Next Story from story from: gradsingapore 'How to Get Hired' 2022 Alternate Career Paths Whether you want to go into freelancing full-time or you're looking to tide yourself over until the pandemic ends and the economy's recovered, here are some realities of being a freelancer. It might've been an idea you've been toying for years now, or even a blurry, half-baked solution you came up with as a response to the global Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent recession and recovery. You want to go beyond the usual 9-to-5 grind. The challenge and the thrill call to you. You want to spread your wings and fy. You want to be a freelancer. Starting of Before even stepping onto the freelancing path, check if you have these characteristics and recognize that you may have to completely revamp your present lifestyle. If you ticked all the checkboxes and are still thinking of the freedom of setting your own hours, take a look at what the reality of freelancing really is: • Freelancers don't always have fnancial security, and benefits are almost non-existent. Evenings with friends and family will be sacrificed, and constant work to beat out the competition may lead to you camping out at home, all day, every day. You might even catch yourself muttering: “Social distancing is my friend” to yourself one day • You'll need to pour in a lot of dedication and then some when you start looking for gigs. Ideally, you should network and selfpromote until everyone knows who you are and what you do, and no more introductions are needed. • If you're looking to freelance in order to supplement your income, your gigs will translate to finishing up your work or studies. for the day... only to continue working • You're everything, from the account manager to human resources, CEO, CFO and CTO. You name it, you're it Do you know your niche? Can you manage your time and money? Do you like to hustle? The basics Constant learning The moment you step into the freelance world, the first thing you'll notice is that you don't know everything you should about your area of work. That's all right, though. Just keep learning. But also remember that continuous development is crucial if you want to keep an edge over others and keep up with the competition, and knowledge can also come from additional research or experience.