I hate that people assume I’m poor, struggling to make ends meet or in an otherwise financially undesirable situation. (I’ve been at this rodeo for 10 years and became a homeowner this spring; let’s move this pity party elsewhere.)
I hate that people assume I would go salaried as soon as someone who would offer me a reasonably interesting role. (Has happened more than once, I prefer to stick with freelancing.)
I hate that people assume that “freelancer” is code for “unemployed and looking for a job” but too embarrassed to say so. (There should be nothing embarrassing about unemployment, and when I was unemployed for a few months in between graduating and going freelance in my early twenties, I don’t recall ever obfuscating about being in need of a job.)
I hate that people assume I’m always down to do something spontaneous and fun in the middle of the workday. (Sure, every now and then, I’ll take the afternoon off, or run a few errands in the morning, but I work a 9.30 to 6.30 schedule most days, and will not completely change my schedule at short notice because you happen to be free between 14.45 and 15.30 on a random Tuesday.)
I hate when people tell me I ought to do something with all this freedom I have to work from anywhere in the world, and have I considered working from the Canary Islands? (At this point in my life, I prefer to keep work and travel separate. If I’m going to go through all the hassle and expense of travelling to some fabulous destination, I want to fully enjoy that and not have to spend several hours per day behind a laptop. Also, you go to the Canary Islands and work from there if you like it so much.)
I hate that people assume I’m at the beck and call of all my clients, ready to jump whenever they say jump and grateful for any crumb they throw my way. (OK, maybe that was true during my first two years as a freelancer; today there’s more of a balance. I’ll be the first one to admit that it can be a tightrope to set boundaries with people who can penalise you for your assertiveness by taking work away from you, but isn’t it the same for salaried workers who have to work under a difficult boss?)
I hate that people project whatever fears they have about self-employment onto me. (Whenever I tell strangers I’m a freelance journalist, the response is so often the same. “Isn’t that really hard?”, they’ll ask, with a tilt of their head and a sort of, go on, you can cry on my shoulder? What if, when told that someone was salaried, I went: “Are you salaried? Isn’t it so HARD to have a boss? Don’t you hate aaaaaaaaall your colleagues?” as I passed them some tissue.)
I hate that people assume that the ability to work from home 24/7 must be oh so liberating. (I think we all learned during the pandemic that working from home is fun until it’s not anymore. Also, I know few freelancers who don’t have some kind of outside workspace, be it a coffee spot, library or coworking space. We’re professionals too; we’re not sitting around in our pyjamas all day, pretending to be adults.)
I hate that advocating for creative freelancers, as I’ve tried to do in several ways and through various forums, has a way of eclipsing the many things that are fantastic about freelancing. I want all of us to be talking more about low rates, late payments and lopsided copyright agreements, while making it clear in the same breath that it is possible to carve out a sustainable, fulfilling career in these industries and that you don’t need to live the life of a struggling artist if you don’t want to.
But mostly, I hate the assumptions people have about freelancing. I hope you’ve understood by now that the whole point of this 90s teen-film inspired rant was to illustrate that my main frustration with freelancing are people’s preconceptions about what I do. Of course, I do have genuine frustrations about freelancing, and I’ll probably write them down for you someday, but after a weekend during which I had many conversations with strangers about what I do for a living, I needed to get this off my chest.
Okay, byeeeeeeeeeee, I have TV shows to watch in my PJs.
Linda
P.S. Would love to hear about the most common misconceptions you encounter about your chosen profession, and how you respond to them. As always, comment on this post on our website or shoot us an email.