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HOLLAND
COLLEGE • March 2003
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not for everyone Freelancing offers freedom, satisfaction journalism grads agree By Jason Perrin Class of 03 Freelancing can be a difficult career choice for journalists, but for two graduates of the Journalism program at Holland College it's a life of freedom and satisfaction. Most of us awake every morning to the disturbing screech of an alarm clock. After crawling out of bed and taking that long, hot, shower we venture out into the cold to go to work. If we're lucky the highlight of our day may be to win a free coffee from the roll up the rim to win contest at Tim Horton's. It's not that way for those individuals who have cast off the shackles of conventional employment. They work at home, set their own schedules and best of all, they don't have a boss to answer to. That is the life of a freelancer, one which provides a sense of freedom that far outweighs the sense of security a full-time job offers. Kevin Yarr graduated from the Journalism program at Holland College in 1986. He entered the course after finishing a Science Degree from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. Yarr studied under both Don Cayo and Martin Dorell at Holland College and later went on to Ontario, Halifax and even England where he worked in public affairs and marketing. Yarr has since moved back to Charlottetown with his wife and young daughter and has devoted his career to freelancing for magazines. He currently writes for such periodicals as En Route, Profit, Your Office, National Plus Business Magazine and Saltscapes. He said he enjoys the freedom his job provides. "My wife and I discussed me getting a full-time job, but I quickly forgot about it. A full-time job certainly provides certain securities and benefits that freelancing doesn't provide, but I also get to cover a wide range of topics that I probably wouldn't be able to do if I was a reporter with a regular beat," said Yarr. Yarr said he has covered stories ranging from sea-serpent sightings to how to make Christmas centre pieces. It's a wide range of topics which interest him and keeps him hooked to his job. Yarr admits that it has taken several years to find the right method of success as a freelancer. "I used to think that there was some kind of cycle in writing for magazines, but after several years I realized the cycle was in myself. You have to find the right combination between marketing yourself and doing the actual work," he said. To Yarr that may mean taking half a day to send out query letters to publishers and coming up with new story ideas and taking the rest of the day to work on stories which editors have accepted. Yarr said over the past eight years he has become a smarter freelancer and can better balance his working time and off time. Since the arrival of a young child Yarr has time to watch his daughter grow and doesn't have to rely on day care programs to raise his child for him. "I love what I do. I still have to bite and scratch sometimes to sell my story ideas, but I think it's worth it for me," he said. Another former Journalism graduate and successful freelancer is Andy Walker. He agrees with Yarr that the freedom of freelancing is one of the most enticing aspects of the job. "If I have to do an hour of office work on a Saturday morning I can go down to my basement and work quietly for an hour. If I have to finish an hour's worth of work at a full-time job I have to get up, get dressed and drive to the work place," said Walker. Walker graduated in 1979 under the instruction of Hartwell Daley. He later married Angela Walker who now works for CBC. Walker worked for 17 years as a reporter for both the Guardian in Charlottetown and the Journal-Pioneer in Summerside. In 1997 the Journal-Pioneer downsized and Walker was laid off. He then decided to venture out on his own and become a freelancer. "I loved it from day one. The first year was hard, I made about $3,000 in total, but I had a plan of where I wanted to be in five years. I wanted to be making as much as I was as a full-time journalist at the Journal Pioneer within five years of freelancing." Walker did even better than that and within five years made as much as 150 per cent of the income he had earned as a full-time employee at the Journal-Pioneer. Walker credits some of his success to the years he spent as a full-time journalist and to the Holland College program. "What I liked most about the program was that it allowed me to work on skills I needed to brush up on," he said. Walker shared one story on how training has changed over the past 20 years at Holland College. "My instructor Hartwell Daley was a two-finger typer, but he was amazing, he was faster than most people who use all their fingers. For my rating I had to use all five fingers and reach a certain number of words in one minute. Well, I got the number of words I needed in one minute, but the secretary wouldn't pass me because I used two fingers to type as well. Hartwell made a bet with the secretary that if he could beat her by using only one finger to type as many words as possible in one minute then she had to pass me. He won by a landslide and I passed the typing rating," said Walker with a smile. Walker now writes for the Island Farmer, which is a bi-weekly publication released by the Eastern Graphic in Montague, the Sou' Wester and the Atlantic Fishermen. He also does some writing for three trade publications, which are based in Halifax and occasionally files copy for the Guardian and the Journal Pioneer. "If you're the kind of person who needs someone standing over you telling you what to do then this is not for you. You have to be a self-motivated person and be willing to work on your own, but I wouldn't go back to a full-time job," he said. |
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