for example, this fundamental difference between the two situations. If you are permanently based in the next office or at least in the same building as the person or department to whom you are reporting, it is easy to check back and clarify aspects of the job as you go along. As a freelancer though, you are on your own and in many cases the client is paying you to get on with the job without bothering him or her. So if you have been commissioned as a freelance copywriter, for instance, the person who commissioned you does not want to have to deal with last-minute queries about whether he or she wants a reply coupon to go with the ad. These are the sort of questions that should have been raised at the briefing session. That’s the kind of mistake that comes from inexperience. If you have done similar work for an organisation before, you probably know what is expected. But in the case of a first-time assignment it’s all uncharted territory. Picking up how to go about doing such work has to be learned and the best way of doing so is with people who already know you and vice versa. In these circumstances, you will at least be tolerant of each other’s mistakes and not ask for the temperamentally or functionally impossible. For instance, if the person you are reporting to is careless about checking subordinates’ work, that places an extra burden on you to be correspondingly