[PragmaticPulp]

> A lot of times even working for others, you are building skills for yourself that you could utilize in the future.

Exactly. Building experience, skills, reputation, a network, rapport, discipline.

Technically you could build all of these things on your own through freelancing, but freelancing is far harder than it sounds when people talk about it online. Especially when you're a junior without a strong network or reputation.

Working for others isn't inherently bad, especially if you're learning a lot in the process. No one should avoid working for a company on principle alone, as working for a strong company with strong peers is one of the fastest and most accessible ways to improve yourself early in your career.

It's not just about the paychecks. Likewise, a lack of paychecks doesn't make the project more valuable to your career. It's much easier to ramp up on a technology by pairing up with an experienced mentor and developer than it is by poking around on side projects that never get finished. Shipping real products to real customers is a powerful forcing function for learning how to deliver results in the real world.