Youth Incorporated Magazine

Choosing a career is one of the major checkpoints in one’s life. Career choices are narrowed down to the path which is the best suitable for the individual and their requirements. Someone would prefer working as a freelancer and someone else will prefer having a full-time 9 to 5 job in a corporate setting. Working freelance or having a corporate job is based on the field, location and monetary gains that the employee wants. Hence, it’s important to know in detail about freelancing and corporate jobs. 

Freelancing is a self-employed job where you get to directly be in contact with your client and have autonomy over the work you are submitting to your client. Freelance jobs are for the kind of people who have a lot of ideas and want autonomy to execute them. This kind of work suits independent people with good work ethics. A freelancer has to bear the responsibility of handling all the tasks from reaching out to a potential client to negotiating the rates for their work. Financial discussions for each project would differ according to the kind of work and amount of work involved. Freelancers usually like the fact that they’re solely accountable to themselves and only to their clients and there’s no hierarchy of positions involved. One is only accountable and answerable to the client and their expectations. Every credit or mishap is directed only at themself and they are responsible for it. The work environment is to be credited for their work because it gives flexibility so that roles are not limited and there is no particular time constraint. This often does not exclude freelancers from overworking and extending work hours because they have a lot of work to do by themselves. Most freelancers have long-term clients and like to dribble around and pick up projects that suit their personal brand. Among other things, freelancers have control over the clients they chose, the amount of money they make, working days and hours and all the freedom to make decisions related to work, which is what makes it worth a while. But freelancing can get tedious when there is a lot of work to finish by a short deadline or when you’re not finding work that you are niched in. Freelancing may work differently depending on the line of work. 

Having a corporate job means that you have been hired for a specific role and your work will be within what your job title demands. Working in a corporate setting involves constantly seeking approval of your work from supervisors and needs to be evaluated. Employees are bound to the company and the company’s policies and views. It involves working with a team and hence team spirit and communication skills are extremely important to have in a corporate job. Communication, problem-solving and adaptiveness are essential to a corporate employee because sometimes when one has a new idea or proposal, they must be able to put it forth properly and convince the team. Corporate firms offer incentives and added benefits that favour the employee but it is also a tactic to make the employees stay and work for them. Most of the time, it’s referred to as a 9 to 5 job that confines you to the desk. But this is also because you’re paid for the hours and days you come in and work for the company. Income stability is one of the major plus points and reasons why people prefer having a corporate job. Companies also offer insurance and give appraisals based on performance which benefits the employee. Corporate employees don’t have to worry about getting work or fixing a deal with clients unless you’re an executive. 

All in all, if you’re working as a freelancer there’s a lot of freedom and flexibility in how you work but there is also the factor that you have to be the best and must have a skillset better than what others in the industry possess. If you’re working in a corporate job, make sure you enjoy where you’re working and the role you’re employed for otherwise corporate jobs make it hard to like a monotonous 9 to 5 routine. It is all a matter of convenience and preference according to the line of work you choose to be in. Both fields give you space to grow and become professionals in the industry but one must choose what work ethic works the best for them.