Is It Time to Go For a Stable Job?

It’s finally come to a head. Maybe you were at a dinner party and the person sitting to your left was talking about the new retirement benefits their company just rolled out. Or maybe you just got an email in your inbox that was deeply apologetic, but said that, no, you weren’t going to be paid as agreed — that check you earned would be instead delayed by another month.

Whatever the case, you’re now reading this article and wondering if it might be better to give up the freelance life for a full-time company job. So let’s really talk about it without any veneer or hyperbole.

Here’s how to figure out if it’s time for you to switch from freelancing.

To be clear: this is your choice

Before we get into the discussion, we just want to set a flag in the ground and unambiguously say: This is up to you. Yes, we’re going to be talking about pros and cons of working freelance, but the point here is to help you make your own decision. 

Working freelance can be great and fulfilling — as can working within a company. And if your answer to “Is it time to go for a stable job?” is “No,” then we absolutely celebrate that. Keep rocking that freelance life.

With that said, let’s get into it.

The pros and cons of a freelance career

If you’re here, you might be souring on a career as a freelancer, but let’s start out by reminding you why you decided to take this path in the first place.

The pros

Flexibility

Sure, you have deadlines that you need to meet for your clients. But you don’t need to be at work from nine to five every day. If you choose, you can take the day to go for a jaunt into nature, engage in a hobby, or run stress-free errands during hours when office workers are busy with their tasks.

And it’s not just about you, either; with this control over your schedule, you can tailor your work hours to your family schedule — not the other way around. You can prioritize picking your kids up from school and spending time with them or taking care of an ill loved one. You’re the only one you’re answerable to. This work-life balance is something many freelancers would never trade away.

Control over your work

You get to choose your projects. No one’s dictating that you have to take something on. Not interested in a request that comes your way? You don’t have to accept the work — no one’s going to get frustrated at your insubordination.

In addition, by not tying yourself to one specific company, you get the opportunity to work across domains, industries, and specializations. One day, you might work on a project for a climate tech company. The next, you might tackle an assignment for a local coffee roaster. This variety in work helps you keep your knowledge growing and keeps things fresh, which can lead to higher job satisfaction.

A direct correlation between work and income

Let’s use the example of a salaried designer. When working for a fixed paycheck, regardless of how many projects that designer takes on, their income is going to stay the same. However, as a freelancer, more work is directly tied to more income. It’s a simple equation — do more, earn more.

In addition, as your career progresses and you get more clients — and more prestigious clients — the only person setting your rates is you. That means you can essentially give yourself a raise as your client list diversifies. And you can do that without needing to talk to a boss, go through a performance review, or haggle with an HR team. Without any of that hassle, you can simply and accurately reflect the increased value of your work that comes with your developing expertise.

The cons

Yeah, not everything’s perfect, though. So let’s talk about the downsides — if you’re reading this, one of these reasons might be driving your dissatisfaction.

Lack of benefits

Companies typically try to attract talented people by offering packages that include health insurance, retirement plans, and paid leave. As a freelancer, you don’t have any of that. Sure, you set up a retirement plan on your own, but many companies offer matches for retirement contributions, and this is something unavailable to freelancers. 

In addition, publicly available health insurance might either be more costly to you or might not cover everything you need — but this likely comes down to your specific situation.

This is a real consideration, and not having these benefits can be a significant stressor as you try to build out contingencies for the future or the unexpected.

Inconsistent income

Bills pile up every month. Rent, utilities, debt payments — they all come in, and you need to pay them on time. However, as a freelancer, your cash flow might not follow the same schedule. Instead of being able to rely on a monthly paycheck, you might need to spend time planning out how to use your sporadic income wisely, and this can be difficult and stressful.

Not only that, but even when you’ve been promised payment on a certain schedule, things can suddenly change. The company might come up with excuses for why you’re not being paid on time: The person responsible for payments to freelancers is on vacation, the remuneration system is being redesigned, or they’re waiting for payment themselves. Whatever the reason, the delay can cause a real financial burden on a freelancer.

Loneliness

When you join a company, you become part of a community. So even if you end up working remotely, you’re still plugged into a group of people who have something in common with you — work. If making friends as an adult is all about repeated unplanned encounters, that means a nine-to-five job is a great place to make friends.

And as a freelancer, these encounters aren’t baked into your working life. To be fair, you might already have a robust network of people you can rely on outside of work. But if not, this might mean that freelancers need to spend extra effort to build professional support networks and social connections.

Being clear-eyed about working at a company

Now, all that being said, we won’t guarantee that working for a company will solve every issue in the list of cons. Some companies skimp on benefits, and not everyone will make friends at work — or is even looking to. In fact, the limited flexibility, bureaucracy, and lack of a sense of complete personal agency might turn you off from joining a company full-time.

But there are benefits — significant ones. The first: consistent income_{What Salary Can Bootcamp Grads Expect?}. The feeling of financial precarity that is endemic to freelance work is mitigated by the core knowledge that every month, you will get a paycheck.

That feeling of precarity isn’t just about not knowing when money will land in your account, though. It also flows from a lack of certainty about retirement and a fear of medical emergencies. If the cost of an injury worries you more than the injury itself, you might know what we’re talking about.

What it boils down to

And with that, we get to what the choice is really all about, and why you’re here: stability_{Yes, a Career in Tech Pays Well. It’s Also More Stable.} — it’s even in this article’s title.

Often, the freedom that comes with freelancing goes hand in hand with major anxieties about covering the basics. Can you be absolutely certain you’ll have enough for rent next month? Will a broken arm put you out of working commission for the next four to six weeks, costing you both the month of wages you could’ve earned and the price of medical care?

So sit down and really take stock. Use our pros and cons as a guideline and figure out if the precarity that comes with freelancing is still worth it for you. And if you’d like to make the change from freelancing but think it’s impossible, let us just say:

And we’re certain you can because we’ve seen others do the same. People from all walks of life have come through our bootcamp and landed new careers in tech. In fact, according to our Outcomes Report, 87% of employed grads didn’t come from a STEM background, and 90% of them stayed with their first employer for at least a year.

Get more advice

But maybe you want more clarity. If you want to know if you should switch your professional path, we have the quiz for you. In just five quick minutes, you’ll find out if you should look into making the change. Take the career-switch quiz.