If you鈥檙e thinking about聽becoming a freelancer, you鈥檙e not alone!聽A聽freelancer聽refers to someone who聽is self-employed and provides a service聽to聽clients聽and the聽community聽is聽growing.聽, a business data platform, predicts that by 2028 there will be over 86 million freelancers. If you鈥檙e interested in freelancing but not sure where to begin, continue below for聽five聽strategies to help you聽get started.聽
Assess Your Skills
Complete聽a self-analysis聽to聽help you put together a personal profile to聽guide your career decisions.聽This will help you identify聽what skills you have聽and what you can sell to a potential client. Check out a few resources that will help you determine what you have to offer;聽聽is a career exploration tool located on聽, and聽听辞苍听聽can help you find the best career for the skills you already have.聽
Determine Your Niche
Next up?聽Locate the industries or career fields that are hiring freelancers with your skillset.聽Check out 聽for more insight.聽
Find Opportunities
After you have identified your marketable skills, it鈥檚 time to find opportunities matching those skills. Visit聽 and these聽聽to find project-based opportunities.聽
Build Your Business
Staying organized and on track is vital to succeeding as a freelancer; check out a聽聽such as a website, time management tools, time tracking apps, and invoicing software that can help make freelancing easier for you.聽
Provide Your Best Work
Aim to be customer focused, which is simply putting your customer first. Always aim to provide the best service you can and go above and beyond to show your customer you intend to keep their business for the long run. Be sure to monitor your communication channels and communicate effectively to get the job done quickly and accurately.聽
The process of becoming an聽independent contractor or freelancer can聽seem聽daunting, but it doesn鈥檛 have to be.聽Follow these tips, and, as always, keep in mind UMGC鈥檚聽Career Services聽team聽is here to help you plan and achieve career success.聽Visit聽CareerQuest聽to with a 兔子先生Career Advising Specialist聽today.
Rhoda聽Smackum聽is a聽manager in the Office of聽Career Services and Alumni Relations at University of Maryland聽Global Campus. She has approximately 28,000 hours of work experience in the field of career development. Ms.聽Smackum聽enjoys working collaboratively, in partnership with students and alumni to聽identify career issues, match values with career choices and obtain meaningful work. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Bowie State University and a Bachelor of General Studies degree from the University of Maryland College Park. She is a Certified Master of Career Services (CMCS) and an Associate Certified Career Coach.
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