Why freelancers don't want to go back to doing traditional jobs

Here at HireCream, we only feature the workers who are best in their respective field. The other day we were interviewing an applicant - let’s call him John - who had been freelancing full-time as a graphics designer since 2013. We asked John whether he would take up a traditional job if an offer came along the way. He refused bluntly. We were surprised how quickly and straightforwardly John replied. Instantaneous replies are usually indicative of clarity of thought. We felt the same with John. Curious, we requested John to tell us the reasons behind his not taking up the traditional job.

“It’s all about the freedom I tell you”

We quote John, “Independence is addictive. Once you get the hang of it, you would no longer want to quit. It’s a drug, but in a good way.” When John talks about ‘independence’, he is referring to having no boss to report to. Nowadays – and this is especially true for millennials – people don’t want to have a boss on their head who would tell them what to do and when to do it. John told us that he felt “congested” and “trapped” when he was doing a 9-to-5 as a graphics designer. The feeling of being your own boss is one of the reasons John kicked his job and took up freelancing.

 “I didn’t grow much in my job in years than I have as a freelancer in months”

“People get stuck in jobs,” John says. “And it wasn’t just me, my colleagues resonated my sentiments. The problem with a traditional job is that when you get used to what you have to do, the novelty fades away. You get bored and there is nothing to look forward to. I mean if I were given something new to do every once in a while, I would probably still be working 9-to-5, but that wasn’t the case. I had to do the same thing every day and that got boring after a while. Exploration is the basic need of humans and there was no way I was going to compromise on that.”

“I quit my desk job in 2013 and applied to a couple of different places. During that time I read about freelancing. I didn’t have much to do and the concept of freelancing was appealing back then. So, I thought why not give it a shot. I signed up on some websites and heard back from an employer in a couple of days. I made some renders for the guy and he paid me. The pay was good too. That encouraged me to take up more offers. Also, there were projects that required me to go beyond my skill set and learn more. I feel I didn’t grow much in my job in years than I grew as a freelancer in a couple of months.”

“I choose when to work”

“Another great aspect of freelancing is you choose when to work. I have worked on over 200 projects and every time the demands of the employer are that they want the work done on time. I’m a night person, so I prefer to work then. Being a freelancer allows me to do that. My wife was ill recently and the fact that I could work after she went to bed is so relieving that I can’t tell you. I can’t imagine how I would have done with a job. I would have probably been so stressed and everything would have blown out.”

“The money is good too”

John mentioned his wife was ill. We couldn’t help but ask him how much he made as a freelancer. Was it enough to sustain his family of four or was he struggling to make ends meet?

“I earn way more than enough. I make about $35,000 annually, and my wife works too; that keeps the household running and we have enough to go on regular holidays. I don’t take up too many projects; if I had I would be earning even more. I am satisfied with what I am making right now. In addition to money, I am able to make out the time for the family which holds foremost importance for me.”

Conclusion

Freelancing is all about freedom. You have the freedom to choose when to work, what to work on, where to work from, and how long you want to work. Freelancing is not just lucrative for the worker but for the employer too. The employer can hire workers as and when he (or she) wants. In the case of virtual offices, the large expenditure of purchasing real estate for offices can entirely be avoided. With freedom at its heart, freelancing is set to take over the world.