Freelance Radio, Episode 43: Full-Time Experience | FreelanceSwitch
The latest episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast, is now available! This episode, the panel (John Brougher, Dickie Adams, Kristen Fischer and Von Glitschka) talks about full-time experience and its value for freelancers.
Should you jump into freelancing right out of high school or college without acquiring work experience first? In this economy, maybe you don’t really have a choice? This podcast mostly says working for someone else first (before you go solo) is recommended, to expand your network, expose yourself to new markets, resources, frames of reference, etc.
I also think it’s a good idea to work for another business first, assuming you don’t have a ton of experience already by the time you graduate.
Working for someone else gives you some credibility when you’re starting out. For example, my IBM internship in college made landing my first SEO gig easier–essentially I made one phone call, mentioned my IBM internship and I was offered the job immediately without much discussion.