Tag Archives: freelancing

Oct 18 2011
Leave a comment
Journalism

One year of freelancing

Last Tuesday, I marked the first anniversary of going freelance full time. It was quite a satisfactory landmark because I would never have thought that I would ever be self employed at all, let alone for an entire year. Business studies was one of my weakest subjects at school and I am sure my teacher would be surprised to hear that I am a relatively successful sole trader.

Back on 23rd October 2010, I wrote about what I had learned about freelancing from my first two weeks. Looking back at what I wrote, it is surprising how little has changed. I am still doing shifts, many booked in the last minute, it is still a feast or famine and I still have slack days. Continue reading →

Tagged ,
Nov 20 2010
Leave a comment
Journalism

How working overseas helped me adjust to freelancing

Originally uploaded by littlesaint_uk.

Two years ago – almost to the day – I arrived in Melbourne with my boyfriend and a one-year visa. The purpose of my visit was to work for a few months in order to raise money for the rest of our round the world trip.

Unfortunately, I arrived in Melbourne at totally the wrong time. Someone had told us to arrive early in the Southern Hemisphere summer because all the backpacker jobs would be snapped up before February.

We were totally misinformed. For three months my boyfriend and I struggled to find office work. Our arrival had coincided with the pre-Christmas lull, which was much more pronounced in 2008 because of jitters about the economy. We finally got something in February (ironically). My boyfriend found a data entry job, while I got a relatively well paid dish-washing job. Continue reading →

Tagged , , , , , ,
Oct 23 2010
1 Comment
Journalism

This Gun’s for Hire – the joys and pitfalls of freelancing

Uploaded by Nadaone2.

It’s a fortnight since I learned that my future in journalism would not involve a monthly pay cheque and the coziness of a contract.

So far, it’s not been as scary as I thought. In my first week I had two shifts. In the second week that doubled and regrettably I have had to turn down shifts because of clashes.

This is certainly a good start and the fact I will earn at least enough to replace my staff earnings relieves some of my initial anxiety about freelancing. However, the challenge will be to match this next month – October’s spending review has been good for me in the sense that it has provided me with more work (probably only in the short term though).

In the past few weeks I have learned a lot about freelancing and a few things about myself: Continue reading →

Tagged , , , ,
%d bloggers like this: