I recently read some posts regarding freelance designers who were bidding on certain jobs. During the bidding stage, several of the freelancers wrote in that they had underbid on the job in hopes of getting it to add to their portfolio.
The problem? Oftentimes when we lowball bid on a job, the job itself ends up being something less than what we would want to use on our resume. Perhaps you are a writer and you see a content writing position open for a website. The website is going to pay you a whopping $3 a post. The post takes you half an hour or more to write, which means you are making less than $6 per hour; which in turn means that you are making less than minimum wage.
If you are taking on low paying jobs in an effort to build a portfolio, it is time to change your thinking and charge what you are worth. Oftentimes the jobs that want a strong person to hire will not hire someone who lowball bids because they believe that the materials they end up with will not be of high caliber.
Besides, we often will get what we settle for, so if you are settling for low paying jobs these may be the only positions you get. If you go in knowing that you are worth more, at least the going rate, you have a much better chance of getting a great job than if you go in trying to underbid because you believe the employer wants to pay the least amount possible. Some other tips:
1) Build your resume by taking some classes instead. Improve your skills and build a portfolio.
2) Keep plugging away. Don’t give up when you don’t get the higher paying jobs; it will happen.
3) Talk to others. How are they finding jobs? Where are they going to find these positions?