When professionals are starting their careers, many opt into temporary employment to get their feet wet and make inroads with businesses they think they may want to work for. In college, most professors suggest taking internships, and some programs require “internship credit” to complete a degree. This makes students comfortable with the idea of the internship, which may be why young professionals gravitate towards taking a number of internships after graduation.
What do I define as an internship?
First, your pay is probably less than someone at the company who carries a similar job description. Next, you may not be assigned all of the same projects that someone with a similar job description has (maybe they’ll give you a higher volume of work, less meaningful work, or completely different work). You also may not be offered any type of benefits, such as paid time off, health insurance, or life insurance. And finally, you are not guaranteed much more than a reference from the business, especially if they tend to operate utilizing interns instead of employees.
I often wonder why young professionals choose internships instead of freelance work. It could be that they simply don’t know the difference, or don’t understand the process of becoming a consultant or contractor for a business. I believe that it also may be related to self-esteem: “I’m young and inexperienced, I only deserve an unpaid internship.” If there is only one thing you take away from this article, let it be this: YOU ARE WORTH SOMETHING! You don’t have to work for free!
In this article, I will introduce a few benefits of contract work as a freelance professional. In another article, we’ll dig deeper into the idea of freelance work and how much value there may be in creating an LLC for a group of freelancers to work together, widen their scope of work, and ultimately, make more money.
The first big benefit to freelance or contract work is that you have more control over your schedule. Many times, freelancers will have temporary project work that they can finish from anywhere. You won’t have to go to a job site each day for 8 hours a week if that isn’t necessary to complete the project. It is up to the freelancer to ensure that they have the right tools, software, and technology to complete the projects away from the office, and should cover those types of details with the business before embarking on a project.
Another benefit is that freelance work typically pays better than an internship. Internships will most likely be paid a low hourly wage or stipend, where freelancers may be paid a higher hourly wage, or a one-time payment for the overall project. Because freelancing means that the company won’t pay you benefits, ask for an hourly rate that covers things like taxes, health insurance premiums, and other things you’ll have to seek out independently. Even if you are getting insurance through a partner, parent, or other relative, charge the business for this expense; they’re expecting you to account for that.
Don’t be fooled by the “value” that an internship might provide, when, in all honesty, if you work hard as a freelancer with an entrepreneurial mindset, those things will come anyway. Stay focused on finding opportunities that allow you to grow skill sets you’d like to grow in industries you’d like to work. Accept part-time, contracted employment at various capacities. Experiment. But know your value! Time is money—how much are you willing to give away?