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kathy1010
Community Member

Why do clients ask stupid questions.

Hi, Coffeebreakers. I just had another client ask, :"what's your favorite movie?" Why do they ask these questions???? What purpose does it serve. It really drives me crazy. How do you guys answer?

 

 

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@Petra R wrote:

I agree with Melissa. I much prefer questions such as "What is your favourite film and why?" to "Write 'purple cow' at the top of your application to let me know you read the job posting" or nonsense such as "Which part of the job do you think will take the most time" and so on.

 

I like working with clients who try to see the person behind the profile.


 What she said. 🙂

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43 REPLIES 43


@Petra R wrote:

@Mike W wrote:

Maybe your reluctance to answer a simple question caused you not the get the job.  Who knows?


 If the time needed to answer the questions and respond to the invite eats up more than 10% of the value of the job I decline. My time is more profitably spent earning money than answering stupid questions. The maximum time I would allocate to a $ 20 job invite would be 3 minutes.


 Excellent rule, except that 10% seems like a lot to me.


@Tiffany S wrote:

@Petra R wrote:

@Mike W wrote:

Maybe your reluctance to answer a simple question caused you not the get the job.  Who knows?


 If the time needed to answer the questions and respond to the invite eats up more than 10% of the value of the job I decline. My time is more profitably spent earning money than answering stupid questions. The maximum time I would allocate to a $ 20 job invite would be 3 minutes.


 Excellent rule, except that 10% seems like a lot to me.


 Yeah, on normal sized jobs it is way too much, but on the tiny ones it sort of works. My application for a $ 5k+ contract took me less than 10 minutes last week (turned tracker off for one segment, that's why I know)

That did include getting coffee though.


@Mike W wrote:

Maybe your reluctance to answer a simple question caused you not the get the job.  Who knows?


 But, isn't that exactly the point? The filter worked--the freelancer knows the client is likely not the type of person he/she wants to work with, and then the client confirms that by placing more value on the willingness to answer the question than other factors, and both are saved from what would have been a grating and unpleasant work experience.

millermelanie
Community Member

I've seen, "What's your Starbuck's drink of choice?"  Um, I prefer McDonald's coffee with a human hair and shot of vinegar.

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