Hacker News Reader

Comment by stevoyoung | Hacker News Reader

First off, I agree, my spelling sucks. Oh well, let's move on. Oh and I'm a looser, I'm good with that too. +1 for you, Mr. Cool.

Secondly, saying the ABA ask for "spec work" is like saying college ask for "spec work". You have to do it to be in the profession. It's an exam, it's mandatory to be in the field. Spec work for developers / designers is not.

>"Doctors and lawyers do not need spec work because of professional licenses/certifications."

That's my point exactly, thanks for agreeing with me. Designers and developers lack any real formal "licenses/certifications". Their public work should take the place of "licenses and certifications". That's why you should hire them - not because they got suckered into doing 6 hours of spec work for you.

View on HN

Lawyers frequently work on a purely speculative basis. Either via free consultations or contingent fees (paid only on a win). It works pretty well for them. There is even a marketplace for crowdsourcing legal opinions from qualified lawyers (http://www.lawpivot.com).

Offering low-risk initial engagements mean they create a whole new market segment made up of people who previously wouldn't have considered paying a lawyer. Provided this market segment then goes on to actually generate paying work, this works great. This is the case with many industries.

Hand picking clients to do spec work that can result in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars isn't a bad idea (aka lawyers). Someone who can take on spec work with the possibility of making two years salary vs someone taking on spec work to make a few weeks worth of salary is completely different. Taking on spec work makes sense if you need the money (I've been there) or you are vying for a very large contract (ad agencies, lawyers etc)...or I guess, if you are positive you can win the work/contract.

I never said spec work doesn't work. I'm simply suggesting that with more care, attention and commitment (especially to spend $) from folks hiring it isn't needed as much ask people think it is.

...and let's be honest here. Folks coming to your site looking for spec work do not fall into the "committed to spend $ on finding the correct person" category. I'm not suggesting that's a bad thing. As one of my replies above state, I think there is room for 99designs, on both sides of the table.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, btw.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com