Posted by Freelancing has become a familiar term over the last decade, especially in the subcontinent. The concept is very simple. Working out of the conventional job system. On the other hand, remote job is also very common. And in COVID, people all over the world got introduced to it more and felt the inevitable need for it to ensure the business was not hampered.
The fun part is that people think these two (freelancing and remote job) are the same. Since in both cases, you don’t need to go to the office, they cannot differentiate between these two. I myself had to explain to many people in a lecture form what a remote job and freelancing actually are when they got to know me that I am in a remote job. Yes, in both cases , the similarity is you may not need to go to office but it is not enough to think of them as the same.
What is freelancing ?
Freelancing is basically working on a project. You get a client who needs a project to be done. And you get paid for that project. It’s that simple. You don’t have a manager, no conventional boss though—but the client himself is the boss. 😉 In one sentence, you get paid for the project, not for how long you are working.
What is Remote Job ?
In a remote job, an employee has to work for a specific company, like he would in an on-location job, except that he doesn’t need to be physically present at office. Rather, he can work from home or anywhere he prefers. It gained popularity in the COVID time since the offices were to remain closed for lockdown and to continue the business, the employers had no other choice but to let the employees work from home. “Work from Home” is the term that defined it those days, but in real, this follows the same discipline: remote job.
But the remote job concept was there far before the COVID time, people around the world work as an employee for a company of country sitting from his home which might be located in another country. He has work in 9-5 job culture as we see in case of on-location job. So, there is no difference in terms of a on-location company work except the fact that here the employee needs not to be physically present at that company.
So which one should you go for ? Which one should you prefer? It depends on some factors and pros and cons that each of these does have. Let take a look at those things.
Earning:
Remote companies in general pay their employees an handsome amount, which might be less than that of where the company is located but way higher than that of local market where the employee is located. So, that is attractive and it ensures better savings and better lifestyles for the employee.
On the other hand, a freelancer’s earnings vary depending on the volume and type of projects he is doing. If project is bigger, the amount earned would be bigger.
Tension for cash flow:
A remote employee earns on a monthly basis. No matter if he has any work or not he will have a constant cash flow each month, as in the case of a conventional office job.
While freelancers earning is not constant. Since it depends of projects done, if he has no project at hand, no earning is there at that moment.
Work-life balance:
Since a remote employee works on office time, his work time is specific, like a conventional job. He doesn’t have to work all day and night, as in case of freelancing, unless the project has a tight deadline. It ensures work-life balance as well.
A freelancer’s work is completely dependent on the project and timeline. If the time is abundant for a project, that may not hamper his daily life, but in most cases, freelancers in general try to overburden their schedules by getting more projects. Because more projects means more money.
Working in multiculture:
A remote employee doesn’t have to work single handedly. Rather a project is done by a team, and he plays the role as a team member. The other people in the team might be from other countries and cultures, that gives him the opportunity to learn about multiculturalism and work in a team environment. Communication skill and team playing becomes a bonus for him to learn.
On the other side, a solo freelancer has to work mostly alone on a given task or project if they do not have a team. So, no communication, teamwork and team bonding is developed.
Stress
In a remote job, since a team is doing the project, the whole team would be responsible for finishing it by the deadline. He doesn’t need to learn all the A-Zs to complete a project. It lessens stress and ensures productivity for all employees.
In freelancing, since the freelancer is a one many army, only he is responsible for finishing the project. It develops stress in him.
Self-development
It is easier for the same reason in case of remote job. An employee gets to time improve his quality day by day. In freelancing, due to accessive stress of work and busy schedule all the day, it is hard to manage the time to learn new techs and trends and update oneself.
Transport is a hassle and time-killer, especially in highly densely populated cities. In both freelancing and remote job, you don’t have to face it.
The above-mentioned points can be demotivating to freelancers. But there is a huge advantage that remote employees may not get. A remote employee works for the company, and he has to deal with his manager and not the client. Instead, the company owner or the manager does it.
While a freelancer directly deal with the clients, So he gets the opportunity to build a good relationship with them by providing satisfactory services. A satisfied client most likely doesn’t want to change resources with whom he has already built a good relationship. If you, as a freelancer, have satisfied customers, you can build a team with other experts and work as an agency or company. And ultimately, it opens up more opportunity for the future to broaden your business. And when you set up a company, the above-mentioned disadvantages regarding solo working are automatically resolved.
So, upon the above discussion my final conclusion is if you are risk taker and you have a mindset to setup a company or agency and grow a business in that context, and if you have potential and regular clients with big budget projects and have a good relationship with them, freelancing might be a good choice for you. It might be challenging for you but in the long run it can bear good fruits for you.
On the other hand, you love a good sustainable and handsome earning and better work life balance and if you think of doing side hustle but are not in rush of doing it now, you may go for a remote job. 🙂
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