For our week five speaker series, Bill Richter came in to speak of our group of interns about a subject we have all (assuming you’re over 18) faced. He came to speak to us about important things to know about contracts and how we often underestimate the importance of those neat pen marks we call signatures. He gave his advice in the context that many of us will likely one day be an independent contractor for a company. In those situations we will have to sign on that dotted line and put our work and our names on the line. He sat down with our group and shared three key pieces of advice:
Read what you signing
Bill’s talk boiled down to one very important piece of advice: read what you sign! He commented that we sign many things everyday that, if we actually read the wording, would shock us. He told the story of how he once was asked to sign a field trip permission for his child. After reading the form, he saw that he would be have to pay for the entire school in case his child caused an accident. In the end, he signed the paper, but he used the story to illustrate that contracts often contain clauses that may harm you, or at the very least not work in your favor
Many companies have a standard contract
When you sign a company’s contract, whether you are a contractor or an employee, the company will likely use a standard contract. This contract could be antiquated or have been used for other contractors that do not quite fit the same role that you do. This means that it may not be the best contract for you and may even contain clauses that if you read (see number 1), you would not agree with. Bill described how independent contractors will often find clauses that limit ownership of their own ideas or limit the payment in some way.
You can negotiate what your signing
After you have read the contract and acknowledged that it may not be for you, Bill advised that you don’t have to sign it. When you are reading a contract it never hurts to ask why something is the way it is or to negotiate the terms. He advised that most of the time, the other party will revisit the terms or at the very least consider it.
Bill ended by telling our interns to go after what they want. If they want to work for a company, it doesn’t necessarily have to be in an employee capacity,” Bill said. “Go out there and ask for it. Find your niche and sell yourself.” Then of course, read the fine print.
