On Monday the House voted down the Bush Administration’s $700 billion Wall Street bail out and stocks took their biggest dive in 20 years. People are freaking out over lost retirement savings and whether they’ll be able to make their mortgage payments. There’s a presidential election in five weeks, and who knows what change that will have on the economy.
In light of all that, is this a good time for a self-employed writer to consider getting a full-time job?
It’s a question more of my freelance friends are starting to ask.
It’s not the ideal time to look for full-time work in the publishing industry. Newspapers are hanging on by a thread and magazines aren’t doing much better. New media outlets appear to be holding up OK but with untested business models, it’s too soon to tell how well they’ll make out in a strained economy.
Working for yourself has advantages, especially when times are good. But when clients start cutting back work, dropping their rates or canceling freelancer budgets all together, it’ a different story. One freelance friend I heard from yesterday is considering looking for a full-time job because her work load has dropped 50 percent this year. A writer in my favorite writer’s group has a job offer on the table that would let her continue to freelance on the side but child care would be an issue so she’s not sure if she should take it.
What should they do? Every writer’s work/life situation is different enough that chucking self-employment for a steady gig is a decision only they can make.
But there are common pros and cons they can consider while deciding what to do.
YES, TAKE THE JOB
- You’ll have a steady income without having to constantly market your services
- You’ll have some level of benefits
- You’ll learn new skills, which could come in handy if you decide to switch back to freelancing at some later date
- You’ll be able to leave the job at the office and have more time for other things
- You’ll have more job security, although that could depend on who you go to work for
- You can still freelance on the side if you want to
NO, DON’T TAKE THE JOB
- Your time will no longer be your own
- Chances are you’ll have to commute at least part of the time
- When it comes to what you’re working on, someone else will be calling the shots
- If you don’t opt to keep writing on the side, you’ll have to go through the process of winding down your freelance business
- You won’t have the same level of business expenses to write off
The beauty of the 21st century workplace is that employers don’t expect anyone to stay in a job forever. So even if you decide that current economic conditions dictate that you to take a full-time gig, you can always go back to freelancing at a later date.
If you’re thinking of trading in the freelance life for a steady job, what factors are you taking into account?
I’m about to start working full-time for a nonprofit I’ve done a lot of freelancing for. Besides really liking the people and the organization, the economy played a huge role in my decision. But so did the fact that I can continue to work from home and have fairly flexible hours. I don’t know that I’d have been so willing if it was a 9-5 in an office somewhere.
Thanks for weighing in on this. I think there are a lot of people in your situation right now, and it will be interesting to see how things play out.
Michelle R.
On the whole I feel the notion of job security is an illusion – one of my friends has been laid off within 3 months of starting a job twice now. It ties you to the success of one company.
At least as a freelancer you can move on rapidly if one client hit tough times or spread the risk over several clients. I’d only go back to a salary if it genuinely felt like the only work I could get.
Sam