What is a Freelancer?

Freelancing is now a widespread concept on the internet. Many companies and entrepreneurs deal with it. However, for those who do freelancing, it is very difficult to explain what it really is. And while young people understand the term, the older generation does not.

The term “freelancer” itself is translated from English as “free lance”. But in today’s world it means a person who does some work without a contract, acting as a freelancer. This type of activity has several advantages, the main one being the ability to do several types of work for different companies.

Nowadays, freelancers are easiest to find on the Internet, where they offer their services and look for orders themselves. As far as activities are concerned, freelancing now extends to the following areas:

1. Journalism. Copywriting and rewriting are widely in demand here. Many publications does not make sense to keep permanent staff person who will engage in writing articles. It is much easier to find a freelancer and cooperate with him.
2. Design and programming. Freelancers can do work on creating websites, interior design, web design and others.
3. Translation. Freelancers can earn on the internet by translating texts from different languages or by teaching others.
4. Consulting. You can give legal, accounting and other advice.

Freelance work has many advantages but there are also some disadvantages.

The main advantages of freelancing

The main advantages of working as a freelancer are:

1. Free schedule. You can work at any time and any number of hours. It all depends on the freelancer.
2. No need to travel to work. Everything can be done from home at the computer.
3. no collective responsibility. The freelancer is only responsible for their own actions.
4. More opportunities. Freelancing allows you to find customers from other countries.
5. Lack of strict control from the management.
6. The opportunity to arrange the workplace the way you like, regardless of other people’s opinions.

The main disadvantages of freelancing

The main disadvantages of freelance work are:

1. There is no social security – paid sick leave, holidays, etc.
2. Most often the earnings are unstable.
3. In some cases, an unscrupulous customer may refuse to pay for the work.
4. Complete absence of career development.
5. Few opportunities to choose suitable offers at the initial stage of work as a freelancer.

In addition, it is worth noting another fact that some companies are distrustful of freelancers, considering them as people who are not interested in the task at hand. On the other hand, many firms are willing to cooperate with freelancers on an ongoing basis. You can find all the offers from customers on several specialised sites.

What does a freelancer do?

In fact, a freelancer does all the same work as a permanent employee, only remotely and with a free schedule. Freelancers are most often used for one-off projects or those that do not come to the company very often. In such cases there is no point in employing a permanent staff member but it is simpler to engage a person from outside the company.

However, it is not uncommon for a freelancer to work for a company on a permanent basis. There is a benefit to the organisation in this. It saves on taxes and office rent. Also, the company gets rid of the need to control the employee and deal with promotions and bonus payments.

Freelancing is now the freedom to choose the work and how much time to do it. It is also possible to combine two activities, having a permanent job and freelancing.