It's that time of year again - IPSE CC elections are open for nominations until Thursday at 6pm, with 12 places available. You can read about the election here and you can read about what the CC does and why you should consider it here.
So this is my appeal to try to encourage those that are members to stand for election. It may be nerve-wracking (and possibly unnatural to a contractor) to think about being seen as some kind of representative or politician (I'm a techie and always will be, so the thought of getting thrown into policy discussions was a little daunting when I first stood for CC).
BUT - a member of the CC doesn't have to be a policy expert, or a public speaker, or a strategist, or any of those things. IPSE has those experts already (I know that some people round these parts may find that hard to believe, but it's true!), so you don't have to be a policy genius or strategic thinker to join the CC.
So, what do you need to be a CC member? You need to be a contractor / freelancer / self-employed / independent professional / any other term that you use to describe the way that we all work. You are an expert on the way you work and the issues that you face - and IPSE is weaker without a reality check that says "good in theory, but..." to ideas. That's all you need to be - yourself. Nothing more, nothing less.
The policy team rely on real input from contractors into every aspect of the work that they do. What the choices are, what are the upsides and downsides of decisions, will be made clear at the CC meetings - you are there to be consulted by the board and staff, and you will be listened to. There will be plenty of discussion and debate, but the thoughts of the CC are always considered when making strategic and policy decisions.
It's easy to construct a hypothetical contractor (let's face it, we've seen HMRC do it for years!) and then use that model to push all sorts of things. What the CC needs is members who can make their points about how things work in the Real World, and to work well together with other members, the staff and the Board.
The reality is if you can't do that, you're probably not a very successful contractor to begin with. But IPSE can only thrive it if genuinely understands you and the pressures you actually face day-to-day.
Please help make IPSE stronger. Stand for the CC. Go to the election site and put yourself forward. Go on
TL;DR > Stand for election - the site can be found here.
So this is my appeal to try to encourage those that are members to stand for election. It may be nerve-wracking (and possibly unnatural to a contractor) to think about being seen as some kind of representative or politician (I'm a techie and always will be, so the thought of getting thrown into policy discussions was a little daunting when I first stood for CC).
BUT - a member of the CC doesn't have to be a policy expert, or a public speaker, or a strategist, or any of those things. IPSE has those experts already (I know that some people round these parts may find that hard to believe, but it's true!), so you don't have to be a policy genius or strategic thinker to join the CC.
So, what do you need to be a CC member? You need to be a contractor / freelancer / self-employed / independent professional / any other term that you use to describe the way that we all work. You are an expert on the way you work and the issues that you face - and IPSE is weaker without a reality check that says "good in theory, but..." to ideas. That's all you need to be - yourself. Nothing more, nothing less.
The policy team rely on real input from contractors into every aspect of the work that they do. What the choices are, what are the upsides and downsides of decisions, will be made clear at the CC meetings - you are there to be consulted by the board and staff, and you will be listened to. There will be plenty of discussion and debate, but the thoughts of the CC are always considered when making strategic and policy decisions.
It's easy to construct a hypothetical contractor (let's face it, we've seen HMRC do it for years!) and then use that model to push all sorts of things. What the CC needs is members who can make their points about how things work in the Real World, and to work well together with other members, the staff and the Board.
The reality is if you can't do that, you're probably not a very successful contractor to begin with. But IPSE can only thrive it if genuinely understands you and the pressures you actually face day-to-day.
Please help make IPSE stronger. Stand for the CC. Go to the election site and put yourself forward. Go on
TL;DR > Stand for election - the site can be found here.
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