Freelancing or Full-Time? How to Make the Right Decision

 In this post, let’s discuss the question, “After finishing the UX UI design course, what’s the best option for my career: should I get into freelancing or should I get a full-time job?” 

We can answer this question using three factors: time, effort and money. We’ll be deciding by considering the effort we put in for the time that’s available and the income you earn. 

Benefits of Full-time Employment

Firstly, let’s look at the benefits of full-time employment: 

• If you get employed as a full-time professional in an organization, you’ll spend a set number of hours every day at work. According to the organization’s policies you’ll be allowed to take leaves and vacations. 
• The type of work you do will vary based on your seniority level. If you’re an entry-level professional, you’ll spend most of your time on UI and a little bit on UX. Or if you’re a mid-level professional, your responsibilities will be balanced. If you’re a senior, you’ll work mostly on UX and spend time interacting with clients. 
• As for remuneration goes, your salary – based on the company’s policy – will be fixed and credited in the first week of every month. 
• The only risk in this case is in the effort you put in. You may be asked to revise your designs. It may be due to client feedback or because of the user’s difficulty in finishing the app tasks. 
• Another risk is on the money part. If your employer is a startup expecting outside funding to pay the salaries, there might be some delays in paying you. 
• There is no risk with regards to the time you spend in the office. It will mostly stay the same throughout your employment. 

Freelancing

Now, let’s similarly evaluate freelancing: 

• Time is not fixed. You’ll spend time if you have projects underway. When you don’t have much work, you won’t spend any time. 
• The effort factor is also not fixed. You’ll continue to make an effort till the client is satisfied with your results. 
• Once you deliver the task to your client’s satisfaction, you’ll receive your payment. 

Risks of Freelancing

So, what are the risks in freelancing? 

• Firstly, let’s consider ‘Time’. Since you don’t have a fixed time schedule where you work, you are your own boss. However, in the initial stages you’ll spend a lot of time prospecting for new projects. Only if you win the deal, the time spent would become meaningful.  
• As far as effort goes, you still have to take the same effort to produce your UX and UI designs, revise them till the client is satisfied and the user has to find your designs easy to use. There is no difference in the level of risk – whether you work full-time or freelance. 
• Money is the third factor. There is no guarantee that the client will pay you on time even after delivering the work as expected. Some clients pay on time, but many of them expect a credit terms of 15 days or more after your send the invoice. You may be paid long after the invoice was due. 

Advantages of Freelancing

You might be thinking of going freelance because it offers advantages like: 

• No need to work for a single employer
• You don’t like to be micromanaged
• Not requiring for you to report to someone regularly
• You want to be your own boss

However, comparatively speaking, freelancing has more financial risks than working full time. 

There is another aspect that you have to consider. 

In the 12 months every year, you might not be fully busy. If you win three projects in a year, each spanning for 2-3 months, you’ll be idle for nearly a quarter. You’ll have to spend this time pitching more projects without earning anything. You’ll have to have some reserve money to survive through this lean period. 

Bear in mind that to survive and thrive as a freelancer, UI UX skills alone won’t be sufficient. You need to know how to run your freelance business, negotiation and project management. 

If you possess these skills and have spare money for three to four months, you can try your hand as a freelancer. 

Generally speaking, though, it would be wise to seek a job as a full-time employee. 

If you hate to deal with the usual annoyances like micromanagement, reporting and so on – you can learn how to be employed full-time, work remotely and still enjoy the advantages. The book ‘The 4-Hour Work Week‘ shows you how. I’ve made a video on how to apply the book’s ideas for designers. 

My Recommendation

Personally, I’d recommend you going full-time because: 

• there is job safety
• you just need UX UI design skills to  thrive
• you get paid on time

So, have I answered your question satisfactorily? Please let me know in the comments. 

Freelancing or Full-Time? How to Make the Right Decision