Saturday, February 20, 2010

Is it important to get a job right away with my recently earned Graphic Design degree or can I wait

Is it important to get a job right away with my recently earned Graphic Design degree or can I wait?
I have a graphic design degree earned last February. I had my first child in May last year. I have been a stay at home mom and I would like to try and stay home with him for awhile longer but don't want my degree to be out-dated by the time I'm ready to look for work. I am considering trying to get some freelance business, but it is tough with a new baby. Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks!
Programming & Design - 5 Answers
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1 :
That should be fine to wait, if anyone asks about it on your Resume just tell them what happened. You could do some personal drawings and whatnot to show people when you do go for a job.
2 :
Well, you're staying home right now and you're ok sooo.... I would go for that feelance business but do it small time right now, just to bring in enough to pay a few extra things or have some more financial freedom. You could even send your resume around to different companies with a cover letter that says that you are looking to work from home because of your new baby. People might connect with you and your situation. After you send your resume around (by fax), you call and ask for the manager or who would look at your resume, and you talk to that person (if possible). They'll probably need you to send your resume again if they are interested in you. You can do something other than work all day and keep your child in daycare. Did you ever think about building websites and getting some affiliate cash rolling in? Do you know how? Good luck.
3 :
Coming from a graphic Designer.... You should start looking for jobs now, because chances are it will take you about a while to land a really good gig anyways. Competition is extreme in this business, and the market is relatively small, so start looking now, chances are that you will need to go to a few interveiws before you you get hired. Plus, you don't want to be rusty, I used to be able to design websites w/ DreamWeaver, but my current position doesn't require web Design, So I haven't used it in like 2 years, and I couldn't tell you where to even start now, I forgot how to use it!!
4 :
My best suggestion would be to get a free website and practice your skills there while raising your baby. When the time comes that you need to enter the workforce, you can list your site as an example of your work. You can also turn this into freelance work for fun or profit. I do webmastering for friends, and I'm currently helping a graphic artist go from creating wallpapers to learning diplay tricks that web design allows. Best of luck.
5 :
If you can afford it, wait as long as you can. You'll have many chances to get bored and tired at work. Enjoy your freedom while you can.... The only legitimate reason to start working sooner rather than later is when you need money. And don't buy into this "getting outdated" stuff. You'll catch up when and if you need it.... or you'll master another skill... or, maybe, you'll decide to stay at home, and be a full-time mom. Your degree is supposed to help you leave your life the way you want, not define it for you

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

How much will I owe in taxes if I did $2400 worth the freelance work last year

How much will I owe in taxes if I did $2400 worth the freelance work last year?
I did two websites for a guy last year. Now, he just contacted me asking for my address and social security# for the 1099 Forms. How much will I owe approximately? What a pain in the *ss, I'm never working outside of my current job again unless it's totally under the table in writing!!! grrrrrr!!!!
United States - 6 Answers
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1 :
LOL. Although I do not know the exact amount... I always go to HR Block online and play with the systems. If you click start a free efile and just enter the information, it will calculate the amount for you. (And don't worry- I always put 123-45-6789 as my social just so I can play around with the system and see exactly how much I will owe/get back.)
2 :
You may not end up owing anything if you worked for a company that took out taxes in addition to this small amount of freelance work. In addition, there may be a wide variety of expenses that you can deduct on that work as well. Also, if you have children that you can claim as dependents that will further lessen the amount of tax you owe with the credits and exemptions that they provide. Taxact.com has a great step by step question program that is absolutely free to use and efile with. I use them every year and I work as a freelance writer. It will ask you if you have any business income to report and then will ask you a series of questions after that to help you claim expenses etc.
3 :
The amount you own will depend on how much you made at your other job and from other sources of income. If you made $5,000 before this income, your taxes would go from $503 to $743. If you made $20,000 before this income, your taxes go from $2,586 to $2,946. If you made $50,000 before this income, your taxes go from $8,694 to $9,294. By the way, another reason to keep things under the table is that you technically owe Social Security Tax, Medicare tax and State tax on this money. Plus, you might need to charge him tax on the transaction and send that to the state.
4 :
self employment taxes would be about $367 - income taxes depend on what tax bracket you are in when you add that income to your othe rincome
5 :
if you moonlight you have to pay for it yes, self employment income is income and is taxable and you need to pay your se taxes on it if you don't like the system, don't play it
6 :
Probably around $720, but could differ depending on your tax bracket, this assumes a 15% bracket plus the self employment tax for social security and medicare. And just how do you plan to get the written statement? Say "hey, mr or ms person who wants to hire me to do some work, would you mind signing this statement that you will promise to participate in tax fraud with me"? And by the way, even if someone was stupid enough to sign it, you still couldn't enforce it since you can't enforce a contract to do something illegal

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Is there any good website featuring jobs for Spanish speaking freelance writers

Is there any good website featuring jobs for Spanish speaking freelance writers?

Careers & Employment - 3 Answers
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1 :
www.univision.com (the only one I know)
2 :
OK, understood that he can speak spanish but can he write too?
3 :
You can get a lot of openings at this site

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