Once upon a time, there was a girl named Eva. Eva had been working as an IT recruiter in a good company for over two years. She loved her job, but from time to time, a thought would cross her mind that something was missing.
She had heard from acquaintances and seen examples of some recruiters venturing into freelancing and being happy with their decision. She always associated freelancing with a beach, where she would lie in a hammock with her laptop, working in bliss.
During such moments, she would scold herself, dismissing these thoughts as empty dreams. She never shared her desires with anyone, and when she was bombarded with new job openings at work, she pushed her aspirations aside.
At some point, she reached a point of no return, where she couldn't continue as things were, and she had to take a scary but necessary step.
Eva gathered her courage, and today, a year later, she is sharing the essential rules with brave girls like her who are considering freelancing.
BEFORE
Eva loved to plan everything meticulously, so even while she was still working at the company, she decided to create a plan for a safe transition to freelancing.
Financial Cushion
Eva knew that during the first 2-3 months, even a good recruiter might not earn their usual income as a freelancer. It takes time to fill a position: finding the right candidate, waiting for them to accept the offer, and typically, they start working a couple of weeks later. It's only then that a freelancer might receive their first commission.
To address this, Eva set aside a sum of money in advance to cover her expenses for three months, ensuring that she wouldn't have to worry about finances during this initial period. This allowed her to work comfortably and earn bonuses for the upcoming months.
Additionally, Eva had the idea of proposing a split bonus structure to her clients. She suggested paying the first part when the candidate started working and the second part after 2-3 months, once the candidate successfully completed their probationary period.
Eva found this idea very inspiring because it meant she would have income for the next three months, making it easier to plan her life, travels, and other activities. Her clients also liked the idea because it allowed them to spread their payments and not feel like they were paying for everything upfront.
Support from Loved Ones
Living in a society means that having the support of our family is essential when making major life decisions.
Eva, in her preparations for freelancing, informed her loved ones in advance about her decision. She explained what freelancing meant and how she planned to work from now on.
Certainly, her loved ones initially viewed this news with skepticism, but they ultimately chose to support Eva's decision.
INBETWEEN
Organize Your Work Time and Space
It's essential for everyone to understand how, where, and when they work most comfortably.
If you've decided to work from home, consider a few key points:
- Let your loved ones know that you're currently working and not just spending hours on Facebook.
- Set daily tasks for yourself and plan for household chores as well. Avoid thinking, "I'm at home, so I'll just make some soup and tidy up, and I need to go grocery shopping." You can end up spending the entire day without accomplishing any work tasks.
- Make sure to get outside, meet people, and have a life beyond work. If you stay at home and focus solely on work, you'll quickly burn out. Sign up for yoga or dance classes, attend speaking clubs, meet friends for coffee, take leisurely walks, and engage in activities you enjoy.
If you find it challenging to work at home, where distractions abound, consider working from a coworking space or a café. You might find that you're more productive in a different environment.
Tell Everyone You're Freelancing
Networking plays a crucial role in today's world, and Eva understood that. As soon as she left her job, her first step was to write a short post on Facebook announcing that she was freelancing.
She knew that within her circle of friends, there were many HR managers and recruiters from other companies, and they might have freelance job opportunities in the future.
And, of course, it worked! Not only were her friends' congratulations and well-wishes inspiring, but they also recommended her to others. Clients started coming her way through word of mouth.
The First Clients
For our Eva, everything happened very quickly and easily. As soon as she left her job, two of her friends (also HR managers from IT companies) instantly messaged her and offered a couple of job vacancies to work on. Of course, it's safe to say that she was jumping with joy—there's no other way to put it! To this day, she remains grateful and fondly remembers her first clients.
But just in case that didn't happen, she had several options for finding clients:
- Message freelance recruiters in Skype chat, introduce herself, and let them know she's ready to take on job vacancies.
- Reach out to familiar HR managers/recruiters/leaders from other IT companies.
- Offer her current company a remote work arrangement temporarily while there are plenty of job vacancies.
- Approach large recruiting agencies; they surely have many job vacancies, and they would be willing to assign one of them to her.
Establishing Working Conditions
At the beginning, Eva took her first job vacancies on the terms offered by the companies. After all, most companies have an internal bonus system, and initially, these amounts were satisfactory for her.
However, as Eva's client base and workload increased, she began to establish her own working conditions.
If, like our heroine at the start, you're unsure about what bonus to ask for when closing a job vacancy, you can refer to the survey results of freelance recruiters.
Additionally, during the course of work, an understanding of the tasks undertaken by the freelancer is formed. Of course, these tasks take into account the individual needs of each client.
AFTER
Work with Quality
You're unlikely to have to search for clients on your own if you consistently perform your work well and maintain high quality. Therefore, don't overwhelm yourself by taking on more job vacancies than you can effectively close.
Listen to your clients and ask the question, "What else can I do for you?"
This way, you'll gradually improve your work and add additional value for your clients.
Keep Developing
Recruiting on a freelance basis can be somewhat more challenging than working within a company. Often, freelancers are given more complex or urgent job vacancies that the clients couldn't fill on their own. There's also more responsibility involved.
Therefore, always strive to develop yourself and stay up to date with the latest trends. Try out new tools, optimize your processes, build longer and more trusting relationships with candidates, as you may have many interesting job vacancies for them in the future.
Participate in valuable events, engage with colleagues, and join communities, such as the Ukrainian Sourcing Community, for example.
Enjoy
Working as a freelancer offers a significant bonus - freedom. Use it wisely. Incorporate travel, daytime strolls, various activities, and all the things you couldn't afford before into your life. You are the creator of your own life ;)
Here's one more thing I'd like to say to everyone who sees themselves and their desires in our heroine.
If you're afraid of making changes, think about this: "What's the worst that can happen if things don't work out for me suddenly?"
Let me tell you what might happen :) You won't close any job vacancies in three months, so you won't earn anything. You'll spend all the money you saved up during that time and simply return to your office job.
Doesn't sound so scary, does it?
But what will you gain? You'll gain new experience, understand how it's like to work remotely, and see if this work arrangement suits you. You'll also have a break from office hustle and possibly spend more time on self-improvement. Perhaps you'll even start to miss working in an office and return to a new company with renewed energy.
And I'm absolutely sure that if you're a skilled professional, you won't have any trouble finding a job. Good recruiters are highly sought after in the job market.
Dream, try, and dare! You don't have to wait for the next January 1st or Monday to do so. There's still so much interesting and exciting ahead of you!
P.S. As for our Eve, she made it all work. She has been freelancing for over a year now, with regular and beloved clients. She controls her workload and the number of hours she works per day. Plus, she has already visited two countries during this time and plans her third, longer trip to Asia.
