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6 Types of jobs you should never accept

Published on April 1st, 2016 By zooboole Published on April 1st, 2016 By zooboole



photo credit: Thomas Guest via photopin (license)



As a web designer/developer, sometimes you have to handle things by yourself. You need to go out there and try to get jobs in order to make some income. That's normal, we all do it.

Although we know ourselves as good talkers, sometimes it happens that you meet clients who are beyond you and more troublesome. Here I will be sharing with you some sign which can help you detect what job to take or not based on your contact with the client.

1. A Job-like...

This is the first sign and the most often. When you get in touch the client will present a website or a list of websites asking you to make something similar or pick up ideas out of it.

At first, this may look normal or probably a way for you to push your curiosity a bit further or to different horizons, but it's not usually good for your business for some couple of reasons:

You will waste a lot of time trying to get something that will fit your client's need.

You may lose focus due to the type/number of information you meet during your researches

You may never satisfy your client

The projects he is comparing his goal with might have been developed by teams, so it took more brains, time, and money to make it, what he can't afford. You will be doing a team work alone for a single person's price.

So, for such jobs make sure you send your client back. If he can rectify those things for you, then take the job, otherwise, my advice for you is not to accept.

2. Use your creativity to give me something

Oh my God! At least the first one gave you some resources for you to have an idea of what you would be doing. This one doesn't even know where to start from and wants you to do that job before starting your own. Hahaha.

Definitely, you are never going to complete this one for some reasons: - The client will realize what exactly he needs on the way, and now start asking you to do what he thinks he wants - There won't be a precise date to finish the project. It's a life project. - You will never be paid for the quantity of work you are going to accomplish

3. Content not available

Yes! This usually happens when a client contacts you explains what he wants, but he doesn't have any content in the hands. He's expecting you to get it for him with the help of some plagiarism.

Clients forget here that we may not know much about their field. We can help organize your content, but generating it can require some good mastery of the particular field.

This is definitely going to waste your time again. If you insist and make it, he will come back, after his friends saw the website, to ask you to change/remove some parts. You may even have to remove some pages or modules, which may have cost you some time already to make it.

4. Clients who communicate less with you

I personally like when I am in constant contact with the client so that I can easily ask any questions. But, when it comes that the client is always away/lost, it becomes a big problem. Whenever you are blocked somewhere you have to wait for some while/days before getting his feedback.

This usually consumes a lot of time and the client might not be focused on the project. Another waste of time process.

5. Clients who bargain a lot the price

I don't know much about the outside, but, here in Africa, we bargain everything, everywhere... Even in malls. Hahaha

As I usually say it, you cannot get a quality thing and pay it cheap. The price we give is used to conduct your project not to just put it in our pocket. Yes, our food money is also inside, but that's why we are actually working. If your workers have to work with an empty stomach I am not sure you will get the best of them.

So, those clients are ready to go and look for someone else for a difference of $2. Be very careful with them. They never loose, therefore you will always loose for them. They will never have mercy on you. They will make you work like a slave for the money they are paying you. They can really be hard to handle sometimes.

This may take you days and weeks to conclude the deal, and their terms can be very complicated. After they make the first payment they usually start with a hard pressure: I want the work done in two days.

These jobs, likewise the previous waste your time and give you a lot of pressure.

6. The client thinks he knows the job

You know and you are not doing it yourself.

These are clients when they come to you they always try to make you understand that they know more or less the job, therefore they minimize every task in front of you in order to gain a lesser price. They will start putting useless protocols on your way to prove they know: I want you to use Java(He means JavaScript) to make the website very dynamic(He's talking of animations*)...

The biggest problem with them is that they are kind of the ones conducting the project for which you can influence your normal workflow. Plus, you will have to teach them stuff in order to get them on the same track. Believe me, I met many of such type. Very disturbing.

Bottom line

Since this is 1st April I think it will be good we say what we think without fooling ourselves. These are some jobs I had the chance to deal with in my small period of a career as a web dev. I am certain many among you had met some too, or probably in a different format. I think at a point in time you really need to sort jobs before taking and reduce your stress level.

You can also share other kinds you think can be arranged in the same drawer.