These days people are beginning to choose freelance jobs over full-time ones depending on their lifestyle and the career opportunities both offer.
There are main advantages and disadvantages to both, so if you're unsure if you want to work full time employment or as a freelancer read on.
The pros of being a Freelancer are:
You can work anywhere – This is great for those who like the idea of working while travelling or not being chained to a desk in an office. Some people tend to work better from home.
No fixed hours – This is one of the best advantages as freelancers don’t have specific hours to work and when they want to. So, no strict 8am starts and you set your own tasks around your day, so there is time for errands or kids run.
You can have holidays when you want – If you want to have 6 weeks off you can, you aren’t set to a certain amount of holiday dates that your company can give you.
Money – There is a difference when it comes to how much a freelancer can earn to a full-time employee, in that they commonly earn more. With a freelancer you can work on multiple projects so get paid at various times in a month or at the end of project, so you don’t have to wait for a monthly salary.
The cons of being a Freelancer are:
No stable income – Although the money is better than a monthly salary, but the problem is it's not stable. You may find that you may not have any projects for a few months, or you may not get.
Lack of benefits – When you are employed you can receive paid holiday, sick pay, dental cover and sometimes private healthcare. But as a freelancer you don’t get those added benefits, so when you want to take a day off it can cost you.
Isolation – It can be very lonely working on your own and having no colleagues to bounce ideas off or get support from.
So, we have covered all the pros and cons of a freelancer, now we will cover the same for fixed salary roles:
The pros of being in a Fixed salary job are:
Teamwork – It's nice to work alone sometimes but when working in a team it can be very beneficial in helping brainstorm new ideas, solve problems and have support in complete projects.
Career growth – A full time job offers a chance for progression, new responsibilities and more earning potential. Whereas in freelancing career progression is not something that happens.
The cons of being in a Fixed salary job are:
No social life – In full-times jobs there can be long hours with work consuming a lot of your time plus commuting can add extra time to your daily workday. By the time you have got home you would be too tired.
No choice on tasks – Freelancers get to pick and choose the task they like to do, whereas full time employees will often have various tasks given to them that can be tedious or not in their job description.
Routine – As you will go to the office daily, your own routine will have to be changed, for example if you're not an early bird you may struggle to get to work on time. Freelancers don’t have the issue of commuting and can work around the hours they want.
What's the best for you?
This is a good question, the most important thing you must decide is whether you want security or freedom in your life.
It depends on your personality, lifestyle and skillset whether freelancing or full-time work is for you. Both have their pros and cons, as a freelancer you get to choose tasks you like, the hours you work but full-time work offer stability and progression.
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