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Posts Tagged ‘Industry Trends’
Freelance Print Jobs Evolving in the Digital World
6/13/2011 2:42 PM By Jeff OrloffWith digital devices like smart phones and tablets making it so simple to consume books, magazines, news and other content, some job opportunities in print are becoming obsolete. However, freelancers can take the job skills they honed over the years in the traditional print industry and transfer them to digital media in ways they may not have imagined.
Copy Editors
Copy editor employment is available for people who can review the work of a writer and edit it for grammar, spelling, consistency, formatting, style and terminology. With more media going towards digital editions, copy editors are still needed to help produce clear, easy-to-read content. Web applications like blogs and content management systems also make it easy for many to develop a content-rich website, which creates a demand for freelance copy editors and proofreaders out there.
Freelance Writers
Freelance writers are fortunate because any website needs to have content and any website that wants to rank well in search engines needs to have well-written content. Talented freelance content developers are always in need by website owners and businesses; however, online writing is different than writing for traditional print media - usually more fluid and more concise – so writers must make adjustments to their style accordingly.
Freelance Art Directors
Like freelance writers, freelance art directors are also in need as more websites spring up for existing and new businesses. Art directors who don’t wish to make the jump into graphic design can still find work when it comes to digital advertising layouts and landing pages as sites want to achieve the right look to interest visitors.
While it looks like traditional publishing is going to take a severe downturn, it is clear how some of these skills can be transferred to the digital workplace. Having experience in freelance print jobs should not be viewed as a disadvantage because it still shows you have experience creating content and meeting deadlines.
Print Opportunities Not Going Anywhere Too Soon
5/20/2011 5:30 PM By William PirragliaDon’t listen to the reports questioning whether the print industry is dead or alive. While digital alternatives capture most of the global attention in the 21st century, freelance creative directors often create a superior mix of print, web, video and other projects and events.
Even e-commerce companies need print projects to enhance their brand and credibility. The strong movement to print-on-demand (POD) publishing for books, brochures, newsletters, articles and magazines does not diminish the need for freelance editors and proofreaders. In many cases, since digital publishers are offering their output to the entire galaxy via the web, the need for talented editors and proofreaders is stronger than ever.
The print and digital industries also still require talented production managers. The production function, particularly for print materials, requires talented professionals who can manage the entire process from first draft to final, approved copy. The management, project, and detail skills necessary to supervise and produce high-quality print output are treasured talents.
Proofreader employment opportunities and needs are often overlooked by candidates and employers alike. Much as some companies mistakenly discount the influence of their front line employees (i.e., bank tellers, customer service reps, receptionists, etc.), first-class proofreaders are influential components to successful print projects. As every avid reader is aware, few books and articles can be read without noticing at least one typo that a first rate proofreader could have prevented.
As the top talent recruitment firms know, freelance creative directors are always in demand. While the competition is rigorous, many of your peers now focus on the digital and interactive industries. Should you have talent in both print and digital art, your opportunities should expand.
Give Your Website an Edge to Find More New York Freelance Opportunities
5/11/2011 9:02 AM By William Pirraglia
Most people consider New York City a cutting-edge location for many reasons. Combine these reasons with the inherent need for successful freelancers to vigorously separate themselves from the “madding crowd” of competitors. As New York freelance opportunities multiply with the post-recession economy, this need for more cutting-edge marketing and networking becomes greater.
As creative jobs New York increase, the competition among creative freelancers also continues to grow. Superior New York freelance recruiters are at the front edge of this growth, offering many new opportunities. However, like employers, they also seek the most exceptional creative freelancers to match with their clients.
In this environment, a freelancer’s website is more important than ever. There is growing support for the theory that New York-based freelancers should create cutting-edge websites for themselves. This is no time for conservatism or timidity. Top creative freelancers must be viewed as leaders in their specialties.
Good reasons for this recommendation abound. Consider just a few factors.
- New York-based freelancers are at ground zero for cutting-edge mentality. Even if your clientele is primarily conservative, your site can be daringly edgy.
- Ironically, the most edgy websites typically create more trust and credibility for freelancers. Clients tend to view your website as an expression of your persona. Progressive sites do not typically “scare” potential clients, even the most conservative.
- Web and graphic designers should create gourmet websites that showcase their talent, even when compared to competitor sites. New York freelance positions are highly competitive. Create modern, strongly targeted, multi-media websites that show off your expertise.
- Even some “flash” is acceptable. No, not 1990s flash. Contemporary multi-media features, beyond teenage appetites, of course, can help establish your talent and credibility. Without straining resources, you can add some flash to enhance your cutting-edge website goal.
Spend the time to increase the edge to your website. The New York market will view your creative freelancing talents in a more exciting and favorable light. This gives you better entrees into the growing New York freelance opportunities now available.
Copy Editor Employment Picture
5/9/2011 1:47 PM By William PirragliaCopy editor employment opportunities multiply as the U.S. economy rebounds. Interestingly, some of the classic copy editor qualifications (i.e., creativity, wide range of knowledge, motivation, curiosity and persistence) are being augmented by additional obligations.
Top copy editor jobs also require knowledge of electronic publishing, multimedia and web design, graphics, and wireless communication familiarity in addition to traditional qualities. The best copy editors must also have an affinity and a talent for writing to employ superior editorial skills.
As the recession wound down in 2008, copy editor employment was around 130,000 jobs in the U.S. Freelance proofreaders and editors made up around 12 percent of those employed. Interestingly, freelance writers, authors and professional copywriters comprised around 70 percent of the approximately 152,000 people holding these jobs.
Copy editor employment is projected to grow approximately as fast as the average for most occupations, with median salaries around $54,000 per year. Copy editors seeking new challenges should keep the top creative talent employment firms, like Artisan, active on their “to do” lists. As the economy rebounds, many of the best new copy editor employment opportunities exist in the elite talent firms’ portfolios.
Salaried copy editor jobs are expected to increase for newspapers, book and magazine publishers, and growing non-profit entities in the next few years. However, opportunities for freelance editors should also exhibit measurable growth.
Production Managers and the Print Industry
5/6/2011 2:05 PM By William PirragliaRegardless of industry, production managers have the identical core job description. However, the physical responsibilities of video, digital and print industry production managers will be noticeably different.
Even before the current state of flux, the print industry has had inconsistent definitions and responsibilities for production managers. Required to coordinate their efforts with marketing managers, professional copywriters and the print room operations, production managers face personality, strategy and hardware considerations.
The diminishing number of print publications, green efforts to minimize paper use, emerging digital publishing software and prepress organization issues demand that companies have talented production managers. A fervid commitment to become—and remain—organized may be the most important single prerequisite for production managers in the print industry.
In some organizations, the production manager is not even permitted to review and approve all print jobs. While this is hard to believe, it seems that some companies miss the obvious need for a production manager relationship with marketing and sales, along with full-time or freelance proofreaders, prior to print approval. Production managers also often face timing challenges without full control of prepress operations.
However, when skilled production managers are given appropriate authority, they will produce print materials of high quality and on time, as promised. Without the ability to perform re-takes of video or the opportunity to correct errors common to digital publications, print production managers must be more precise, detail oriented and organized than their video and digital namesakes.
New York City Continues to Lead U.S. in High Tech Employment
4/28/2011 1:37 PM By William Pirraglia
New York City has maintained its strong high tech industry employment, as it has for most of the 21st century. Cybercities 2010, which names the top 10 cybercities each year, continues to find NYC at the apex of the list.
Any premier New York City talent agency like Artisan can confirm that the volume of high tech opportunities is growing as the U.S. recovery finally takes hold. While New York City employment agencies seldom witness the high concentration of high tech workers enjoyed by San Jose/Silicon Valley (almost 30 percent of all private sector staff), these agencies can testify to the continuing strength of the market.
While New York City high tech jobs suffered during the recession, their consistently competing cybercities (Washington, D.C., San Jose/Silicon Valley, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle) often fared worse. New York freelance firms are reporting material spikes in new employment opportunities.
As Josh James of the TechAmerica Foundation correctly states, “These are the types of jobs every city wants. They are very well-paid . . .” Tech industry wages remain around 50 percent higher than other average private sector jobs. In 2009, the New York City metro area employed around 317,000 high tech professionals, more than than 24,000 employees higher than 2nd place Washington, D.C.
Whether you seek full-time or freelance employment, the New York City market is once again leading the nation in opportunities. Take advantage of an expanding market for the first time in a few years. Use all of your personal resources and the top creative talent employment firms in like Artisan to find the full-time or contract job that is perfect for you.
What You Should Know About Copy Editor Jobs
4/27/2011 4:18 PM By Jeff OrloffThe job of a copy editor is often confused with a proofreader. While copy editors do frequently proofread content, their job requires much more. In addition to correcting grammar and spelling mistakes, copy editors ensure proper writing style, consistency and adherence to the publication’s guidelines.
Copy Editor Employment
The number of copy editor jobs is expected to decrease before the year 2018 partly due to so many print publications and newspapers falling to Internet based journalism. While the numbers are expected to drop, it is not expected to be a large decrease in positions.
Copy editors earn an average of $49,990 with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $28,090 and the highest 10 percent earning over $95,000. Many copy editors also supplement their earnings with freelance writing as well.
Becoming a Copy Editor
Copy editors are expected to have a strong background in journalism and writing. In addition to journalism skills, a copy editor should be very detail oriented and extremely organized as meeting deadlines is an essential part to success in this job. A college degree in either is usually expected but not always necessary for employment.
Copy editor jobs can be found on virtually every online job site and there are some that are dedicated specifically for writers and editors. When applying for jobs, prospective employers usually expect to see samples of written and edited work, an employment history and references from previous employers and/or clients. A copy editing or proofreading test is also commonly required during the interview process.
Copy editor employment is usually considered a mid-level position and advancement to content director, managing editor or director of communications are possible next-level career steps.
Freelance Illustrators Take Advantage of the Merge of Design and Culture
4/25/2011 12:09 PM By William PirragliaWhile David Carlson’s recent article, “Design + Culture – A Return to Fundamentalism?” focused on all forms of art in a changing world, freelance illustrators and graphic artists in the print industry can learn a lot. Returning to “cultural fundamentalism” may become an important concept for freelancers in 2011 and beyond.
As graphic artists are aware, the entire world of art has always reflected the culture in which, or for which, it was created. When combined with the social mores and time period in which the artist sketched, the art of the day reflected the then-current era. Skeptics need only compare U.S. magazine covers through the 20th century to notice the variations of style, focus, and design to witness a microcosm of print industry changes as a whole.
As a “global culture” continues to blur the lines differentiating the usual country-to-country dissimilarities, this globalization is also merging and defining the apparent move toward sameness. As major culture differences are weakened, we also see emerging sub-cultures as people adopt attitudes that reinvigorate their individuality and diversity.
Those seeking freelance art jobs should be aware of this metamorphosis. The emergence of the internet and digital printing appears to embody both culture and sub-culture issues that can affect freelance illustrators. While proclamations of the death of the print industry are wildly premature, most statistics indicate that the movement from general consumption publications to niche markets has already occurred.
A graphic artist for hire should understand this reality. However, freelance illustrators must also have a familiarity with digital as well as classic print processes, hardware, and lead times. Although full-time W-2 graphic artist employees will probably gain this knowledge on-the-job, freelancers must take the time to increase their familiarity by any means at their disposal.
Top creative talent agencies like Artisan know that, in addition to basic artistic skill, freelancers are more valuable when they understand what their contract employer or client faces to get copy into print. As the economy rebounds (finally), freelance illustrators will see more and more employment opportunities—even in the print industry.
Their value expands the more they can discuss the changing culture for which they produce work and the new advances and challenges of getting their clients’ work into print form. As national and regional cultures shift into uncharted waters, graphic artists should be familiar with the challenges faced by their employer companies to capture the most effective images for their projects.
Those freelance illustrators dealing with smaller companies or publications should focus on current culture issues just as diligently as their counterparts who deal with mega-corporate clients. The tighter budgets of smaller companies demand graphic artist excellence as they have little margin for error.
As the job market for freelance illustrators and graphic artists heats up, all are urged to amass knowledge on the cultural changes with the same fervor they have to improve their artistic skills. The results—new and lucrative jobs—will be worth this effort to understand the cultural shifts and needs of post-recession recovery. Top freelancers using their considerable artistic skills, their cultural knowledge, and a premier talent search agencies like Artisan should have a profitable 2011.
San Francisco Freelance Staffing Experiencing Promising Growth
4/21/2011 1:18 PM By William Pirraglia
Formerly skeptical or, at best, neutral smaller business managers are becoming more comfortable with using freelancers on important design projects. Even those managers who previously had mixed results with freelancers are more optimistic. A superior San Francisco freelance agency like Artisan connects employers with the top level professionals they want.
San Francisco freelancing staffing is experiencing an opportunity explosion. Through February 2011, California has added almost 100,000 net new jobs. Many of these new exciting opportunities are jobs in San Francisco.
Along with the always vibrant San Jose/Silicon Valley need for high technology freelancers, the entire San Francisco-metro area is experiencing a renaissance in new graphic and web design jobs for freelancers. While many larger companies seek a combination of full-time and freelance professionals, the small business community is hungry for talented high tech experts.
In many cases, the stress to rebound along with the economy is much greater on small businesses than on large companies. Without the added staff talent enjoyed by larger companies, small businesses must react carefully, but quickly and cost effectively. They cannot afford to contract with a freelancer who is unqualified or simply doesn’t fit the company’s needs.
However, a good San Francisco freelance agency can help businesses find the talent level and fit they want. With so many new jobs in San Francisco, businesses large and small can scale their projects and workload—up or down—to fit their strategic plans and stay within budgetary constraints.
Chicago Talent Agencies See More Firms Using Freelancers
4/10/2011 7:26 PM By ArtisanChicago talent agencies are reporting a strong increase in freelance jobs. This is not a coincidence. Independent sources confirm that the market is improving—and changing.
SurePayroll reports that over five percent of the workforce they paid in February 2011 were independent contractors. This is a 40 percent increase from the same period in 2009. The well-respected Kauffman Foundation reports that entrepreneurial endeavors have increased since the recession, but most newer businesses are not offering full-time opportunities. However, they are hiring independent contractors and freelancers in ever-growing numbers.
A top Chicago talent agency like Artisan will have the best of these new, exciting opportunities. Even mature businesses, still unconvinced about the true strength of the recovery, continue to try to reduce overhead, benefit costs, and compensation guarantees by using talented freelancers.
Michael Alter, President of SurePayroll, believes “this is a permanent change,” not a temporary reaction to a spotty recovery. Other Chicago staffing agencies agree that technology advances permit companies the flexibility to use independent contractors to fill their talent needs. Since much of the creative workforce also prefers the flexibility of creating their own work-life balance, freelancers and Chicago talent agencies hope that Mr. Alter’s prediction is correct.
