Got a freelance job, but it's just odd how they want to do things.

RexM

The main thing I am concerned about is that the guy I have been talking to wants me to start work on things we have discussed before I have even seen a contract... and that just doesn't seem professional to me.

What do you guys think?

Additionally... at the bottom of his e-mails, it says....

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE

The information contained in this e-mail message ( including attachments ) is privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure.

...but I know better than that, you can't have statements like this without a contract. Well you can, but just don't expect them to be valid.

And yes, he's also given me information about the project before a contract has even been signed....

PredatorGSR

Lots of people have those confidentially signatures at the bottom of business emails, that in itself isn't a warning sign. Telling you about the project doesn't seem too odd as well, lots of place vary on how lax they are about this stuff. During interviews, some people wouldn't tell me anything, while others didn't have a problem sharing information. I'd be more worried if he refused to tell you anything.

However without a contract and/or money, I wouldn't start work on anything. That part is a red flag. It's up to you, you can only be taken advantage of as much as you allow, you need to set the limits. While there aren't a lot of red flags from what you've told us, if you are getting a bad vibe, I would definitely listen to your instincts.

RexM

Thanks for the reply.

I sent an email back saying that I couldn't start work on something that I didn't know the exact terms and conditions for in the form of a contract... can't invest my time into something only to wait and wait for a contract that never comes.

Depending on his response I might forget about it all together; I have other opportunities that are much bigger that I should focus on, namely a big developer in Montreal.

Karmageddon

I was recently screwed out of being paid for a mobile game's main character and I kept demanding a contract. Was promised part of the royalties, which evolved to a lump sum upfront and by the time the character was done I was offered a whopping $30, bottom line (all this within the span of two days). Needless to say all they got was a tiny image of the turnaround but that's easy enough for anyone to copy the design... So up on my Facebook it went. Not breaking a NDA when no contract is signed and work isn't paid for. Luckily the guy only took me a few hours to do so it wasn't a big loss of time.

Jungsik

Great to know these things..

Gilgamesh

No contract, no work. Quite simple. Learnt early on, people will take advantage of your freelance status if you don't put certain things up front when agreeing to do work.

Karmageddon

Gilgamesh wrote: »

No contract, no work. Quite simple. Learnt early on, people will take advantage of your freelance status if you don't put certain things up front when agreeing to do work.

Yuuup. And I expected this to fail, but I still did it anyway. Long story.