paying per the contractual terms did not matter to them. At that point I went directly to their customers, laid it out and showed them how to save some money on my services. The rest is history. Most of my friends who employ people constantly refresh their workforce, save for a few key management people, and, along with data/communication/movement tracking, make it pretty difficult for employees to moonlight or build up clientele on the employer's dime. After all, most of them were employed at one time in their lives and know all the tricks
Jynxx Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 I'm self employed, and I couldn't care less what other people think of it. If they don't like it and don't want to hang out with me because of it then that's a bullet dodged. I'm not explaining details on how to make relatively easy money or how my business model works to friends or colleagues, let alone to a complete stranger who happens to be an attractive female.
Woggle Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 That. Bosses hate it when their workers hint about going into business for themselves. They start bad-mouthing entrepreneurship like slave owners telling their slaves that Canada is a terrible place to go! Guess why, they want to keep that CONTROL. Very true and the regular people are crabs in a barrel that want to pull people down who have found this freedom and can still live well.
zengirl Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 The only kind of "self employed" people I'd find at all negative would be like "Self employed musician/comedian (that no one has ever heard of and that really doesn't pay the bills)" or "Self employed Mary Kay/Natura/Some Pyramid Scheme" salesperson, but that's because one of those is not really a career but rather a hobby and one of those is something I disagree with and find distasteful. Generally speaking, I rarely get along with real estate agents, it seems, but that could just be coincidence. All the real estate agents I meet are always trying to network way too hard, and I find active networking tedious (did even when I was in advertising and it was supposedly my job, but I did more passive networking by just getting to know people sincerely). I've got friends who are self-employed graphic designers, programmers, consultants, contractors, shop owners, etc. Assuming a business is legitimate, I cannot imagine one taking umbrage with such a thing. I've found that I prefer people who are self-employed on a smaller scale rather than those who want to build empires of their own making (but that's just because empire-building is a trait I don't care for, and it kills the whole freedom of being self-employed in order to get more power; I'm pretty anti power-consolidating), but that's not to say I don't like any business owners who have wider success.
OldSkool Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Having been self employed continuously for over four years, I can say that the world is full of people who think that being self employed means they can work 4 hours a day, three days a week and they somehow think that their talents are so unique that they should be earning full time income for 12 hrs a week. To me, when someone says that they are self employed, that is what I think of. Professionals generally form an LLC or an S-Corp and consider themselves as business owners.
sunshinegirl Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Having been self employed continuously for over four years, I can say that the world is full of people who think that being self employed means they can work 4 hours a day, three days a week and they somehow think that their talents are so unique that they should be earning full time income for 12 hrs a week. To me, when someone says that they are self employed, that is what I think of. Professionals generally form an LLC or an S-Corp and consider themselves as business owners. I suppose if what they are producing is valued much more by their customer than the hours it took to produce it, then they're right and kudos to them for figuring out how to make a full week's wage in a fraction of the time. If they only *think* what they are producing should be valued more highly than it actually is, and they are kvetching about how they shouldn't have to work more than 12 hours a week because they are so "special", they are both wrong and probably annoying to be around.
Disillusioned Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 Very true and the regular people are crabs in a barrel that want to pull people down who have found this freedom and can still live well. The irony of it is that it's usually the control-obsessed bosses who tend to be the most incompetent and end up running the business into the ground... as long as it's done in accordance with company policy.
Woggle Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 The irony of it is that it's usually the control-obsessed bosses who tend to be the most incompetent and end up running the business into the ground... as long as it's done in accordance with company policy. This describes my old boss to a t. He micro managed everything and was the most incompetent person I have ever worked with. My current boss on the other ground built this place from the ground up and I love working for him.
TaurusTerp Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 Even if those of you on the board that are self employed work hard and do well, the vast majority of the self-employed are lazy, unemployed, irresponsible, or some combination of the three.
Star Gazer Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 On an online dating site, it's best to select/post the field/industry you're in as a self-employed person, rather than actually put "self-employed."
Disillusioned Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 This describes my old boss to a t. He micro managed everything and was the most incompetent person I have ever worked with. My current boss on the other ground built this place from the ground up and I love working for him. Yep, that guy must have been Dicknose's twin brother. Dicknose had a way of screwing up every task he was given by HIS bosses, but he wasn't totally stupid... he was smart enough to blame his boo-boos on his underlings or on "the system".
Disillusioned Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 Where is my 'Like' button??? Yes, massa. I'se comin', massa.
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