Career Research: Freelancing

Last week, Ms. Anisa just discussed about freelancing in Future Proof: Personal Development Planning class. She taught us how to calculate fees and learn to know our worth. This got me thinking of freelancing as a side job.  So, I did more research about it to know better about it, if this job suits me and what are some of the pros and cons. 

According to an article by The Balance Careers, it suggests experiencing a few gigs before starting a career as a freelancer. For me as a student, this can be done by creating several portfolios, either by yourself or collaborate with others to expand your network. There are also some benefits when collaborating with others. It enables you to be invited to collaborate with other projects and lets you find different people or even clients and jobs. Promoting your portfolios or business as a freelance or just starting is crucial. It can be just by touting them on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media. 

The other important point that I get from my research and Ms. Anisa’s lecture is to set our rates. It might be tricky at first to set our rates, but you can do some researches on others with similar working experiences and skills. However, remember to always set your rates on what your work worth. If it is slightly higher than the others, you can just inform the clients of your specialty. 

Here are some pros and cons that I found important.

//PROS

Freedom to Choose

One of the perks of freelancing is to have freedom in choosing your schedule, projects, and other factors. It works best for those working other jobs (full-time or part-time) aside from freelancing, as they can adjust their timings and workload. With such freedom, you can also work with numbers of clients as well as get to choose projects that are meaningful to you. Flexjobs' survey of over 1,000 freelancers found that networking (56%) and job sites like Flexjobs (47%) are the two most common ways that freelancers find clients, vice versa.

Broaden Horizons

Companies tend to hire or work with freelancers more as there are not many commitments or responsibilities than hiring an employee. By working with many companies, you will be opening up to more working skills on a variety of projects and topics. You might also expand your networks with people in other industries and career areas. It is a way to broaden horizons. This exposure can help you to get more jobs and have better skills and knowledge.

//CONS

Uncertain Job Security

A huge problem for any freelancer is the uncertainty or less job security. The projects that freelancers usually get are short-terms or have an irregular workflow. After the projects are done, freelancers tend to put some pressure into thinking if they will get any more jobs. Just like other jobs, freelancing is a very competitive working field and there are different salary ranges. However, a note that I found is to know our worth because if a company or employer finds you are suitable for the role, they will not hesitate to pay more money. 

Lack of Benefits

Most employees get the privileges to enjoy several benefits offered by the companies, such as health insurance, retirement plans, etc. However, when working as a freelancer, you will not be getting any of these benefits. Freelancers are self-employed and are typically responsible of finding and funding their own insurance.

Great Responsibility

Freelancing is basically running a business by yourself. You are in charge of literally everything, from getting and managing clients, promoting yourself, sorting billing as well as paying taxes. Moreover, there are many freelancers who are not getting paid on time. So, the freelancers need to follow up to ensure that the paycheck has been sent. 

From this research, I found that freelancing is a job that is worth trying. Especially for those who prefer to work within my desired time and can choose the projects that I know I can handle or good at. As a student myself, I also think this can be a great way for starting a step into a career as we can explore our creativity and potentiality. However, freelancing might affect our social life and might have a bigger responsibility as we are working everything by ourselves. But I do believe that every job has its pros and also cons. Despite this, I believe that with strong will everything will go smoothly.

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BRUNELLI, L. (2019). What are the Pros and Cons of Freelancing?. Retrieved 10 August 2020, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/should-you-work-for-yourself-4035267

LUCKWALDT, J. (2019). 7 Steps to Becoming a Successful Full-Time Freelancer. Retrieved 10 August 2020, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-turn-freelancing-into-a-career-2060769

[Image]. Retrieved from https://prepay.my/page/freelancer