Archive for November, 2009

NEWS: Small businesses should tap into the freelance talent pool to survive the downturn

news_327_258Yesterday an interesting article dropped into our inbox – “Make use of freelancers, firms told” – naturally, most mails don’t pass our instant-delete-suspect-email process, but due to the title of the mail, we read on. And we’re very glad that we did, as the article substantiates what we’re trying to achieve here at FreelanceStudents.

In brief the article discusses comments made by Sir Tom Farmer, the founder of Kwik-Fit and Michael van Swaaij, the former managing director of eBay Europe and chairman of Skype.

Sir Tom outlines why he believes over the next 10 years companies will “trim the fat” and look to outsource non-core activities. Translated, this means Sir Tom sees companies increasingly looking to use freelance and short-term staff.

Michael van Swaaij backs up Sir Tom’s comments by stating that the traditional model of employer/employee is clearly changing.

You could say we were ahead of the game! The full article can be found at http://www.mybusiness.co.uk/YaG1H5xo6VWuDg.html.

7 Essential Tips for Student freelancers
– a useful article for any students or recent graduates looking for tips on freelancing.

The Secrets of Success: Introducing Careers Corner

chest_and_key1Throughout your life you’ll be incessantly asked about your career; “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, and so on, and so on. The interrogation starts at a young age and follows (and in some cases haunts) you until you’re old enough to retire. A lucky few already know the path they’ll follow and their career goals are clearly defined, however, the vast majority of us simply have no idea.

Additionally, in our experience, there’s usually a deluge of bog standard advice and meaningless information that can be found on the internet, at your careers service, or from your well-meaning, but slightly outdated, parents. There’s clearly a need for more personal and real information and we believe we have just that.

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Bragster.com: Victory is Sweet

BragsterA few weeks ago we stumbled across a new-ish social media website called Bragster.com. Not another one, I hear you cry. Yep, but this isn’t just about endless twittering or photo-prying, this is much more fun. Described as “Jackass meets Facebook” Bragster is all about dares, where users challenge each other to do absurd stunts, film themselves, and then “brag” about it.

Bragster is a London-based venture that was founded by Bertrand Bodson and Wim Vernaeve. The idea came about to the duo when Wim was working at Morgan Stanley and he got dared by a colleague to go bald before an important client meeting. It never happened, apparently, but Bragster was born.

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