What To Expect Transitioning From Freelancer To Employee - Page 9

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If you’ve been a freelancer for most of your working life and are offered the opportunity to transition into a salaried position, there is a lot to consider. The possibility can be both exciting and overwhelming. You’re used to the freedoms that come with a freelance lifestyle (it literally has the word “free” built into it), but you’re also aware of some of the instability that comes with that. All of that freedom can sometimes feel like you’re just free-falling, and there’s nobody there to protect you. And the perceived limitations of being salaried may not be as limiting as you think.

There is more, of course, to consider than just your freedom when you go salaried. Just as you hope your new position will meet your needs and wants, the hiring party has needs and wants of their own. You’ll need to make some adjustments, but it could be worth it. You may not realize how many old habits you’ve picked up from your freelance lifestyle that you’ll need to kick. And there can be parts of the full-time employee lifestyle that surprise you. Here is what to expect and prepare for when you transition from freelance to full-time employee.

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Your pay is finally reliable

There’s a lot to be said for direct deposit. As a freelancer, you have to stay on top of generating invoices. Then you have to send those follow-up emails to the clients who don’t pay you on time. You have clients who don’t want to pay you in full because of some dispute over the deliverable. When you’re salaried, that direct deposit, with an amount you can count on, is coming into your bank account, in a timely manner. No fighting for it. No squabbling over amounts.

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But it’ll be set for a while

You just have to remember once you leave the freelance lifestyle, there isn’t as much opportunity to increase your pay. As a freelancer, you can set whatever rate you want for every new client that comes your way. You can customize the pay per project. You can even send out a yearly email to all clients, notifying them that due to the cost of doing business your rates have increased across the board. When you’re salaried, you can ask for a raise perhaps every few years, but there isn’t as much opportunity for sporadic pay raises.

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You get some free training

When you’re freelance, if you want to learn a new skill – like how to use a certain software program – you’ll have to pay for a workshop for that. Once you’re salaried at a company, they’ll often pay for your workshops. If they benefit from you knowing a new skill, then they’ll pay for you to learn it. Then you have that certification, forever.

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You’ll need to attend training

While you’ll have some workshops you want to take that are covered for you, there will be others that aren’t as interesting that you’re required to attend. The corporation must, for liability reasons, have full-time employees attend all sorts of training regarding office etiquette, sexual harassment, protocol, safety measures, and more. As a freelancer, you may not have had to attend these. But as an employee, you will.

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Your workload is (somewhat) more predictable

The beauty of a salaried position is that there’s more predictability in your workload. As a freelancer, every week may have begun with the panic of knowing that some clients may not greenlight their project until Thursday, leaving you working over the weekend. Or some may all get back to you at the same time, leaving you working late nights for days on end, and fiddling your thumbs the other days. When you’re salaried, there is more predictability to your tasks each week.

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But you aren’t a project-based worker

While there is more predictability to your workload as a freelancer, when the company is overwhelmed, some tasks that aren’t usually yours may come your way. And you’ll need to cooperate because of that sweet, sweet direct deposit. You won’t have the opportunity to say, “That’s not what I do.” Everyone (who is salaried) needs to pitch in when the company says so. You can’t hide behind your freelance role anymore to get out of certain tasks.

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You finally get paid vacation

You get real, true paid vacation. Those are days when, even though you aren’t working, money is coming in. That’s something you just don’t get as a freelancer. You can’t lie by a pool, on vacation, as a freelancer, and know dollars are entering your bank account. That only happens when you work. Taking a vacation, as a freelancer, often just means taking a temporary pay cut.

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But you need to get your stuff done

Even when you are salaried, do know that you still need to get your work done before leaving for vacation. If there are things that need doing by a deadline that falls, say, during your vacation, you’ll have to wrap those up before vacation. Even if it means some late nights or working on a weekend. You can’t really set your own timelines as you would as a freelancer.

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You need to be on top of correspondence

You’ll need to be a little more on top of things as a salaried employee than you were as a freelance employee. You can’t neglect an email from your boss for a few days because you got busy with other things. You could say that to clients, as a freelancer, but not to a boss. What other things? You’re a full-time, salaried employee. Your focus should be on your work between the hours laid out in your contract.

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The company represents you

You have a big safety net when you’re salaried at a corporation. As a freelancer, you, as an individual (or your LLC) could be the target of litigations and a lot of other legal headaches. When you work for a company, they weather the blow of a lot of those troubles. And they have a full legal team on their side – it’s not like when you had to personally pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars an hour, as a freelancer, when a legal issue arose.

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You also represent them

While the company represents you, you also now represent them. That means they may have some standards for your behavior, not only at the office but also away from it. You could get in trouble for things you post online or even your behavior out and about at social events. You’re no longer a free entity, and you have to think more about how you represent the company you work for.

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You can feel like more of a family

You do feel like a part of a family. You get the state of the union updates and have an intricate understanding of how you played a role in the company’s successes. You are invited to the holiday parties and mixers. You didn’t get that as a freelancer. You just turned in your work and disappeared.

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You can still ask for flexibility

Just because you’re salaried doesn’t mean your freedoms are all gone. Many companies are willing to work with you, especially if you do a great job for them. You might be able to request work from home days, or certain office hours that help you drop off and pick up your kids at school. If you are a reliable and quality employee for a long time, you can likely request some liberties that feel like freelance liberties.

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You’re no longer the boss

When you were freelance, you had a relationship with clients. Now you have a relationship with a boss. In other words, you’re no longer your own boss. And you don’t get to talk to clients like equals – there are no more clients (at least not within your company). You may need to check your ego a little when you realize you do answer to somebody, and sometimes, you have to say yes when you don’t want to, or when you hear no, it’s final.