How to Leverage Your Day Job for Your Freelance Career

The idea of being a freelancer is often romanticized: working flexible hours,  no boss, and the freedom to take on any project. However,  as founding editor of Lifehacker.com Gina Trapani points out in How to Start Freelancing (Without Quitting Your Job), most writers don’t begin freelancing by quitting their day job “in a dramatic fashion.” Instead, they “start off moonlighting, volunteering, interning, and doing client work at night and on weekends in addition to a nine-to-five gig.” Better yet, keeping a day job allows the writer  to pursue a freelancing career and can set them up for greater success when they finally make the jump.

Networking leads to client work

As a freelancer, writers are more likely to find work through their connections including fellow employees, vendors, and sometimes, even clients they meet met through their day job. “… People are much more likely to hire someone recommended by someone they trust, so it’s up to you to work your network,” Trapani said.  By not keeping a day job, writers are losing out on the potential to find job opportunities.

Worth = a great rate

While working a day job, the time available to freelance is little and precious. This forces  the freelancer to really consider the time it will take the write and determine a rate that reflects what their time is truly worth. Determining this rate and setting deadlines also depends on the freelancer’s  schedule, Trapani said.

“When it comes to scheduling, don’t forget that you’ll be doing this work at night and on weekends, and things almost always take longer than your initial gut estimate. So, overestimate the number of hours a job will take.”

Working within a set schedule

According to to Kelly Gurnett’s post “Want to Follow Your Dream? Don’t Quit Your Day Job” on Brazen Careerist, keeping a day job allows a freelancer to stick to a schedule to get their work done.

When Gurnett faced a full free day without a set schedule, other to dos got in her way, such as laundry, updating her blog, and catching up on HGTV. Keeping a day job forces a freelancer to commit to a schedule after work. If they eventually go full time, keeping that schedule will be much easier to manage.

Freedom

The idea that freelancing full time ultimately leads to freedom is an attractive one, but to have that much freedom and still receive steady jobs is highly unlikely. When a writer’s main income is freelance work, they’re more willing to take any job that comes along. However, Gurnett points out that by keeping your day job (and a steady income), writers have freedom to experiment and try new assignments. “Already having the financial bit taken care of gives you the ability to turn down less-than-ideal opportunities and focus only on the projects that will truly advance your dream,” she said.

Learning before taking the leap

While many successful people quit their jobs to freelance full time , the journey required the writer to learn how to manage time, money, and a personal brand. Taking on such an endeavor right from the start might not bring on a happy ending.

Keeping the day job allows for learning opportunities before taking that next step.  According to Gurnett, “You can afford to make all those newbie mistakes without worrying that you’ve just lost the mortgage payment for the month. You can see failures as the learning experiences they are, dust yourself off, and try again, without suffering dire financial consequences,” she said.

Maintaining a day job while freelancing is not easy. It requires working at odd hours and making sure both jobs receive enough attention. While it’s challenging, the experience will teach the potential full-time freelancer to learn through trial and error,  see what best works, and how to find success.