{"id":24,"date":"2022-07-11T08:26:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T12:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cgcdocs.local\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2023-09-19T12:26:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T16:26:19","slug":"a-note-about-freelancing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/cgcdocs.local\/a-note-about-freelancing\/","title":{"rendered":"A Note About Freelancing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s fairly common in our industry to be approached or seek out freelance work while being fully employed. We\u2019re strong believers in seeking out hobbies and brain puzzles that help you unplug from the day-to-day work here at Autotroph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We subscribe to the thought this makes you a better-rounded person. Inevitably, skills or problems solved outside of work tend to trickle back benefiting your daily work at Autotroph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, it can be a delicate balance and we do want to make sure you don\u2019t create conflicts of interest or affect your time, dedication, or performance at Autotroph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking candidly, here are some things we\u2019re OK with and not OK. Of course, if you\u2019re not sure, please ask!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>What\u2019s OK<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. An occasional side gig, free or paid, for someone you know. For example, if you want to work on a friend\u2019s website or a design or writing project for something you\u2019re involved with, that\u2019s fine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. An occasional speaking gig, free or paid. Someone\u2019s going to pay you to give a talk somewhere? That\u2019s fine as long as it doesn\u2019t involve multiple days off for travel (unless you use your own personal vacation time against this travel time).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. A side business that\u2019s different from your day job, as long as the commitment is only a few hours a week. If you come to work exhausted because you\u2019re trying to start a full-time business on the side, it\u2019s going to impact your performance here.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Serve as an advisor for another company, or be on a board, as long as there\u2019s no conflict of interest. The time commitment must be under a few hours a month. And if there\u2019s a scheduling conflict, Autotroph gets priority.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Do volunteer or occasional pro-bono work for a cause you\u2019re actively involved with. A little work here and there is fine, but, for example, becoming an organization\u2019s full-time web designer and being on the hook to work during your standard workday, etc, would not be OK.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    <\/a>What’s not OK<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. You can\u2019t work full time or part-time for another company in our industry. If you\u2019re unclear about what our industry is, and you have a specific situation you\u2019d like to talk about, ping Wes or Jonathan<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Go out on a regular speaking circuit tour which is going to require multiple days of travel multiple times a year. That\u2019s too disruptive to our own work schedule and to your fellow teammates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Consult for other companies in our industry where there may be a conflict of interest (a competitor, a product tangentially related to Autotroph, etc).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Be aggressive in marketing your availability for side work. If something comes to you through a friend or some connection, fine, but aggressively promoting something on the side will ultimately result in a conflict of interest here at work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Take on anything outside of work that\u2019ll pull attention from work. For example, if you wanted to launch an app, but the app requires providing timely customer support to people who use the app, that\u2019s going to eat into your day here at work. That would ultimately be a problem.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      <\/a>In General<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Here are a few guiding principles about whether something could be a problem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n