Freelance Work

[Digicaster]

I am an Audio Visual technician in full time employment but I'm looking for part time live events work evenings and weekends. I'd like to know where to start looking please and your advice and guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Bobbsy]

At the risk of being a downer, the first thing to do is check your contract of employment at your full time job. If they do anything vaguely approaching the kind of events work you want to take on, they may take a very dim view of you apparently going into competition with them. Or, even if not you directly, you have to be careful about taking on freelance work for a company that could be viewed as a competitor.

[Jivemaster]

Secondarily be careful with the hours you intend to work. If your regular job employs you for a time per day you need extra hours to service that, -getting to and fro for a start.

 

If your evening job is a four hour show then there will be set and strike times on top of that and soon your sleep is the only thing that can give the time, then you start to mess up both jobs and get fired from both.

[Digicaster]

Thanks for your advice but there's been a downturn recently and staff have been laid off I want to go free lance but not sure what the best approach would be. I thought having one job part time could be built upon.

[Pete McCrea]

As others have noted, you might struggle to make things for together. Then again you might not.

 

If you have companies and crews coming through your current place of work, then network with then as they come through. Go above and beyond, and they'll remember you when you call to ask for work. This industry is about who you know, as much as what you know.

[Digicaster]

Thanks for that bit of advice Pete I think your right networking with current crews would be an option. How about going direct to venues?

[gareth]

Something to bear in mind is that, strictly speaking, there's no such thing as "freelance" - you're a self-employed contractor, with all the inherent implications for tax, NI, provision of your own tools and PPE, etc. There have been quite a few discussions on the BR over the years on this topic - it's worth doing a bit of digging through the archives and reading up on it.