Freelance or work in a company: how to understand what you really want to do?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We live in a very interesting time. People abandon their native places of residence, "home" places in cozy offices with cookies and "goodies", strive to increase their incomes without working for 12 hours and generally want to turn work into a holiday. On every corner looms a manifesto stating that "Doing what you love, you don't have to work a day." The model of making money and finding your own way in life has turned into building a simple - at first glance - link "startup + online store + personal blog." Above all of this is the almost manic belief that everything you want will come, it is enough just to give all your soul and time to your hobby - and from it you can create a "work of a lifetime." Is it really?

Doing what you love more than anything else is not enough. You can love reading - but still not monetize your own blog about books. You can get involved in snowboarding - but not even close to being like the pros who earn money by participating in cups and competitions. The erroneous formula “a hobby can be made your job” does not even come close to bringing us to the success, to the financial and life independence that many start-up creators, bloggers and simply “talented loafers” (as my grandfather called them) dream of so much.

You can do a lot of things in life; but you can only make money on what you are exceptionally good at and for which you are ready to “work hard” even more than you did in the office … You make a big mistake if you go freelance from school or after college without even having worked for a year in a company. In this case, your creative and professional path (whatever you do) will become a comedy-absurd "run" of an egoist somewhere in the direction of Thailand, where everyone "sits at their iPads and makes a startup." Such an approach can destroy a young specialist without practical experience and the ability to self-organize in the slightest degree in a couple of years.

Your own business is always based on certain developments from the past: acquaintances, deferred funds, accumulated skills and acquired knowledge are formed - unfortunately or fortunately - only in the course of work in companies or large projects. The most valuable asset is the connections that arise in a professional environment, surrounded by employees, partners, clients … These connections will come in handy for starting your business if you decide to do something “your own.” By the way, you can understand that “you want something of your own” only by comparing the situation on both sides of the “barricade” and applying it to yourself and your attitude to work. It is possible that after working for half a year or a year or two in the company, you will realize that in fact you do not need a startup - and this is normal. There is nothing wrong with working as part of a large project if it matches your current perception of the world and your own professional goals.… In another case, the scheme “a couple of years in the company - and then the transition to a startup / launch of your own project works well.” In the third - generally going into consulting and working in parallel with several different projects / startups. But you can only understand what exactly you want to do by comparing models and situations in practice.

The only advice that can be confidently given: always pay off all your "debts" and try different forms of work … Be realistic, not just a dreamer who believes that “a lifelong work” does not require money. Let me give you a simple example.

Designer Paul Jervis has worked as a corporate web designer for many years in a regular office job. He started his career from a junior designer to an art director. Years of work taught him to be “creative” 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week, almost all year round. The beginning of the path and his career growth were associated with the fact that Paul was not afraid to ask questions not only to his superiors, but also to colleagues and subordinates in the event that he did not understand something or did not know. At some point, Paul developed a kind of acute dislike for his work and for what he does; but money continued to play an important role in his life, and a high-paying job is not easy to find, especially against the backdrop of the economic crisis that broke out then. To smooth over the sickening feeling of the corporate routine, Paul began speaking at conferences, attending industry barcamps, and being in a professional “get-together” more often (despite the fact that he is an introvert by nature).

Leaving the corporate world and starting his own business for Paul Jervis did not become a painful "fracture," because a couple of years before his dismissal, he had an extensive network of acquaintances, interesting and useful contacts, among which were those who were ready to employ Paul, and those who wanted to order a design from him.

In addition to a huge pool of potential clients, Paul has gained extensive experience over a decade of corporate work in how to properly organize development, build relationships with customers, plan time and calculate budgets / resource costs. From a novice designer, he turned into a pro who paid tribute to both the company and the process of teaching real (and not book-university) knowledge. And only then he was ready to move on, which had a positive effect on his work as an independent specialist: he became financially independent and in the status of a freelancer, just as he could become, being part of a large company. If Paul rushed "headlong" into freelancing right after college, cherishing only the dream of "becoming a cool designer" in his head, he would most likely just fail. or became one of the many thousand faceless “army” of would-be specialists roaming the freelance online exchanges in search of at least some kind of work.

This example does not mean that you need to give up your dreams and desire to become independent in life. This little story is just an object lesson that shows that before becoming a freelancer and deciding what exactly to do in life, it is worth working on your own skills, connections and vision of your place in life … And then everything will turn out exactly the way you want it.