A freelancer is someone who works for multiple companies at a time instead of working for one company. Most freelance work doesn’t require going to an office so it is often thought of as a job from home. You get to work from where ever you want and when ever you want. Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? It is to a degree, but don’t quit your job quite yet. Here are three things about finding work as a freelancer that makes it a difficult occupation.
- There are thousands of freelancers looking for the same job as you.
As a freelancer you have the flexibility to apply for jobs around the world. It doesn’t matter what city or country because you can finish the work from anywhere. The downfall about this is that you are competing with people from every city and every country.
Sometimes you are the best candidate and you get the job, but sometimes you are the best candidate and you don’t even get noticed. The reason for this is because there are so many applicants for these jobs.
2. The amount of experience you have doesn’t really matter.
There are tons of websites out there with the purpose to connect freelance workers with people who are hiring freelancers. This makes it so that you don’t have to contact hundreds of companies directly with a high chance that they don’t want your services, which saves you time and money.
These sites often have statistics with how many jobs you have done with them before and they even give ratings for workers and employees. Though this information is nice, it makes it so that new members who may have 15 years of experience appear to be less experienced than the people who have been on the site for an entire year with only five years of experience because they have completed more jobs and received more ratings than that of a new member.
3. Sometimes you don’t get paid for your work.
Even if you have a contract with someone, it doesn’t mean they will fulfill their side of it. Unfortunately it is common to find experience freelancers who have done work without getting paid for it. Yes you can go to court to resolve this issue and get what you deserve, but from my personal experience, the time and emotional pain that comes from preparing for court is often not compensated from the court ruling. What I mean is that it may not be worth going to court over.
It can be nice to choose when and where you work, so maybe those reasons outweigh the three cons I outlined in this article. On the other hand, maybe you should start looking for an agency or company that you can clock in and out of for work.
Do you have experience with freelance? What are your least favorite or favorite things about it?
Journey in Freelance 