Open to work

When people ask me what I do for a living I’m not sure how to answer. Though I’ve written words for a cartoon strip for several decades, I can’t really call myself a cartoonist, because I don’t know how to draw. This has led to me being shunned by proper cartoonists, as I can’t participate in their discussions about cross-hatching techniques. But can I describe myself as a writer or a journalist? Not without earning the scorn of real writers and journos (“but he just writes cartoons”).

I am also unsure of my current employment status. Am I self-employed? Or these days am I possibly semi-retired? As a freelancer you never know which category you are in, especially when you get to a certain age and find that your email inbox is becoming increasingly full of spam from people trying to take money away from you, rather than messages from people offering to pay it to you.

Once you find yourself in this position you have to consider whether to update your status on LinkedIn by putting the green badge of shame on your profile: “Open to Work.” This has the advantage of boosting your visibility to prospective employers and commissioners, but the disadvantage of lowering your asking rate (as you are clearly desperate).