Slow again?

[Kerry F]

Just wondering how everyone's doing with work.  This year is making me crazy!  Slammed for two to three weeks, then dead for two to three weeks.  I know it's always been fast or famine, but

sure seems a lot more extreme in recent years.

[Cathryn Bauer]

Yeah, that's kind of the pattern for me, too.  It might well be slow.  I haven't been getting very many calls from depo agencies over the last two weeks, but that might be because I've been working in court quite a bit. Not sure if it's really slow or whether it's just that they're not calling again because I've had to tell them, "Sorry, but I'm booked in court the next couple of weeks."

But I am very busy even though I am not scheduled go out very much next week.  Truth is, I don't think my experience is typical.  I do depos, pro tem work in court, and some CART and miscellaneous.  For example, I will be reporting commencement speeches and getting those out this weekend, and Monday is blocked off to get an expedite out.  And after that, I will probably still have transcripts to do.  I am attempting to see this as abundance rather than overload (wg).

Slow's the time to start sending out resumes.  This M.O. has really worked well for me.

[Deborah M.]

Yes, and it's driving me nuts.  There have always been ups and downs, but never in my 20+ years have there been weeks with NO jobs before.  It makes it very hard to plan anything or make a budget, that's for sure!  I worked every day last week, for which I was very grateful, and only one day this week.  Crazy-making!  I was venting about it to a friend this morning (nonreporter) and she said, oh, you're always up and down.  But for some reason this feels different this year, you know?

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hi, Kerry.  I stay as busy as I want to be, sometimes overloaded to what seems like the breaking point.  But I think because of "the economy" in the past few years, reporters will work longer and harder without breaks ... and without complaining.  And I also think that "famine" times are getting longer and longer between those feasts!  I do remember in years past reporters talking about the feast or famine of court reporting, but it was more like slow weeks followed by being slammed, then back to being slow - not absolutely nothing.  Now I think those nothing weeks are increasing in frequency.  And having the self-employed mentality that we all have (I do!  Have for 34 years!), if we're not working, we're worried about not working, so those nothing weeks are more scary for us.  I agree that it's more extreme.

 

M.A.

[Kerry F]

Thanks for your reply Mary Ann.  I know I've been at it 35 years, always freelance, and it has certainly changed.  But I just find it hard to believe that lawsuits/depos won't come back strong again yet this year.

 

 

[Melanie C. Hines]

My experience has been that it isn't so much not getting booked.  It's that the jobs cancel!

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I have had lots of depos but most of them are about an hour to a hour and a half.  That's the problem; no pages.

[Kerry F]

I'm hearing that too, Kelli, short jobs, lots of cancellations..............just the weirdest times I've ever seen.