No mid level managers. No HR. No juniors trying to backstab you with clueless management. No TPS reports. No offshore team. All meetings have a point or you don't go. You set your own hours. You only work at work and you are "at work" less hours generally.
At least that's how it is for me. Lack of the above is worth 10's of K extra per year.
But it's not for everyone. If you lack the ability or discipline to achieve actual results for which you are 100% responsible, at a speed and scale that makes economic sense (or at least the ability to convince people of this), if you lack the ability to keep from being eaten by the world, you are better off with a job.
On the other hand, I wake up , I open my computer, I do 8 hours of work and I shut down in the evening and I leave my home office.
I don’t have to worry about trying to chase clients for work or payment. I get paid when I’m sick or on vacation or holidays. There is a sales team that brings work in and an accounting and legal team to collect payments.
People are saying "you can charge more" and that's true but over the long haul with dry spells, re-work because you were stupid or a client outclevered you, trouble collecting, vacations, insurance and the fact you can skate by for a bit just showing up if you aren't feeling it for a few days at work, a good job probably does pay better and for certain types of people (I'm not one of those types of people) it is less stressful overall.
To be fair, the “corporate world” for me has been working full time for cloud consulting companies for the past 5 years.
As long as you stay away from staff augmentation projects, it’s not bad. Most of my day to day work is working directly with clients. Unless you are a junior, you’re usually over your part of larger projects (mid level) with little micro managing or the project itself (senior, staff). You’re always of course answerable to your client.
I do understand though. My first stint working in consulting was the consulting department at AWS (full time, direct hire). I would rather get a daily anal probe with a cactus than ever work for a large company again.
I didn’t mind working for a 60 person startup before then where all of the people in charge were grown people and not tech bros
Speaking for myself, almost everything about freelancing is better than being an employee.
It's like a job...but with only the good bits. You just do the bit you're really good at. And they pay you really well for it, treat you well, and you have much more flexibility where and how you work.
Only real downside for me has been not having colleagues around.
Such as no job security, or severance packages, feast and famine cycles?
I freelance, I get what you're hinting at, benefits aee great when you can make your own schedule and be appreciated for the value you deliver and not merely presence.
But on the other hand you got to be clear about the fact that it's a numbers game, where you lose some win some, unless you can always aquire new work through your network, and can temper times of economical uncertainty (anyone that started only during the 2020's till today knows how fluctuating the market has been). I've had a couple multi-month downtimes when the markets where uncertain, 2020 first 6 months, 2022 during the EU energy crisis, and 2023 when companies where shedding the extra pandemic hires in drowes.
>Such as no job security, or severance packages, feast and famine cycles?
80% of my career before that was fixed term contracts anyway. "Job security" never really appealed as I didn't like working at one place for more than 2 years anyway.
>But on the other hand you got to be clear about the fact that it's a numbers game, where you lose some win some,
Honestly, there hasn't really been any lose. My first year I worked much less than when I had a full-time job, but earnt the same. After that, it just went up a lot.
> unless you can always aquire new work through your network, and can temper times of economical uncertainty (anyone that started only during the 2020's till today knows how fluctuating the market has been). I've had a couple multi-month downtimes when the markets where uncertain, 2020 first 6 months, 2022 during the EU energy crisis, and 2023 when companies where shedding the extra pandemic hires in drowes.
I guess. I was super busy all through 2020. Since then I've actually wound back a bit to have more free time so maybe it has just worked out well.
"Such as no job security, or severance packages, feast and famine cycles?"
I've never had job security or severance package beyond a few weeks. The best job security I have is always having multiple clients, so if one drops me (or if it's not working for me), I'm not scrambling to find new work.
"But on the other hand you got to be clear about the fact that it's a numbers game, where you lose some win some, unless you can always aquire new work through your network, and can temper times of economical uncertainty (anyone that started only during the 2020's till today knows how fluctuating the market has been). I've had a couple multi-month downtimes when the markets where uncertain, 2020 first 6 months, 2022 during the EU energy crisis, and 2023 when companies where shedding the extra pandemic hires in drowes."
Are you getting all short-term contracts? I freelance and always have a long-term contract (6-months+) along with short-term work.
<< Such as no job security, or severance packages, feast and famine cycles?
FWIW, there is no real security in corporate either and I work in a relatively insulated industry. That said, I can't call myself a freelancer with less than a few gigs under my belt so it is possible my perspective is skewed as I eye 'greener' fields.
There is no job security. I live in an EU country which has very strict rules about layoffs (you need to give notice + severance).
Well here I am 6 months after being told I'll be laid off, and my previous employer hasn't paid me anything yet :-)
I was contracting for a few years before that, and I liked that better because at least it's honest. The contract clearly says the company can terminate the contract at any time without recourse.
At least that's how it is for me. Lack of the above is worth 10's of K extra per year.
But it's not for everyone. If you lack the ability or discipline to achieve actual results for which you are 100% responsible, at a speed and scale that makes economic sense (or at least the ability to convince people of this), if you lack the ability to keep from being eaten by the world, you are better off with a job.