How do I build an online personality for future freelance work without my current employers finding out?

May 13, 2009 2:47 PM

I want to start building a network of contacts for branching out into freelance writing / editing / consulting work but I don't want my employer to know about it. I'm not planning to do the "me" work in working hours, but I don't want my name showing up on Facebook or my blog about how I'm trying to leave my lousy job appearing in google with my name attached to it... yet I want to (surely need to!) use social media to promote myself. When I've built more contacts, I can 'fess up and leave my day job, but until then... Any advice?

Particular advice for a publicly-accessible blog, Twitter and Facebook would be especially helpful. Should I set up my business stuff under a pseudonym? Should I maintain a 'clean' 'work-safe' account on Facebook etc so that current work colleagues can interact with me there? The more I think about it, the more I confuse myself! Thanks for any advice you can offer.

posted by anonymous to work & money (10 comments total)

I don't think it's something you need to worry about. Plenty of people (writers especially) hold down day jobs while also pulling in extra work on the side. I really doubt your boss or coworkers are going to freak over it.

And you shouldn't be blogging about how you're trying to leave your lousy job, anyway! View this whole freelancing thing as side work (that, if everything went well, could turn into full-time) and most of your problems disappear.
posted by soma lkzx at 2:54 PM on May 13

Don't talk about your lousy job online, ever.
posted by desjardins at 3:06 PM on May 13 [2 favorites]

I do freelance writing work in addition to my "real job", and while the functions are different the topics often overlap. I completely disclosed to my boss that I was doing this, and he doesn't care, as long as I don't do it on company time or write about anything we're keeping quiet at work (obviously). I suspect you'll be okay.

Why do you need to talk about why you're leaving your lousy job? There's no reason you can't Twitter or Facebook or blog your most recent work without the attached "boy, and the day job still sucks." Plenty of people are working two jobs these days and managing to keep them separate -- you can too.
posted by olinerd at 3:51 PM on May 13

I think the 'social' in social networking is supposed to mean 'to compel people to meet you in real life.' I don't know of a single person who has successfully landed a job through an online-only contact and I can't think of the last time I have converted a networking contact from facebook into a friend or even industry peer offline. Tread lightly.
posted by parmanparman at 3:56 PM on May 13

When I've built more contacts, I can 'fess up and leave my day job, but until then.

Griping about how you hate your job to anyone but your mother or SO is simply boring. More to the point, doing so while blogging about how what you really want to do is write/edit/freelance makes you sound like someone more motivated by hatred of the day job than by any real passion for the dream escape. Would you want to hire that guy?

As to the Man finding out - don't sweat it. Second side jobs is the way of the world these days, and assuming you at least produce the day job goods (even if unhappily), they're not going to fire you for your personal unhappiness.

Still, if it freaks you that much, then sure, use a pen name. Many of the Best People do.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:28 PM on May 13

I do work on the side, but my most recent employer had a policy about 'outside work' so you may want to check that what you plan to do is ok before you start.

And nthing not to gripe. You never know if you will work with these people again. Often said, but it has certainly been true for me.
posted by wingless_angel at 5:46 PM on May 13

Make sure that your employer doesn't have a claim on the copyright of things you produce in your own time (which can happen if there's any link between the two types of work). If you're serious about it, see a lawyer to make sure.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 5:09 AM on May 14

Use your middle name + last name. It's perfectly legit & you won't show up in search engines.

Your worlds will eventually collide, though, and you should be prepared for that.

nthing 'don't gripe about your current job' - you love the job & are looking to produce extra income and that's it.

Second side jobs is the way of the world these days, and assuming you at least produce the day job goods (even if unhappily), they're not going to fire you for your personal unhappiness.

As someone who knows someone who was fired for having a side gig & not reporting it (and slacking at the day job & using day job hours, but that's besides the point), I wouldn't be so fast to guarantee something like that.
posted by MesoFilter at 2:58 PM on May 14

As someone who knows someone...

I stand corrected. Mind you, I find the firing odd and wonder if it might not be sue-worthy, assuming the night job was not in direct competition with the day job.

(Not that I would recommend suing the old boss. You can cut off a lot of future possibilities that way. Not fair, but there it is.)
posted by IndigoJones at 5:19 PM on May 24

whoa, whoa, whoa, I folded too quickly- ("and slacking at the day job & using day job hours, but that's besides the point")

Come on, that is never besides the point.

Though agreed, openess about possibly influential side jobs is probably a good idea.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:23 PM on May 24