Written by Azanta Rezwana Mirza
“I want to learn freelancing!”
“How can I become a freelancer?”
“Please teach me freelancing work!”
“Can I be a freelancer?”
One way or another, all these questions above are incorrect, or misunderstood. As with the present fad, everyone wants to “be a freelancer” or “learn freelancing”. Nope! You’ve got it all wrong, actually. “Freelancing” is not something you learn, it’s more like a career choice that you are making in your life.
No, you do not actually learn freelancing; you embrace it as a career option.
You use your skills and your area of expertise to become a freelance worker. freelancing is only a medium of working and earning.
Let me make it simpler! There is no particular work that you have to learn to become a freelancer worker, a.k.a., a freelancer. There is work available in the online marketplaces that will use your particular set of talent and knowledge precisely.
Here’s the formal definition, if you are looking for one:
“A freelancer or freelance worker is a term commonly used for a person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term.”
See? It doesn’t mean that you have to learn a particular work to become a freelancer. Instead, are approaching the international job market in a different way. You won’t be looking for a fixed job where you have go to office everyday, you are going to have the freedom of looking for new jobs every day.
You won’t have to work for the same business, the same company or the same boss every day if you don’t want to.
Instead, you can work for 10 new employers in a year!
In a same hour, you can work for multiple clients without even having to leave your seat.
Who are Freelancer Workers?
Writers, poets, actors, directors – almost everyone in the media – designers, painters; these people are mostly all freelance workers, did you stop to think? They get paid for their particular skill and talent, not from the same employer but from different ones.
Actors play different roles for different movies, get directed by different people; the directors too, are hired by different studios and different producers for their films.
These are all freelance workers who are constantly working for different people. They enjoy their freedom of being able to choose projects, employees and even working hours. They take long holidays when they don’t want to work!
How Can you Be a Freelance Worker?
As a Marketing Graduate, you will probably be looking for a job in the corporate world. You’ll have to follow a strict guideline and work for promoting your employer’s business/service/product. As a new graduate, you will have to look for jobs in reputed companies that will pay you well and give you a good office. You’ll need a hefty salary, fixed working hours and a social standing, in exchange for your time and effort.
When you are a freelance worker, you can give the same effort and use the same skills to promote your employer. But, there will be some important differences:
- You won’t have a office to go to every day;
- There will be no fixed working hours;
- You might be doing the same job for a number of employers, as per your wish;
- You’re not bound to stay exclusive to one employee (if you don’t want to).
Same goes for others who are interested in freelancing. If you are an Accounting Graduate, you can do the same work for a company overseas instead of a business in neighborhood.
Instead having to go to work everyday, you can work from home. Communication is easy via emails, messages, voice and video chats, instead of face-to-face communication with your employers.
These are just two examples that I used to establish my point.
What does “Freelancing” Mean?
My actual point here is: freelancing is not a particular set of skill or knowledge that you need to learn. Rather, it is a way of using what you know for a job, or for multiple jobs.
Freelancing is a career choice where you get to make the important decisions in your profession. Which employers to work for, which projects to take and which to reject – these could be all you decision.
You can decide where to work and when to work, and how many hours to work every day.
So is freelancing the right choice for you? Find out more in my next post!
