I started working as a freelancer: Now what?

Can I be fully autonomous as a freelancer?

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Long time no see, fellow developers! Lately I embraced a new challenge in my software engineer career: started working as a freelancer. In this article, I will try to explain the main reasons behind this career change, how I adapted to this new chapter of my life, the challenges faced and the rituals I tried to implement throughout. Last, but not least, I will share with you mistakes taken during the process.

Context

A little context please! Why I decided to make that change? Which key factors contributed to this important decision? Did it have any impact on my life? Am I able to cope with the consequences?

Let me just turn the drama button off a bit. During my working experience, I was able to learn different programming languages, design patterns, architecture styles, working methodologies, development workflows, but also solve different kinds of software problems. In the course of those years, I leveraged my skillset drastically by gathering different perspectives about ways of working and solving problems, the mentorship from people that worked on IT for so many years, way more than I did, but also the learning discipline that I developed over the years that always pushed me out of my comfort zone. Needless to say that mistakes were also a good source of learning.

Ultimately, I can proudly say that I was able to become someone that is capable of solving problems, is a fast learner, takes full advantage of the time, cleans as much JIRA tickets as possible and, lastly, leaves the ego at the door.

However, with all the layoffs going on and uncertainty around companies, it got pretty challenging to find a new opportunities as a senior software engineer. By challenging, I mean finding a company that is aligned with my ideal culture values, tech stack, is trying to solve a challenging problem, but also a company in which the recruitment process is not an infinite odyssey to the farthest galaxy.

Job search: The journey

With all that intake of productivity and struggle to find a new opportunity as a senior software engineer, I started questioned myself about the possibility of starting working as an independent software engineer, but also about the benefits and risks that I would need to cope with.

Benefits

I think that this feeling of changing my life towards a freelancing career started with remote work. The increased schedule flexibility changed my life completely. Not having to commute every single day, loose so many time in public transportation, over and over again and focus that amount entirely in solving problems 🤓, work out 🏃 , do the laundry 😴. Additionally, the experience and expertise that I was able to develop during all these years allowed me to become a more autonomous software engineer, a fast learner, capable of solving different kinds of software engineering problems, but also create tools/rituals to maximise my productivity (but also my time).

Started working as a freelancer, defining my skill value, setting my own schedule, tailor my ideal work profile gave me a sense of increased responsibility. And that feeling got a very positive vibe on me 😃.

Needless to say that as a freelancer I get the change to wear (even) more hats as an engineer.

Jack of all trades or master of none? That is the question

In summary:

1. Remote work;
2. You set your own schedule;
3. Unlimited time off;
4. Take full ownership of your work;
5. Wear many hats;

Drawbacks

Being the owner of your schedule and work can be a cumbersome process and requires a different approach overall. Many things changed compared to a normal employee-company relationship.

One of the main reasons people stay as an employee is the financial stability. Having a fixed salary and benefits, paid time off, health insurance, retirement planning, paid leave can really play with your mind. One of my very first mistakes as a freelancer was to not take all those topics in consideration when defining a hour rate 😅. With that in mind, take into consideration those topics, do a little research and even ask chatGPT “how to calculate my freelancer rate?”. By the way I did that! Furthermore, when starting as a freelancer, you have no clients. Unless you left some doors open during your years of experience, you might need to take some effort to find new ones. Having a struggle to find a new opportunity in the past due to the imminence of a recession, etc.., I believe it got a bit in my mind 😅. Mistake #2: plan beforehand your next move.

When it comes to legal responsibilities, it can be a real pain in the butt. Back in the day when I was working as a normal employee, I didn’t have to worry about filling up forms, generate invoices, talk constantly with the tax agency about tiny details on the law. As a freelancer, I got all that at once. When I start preparing myself for this new reality, I had no knowledge about those topics whatsoever. I lost count about how many call I made with the tax agency to know more about my legal obligations 😢. Gladly, after each call and asking friends and family about it, I got pretty much an overview of what it takes and what I need to do short-term, medium and long-term. Still a working in progress…

Growth plays an important role in my software engineering culture values as well. Increasing my skillset, improve myself in different topics, share the knowledge with others is what makes me love my job. However, I still need to figure how is it going to affect my daily basis as a freelancer. Will I be able to develop leadership skills in long term? Will I be a suitable resource for a leadership role?

In summary:

1. More legal responsibilities;
2. No paid time off;
3. Risk of having too many deliveries;
4. Takes time to build a set of clients;

Conclusion

By working as a freelancer does not mean that working as a normal employee of a company is not good. Is all about trade-offs. I think that at the end of the day, working as a freelancer requires some amount of discipline. Although you have an unlimited earning potential, you have a good set of clients, you are contributing to very nice projects, is very easy to get lost in work, keep up with the client demands and start stressing out with deliveries. This snowball feeling can get very easily out of hands. Discipline will play a massive role on your schedule, your growth, but also your ability in taking decisions. The same way is good to have different projects in hands, is also very important to focus on your mental health, investing time in what you enjoy the most.

Ultimately, even if the experience does not work for me, I can still apply to companies as a normal employee. At least in my perspective, I didn’t want the hesitation to take over the mistakes I would make along the road.