University Graduates and Digital Freelancing: Benefits and Challenges

This report provides an overview of digital freelancing as a self-employment avenue for university graduates, examining its benefits and challenges. It addresses the nature of freelancing, its advantages such as flexible hours, control over projects, and the ability to retain profits, as well as its disadvantages including income instability, potential for exploitation through free labor, and the difficulty in separating work from personal life. The research highlights the growing trend of freelancing in the digital economy, the importance of networking, and the need for freelancers to proactively seek work and manage client relationships. It concludes that despite the challenges, many graduates are drawn to freelancing due to the opportunities and positive impact of technology, emphasizing the need for support and resources to help freelancers thrive.

Benefits and challenges of digital freelance work for university graduates.
INTRODUCTION
This study is meant to provide an overview of the freelancing field by students who are
university graduates as a way of self-employment. It also provides the challenges and benefits
that come with digital freelancing. The research questions covered are as follows; what is
freelancing and what does it entail? What are the benefits and challenges of freelancing? It also
purposes to create an awareness of it for further research. In the rise of freelancing in an
uncertain economy, I did my research so as to uncover key insights into the freelance life which
included the average working hours, daily rates and downtime up to main challenges they face
and motivations should one decide to embark on a freelancing career.
Working in the digital economy is viewed as providing free labor by Terranova. It is seen as a
growing trend and yet it is undervalued. Terranova argues that free labor in the digital economy
needs to be analyzed carefully. People are being exploited without them knowing. (Terranova,
2000). Duffy also argues that some creative works by people are considered free labor and these
include creating YouTube videos such as parodies or commenting on TV shows. These activities
are not compensated and hence people are exploited. Online labor has also removed the notion of
gender in employment or work. Ladies are more involved with working online and they are
happy to work in the digital economy. (Duffy, 2015).
In 2017, Freelance Market Insights report had some key findings Key findings after doing a
survey on freelancers. First it was found that 2 in 3 freelancers are likely to spend at least 10% of
their year in downtime. Secondly, it was found that 1 in 2 assume that they are financially better
off as freelancers than they would be in a permanent role. Again, in its finding, it was discovered
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that the average working week was between 31 to 40 hours and lastly the disparity in daily rates
between the genders. (Vaswani, 2015). According to a study undertaken in 2013, 51% of the
total workforce worked from home while 28% worked while travelling.
The growing computer technology and the use of internet has brought a lot of positive
transformation around the globe. There are various websites which offer tutoring online and this
is a platform for people to register and become tutors themselves. Some the emerging industries
and work include Airbnb, Netflix and uber among others. It is presumed that these industries
instead of employees doing everything for the customer, the customer does almost everything by
themselves with no pay (Ritzer and Jurgenson, 2010). Also, social media has become a platform
where different people meet as well as seeking for jobs through networking with people who
have the same interests as yours. In as much as it has its benefits, the internet has also some
negative impacts which some people have chosen to do evil in the society. But the good side has
made people to look over the negative side and focus on what benefit it has for the greater good.
We will look at freelancing whereby it has become a platform where people can earn a living
especially the young people. To answer the questions raised about freelancing, we began by
defining what it is. What is freelancing? Freelancing means working as a self- employed person
and not being committed to one employer. Many graduates have turned to digital freelancing if
employment opportunities are not there for them and most of them have built a name for
themselves and are doing quite good. (masters, 2015)
However, freelancing is not that easy since it has its benefits and challenges. To begin with,
freelancing offers flexible hours and one can work whenever he /she wants. One gets to choose
their own hours for working. This offers one the flexibility to do other things. This is the reason
why graduates take up freelancing, if one wants to further his/her studies, they have all the time
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to juggle between freelancing and attending their classes without sacrificing one for the other.
Being a freelancer, work can be done at hours that are productive, not necessarily during the
regular business hours. (“Benefits of Going Freelance in IT World”, 2015)
Secondly, there is the control over jobs and clients by the freelancer. This is because if you are
working for another person, therefore you cannot choose who you want to work with. One ends
up with being tied to a rude and unprofessional client and nothing can be done at all. But being a
freelancer, it gives you the freedom of choosing who you want to work with. Sometimes people
don’t connect at all because of their personalities or a business, and because of that one can skip
that chance and get another opportunity hence retaining a good relationship. Another benefit that
comes with being a freelancer is that one works wherever they want. Whether one prefers to
work from the comfort of a coffee shop or a hotel while on vacation, nobody can question them.
One does not need to be in an office or at home, they are no longer confined to that. One just has
to choose an environment that works best for him/her. It could be an open place like a park or
just in ones living room wearing pajamas.
We all want to be our own boss. This is another benefit. One is not answerable to anyone else but
only to people they are working with as their clients and themselves. The beauty of it all is that
no one is hanging over you or micromanages you, but you do things your own way. You end up
making all the tough decisions alone. You become responsible and in control over everything.
Lastly, you get to keep all the profit. This is because one is no longer working to earn a flat rate
even if the projects to be completed are many. It feels good to keep all that you have earned by
saving the whole profit earned from your clients after working on their projects. To add to that,
you can use that money for self - improvement and for your business expansion.
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Working online also provides a platform under which people can showcase their creativity.
Bloggers can use their blogs to show their products and hence create market for them. This is due
to the large number of followers they have viewing their blogs. With all the advantages that
comes with freelancing, it also has its challenges.
First of all, People provide free labor without them knowing. This amounts to exploitation by the
various industries in the digital freelancing world. It is viewed as capitalist exploitation. This can
be seen as the biggest challenge in the digital freelancing work.
Secondly, with freelancing, there is no steady or reliable workloads. This only means that one’s
income is inconsistent or unstable. Therefore, you have to look for other jobs to do so as to
supplement whatever you are earning when low season hits the freelancing field. This is because
when one is employed by someone else, the pay is stable or fixed at the end of each month.
Third, being your own boss, working from home or anywhere else sometimes makes it difficult
for people to differentiate between work time and personal life. This is because some people
overwork themselves thereby forgetting to create time for their hobbies. Thirdly, Work does not
come very easily. Freelancing means one is tasked with the responsibility of looking for people
to work for and also projects. Some online jobs come with bidding hence those who have been in
the industry for long and have made the name for themselves end up getting the jobs. Therefore,
you have to market yourself so that you can get in the industry and have clients for yourself that
can trust you with their projects. If one is employed, clients are probably handed to you, but at
freelancing, you are responsible and in charge of finding all your clients and projects. In addition
to that, sometimes freelancers are not paid. One is at a risk of not being paid. In such situations,
it is always good to ask for down payment or partial payment after negotiating price with a
client. People new in the industry end up being frustrated before they learn the art of asking for
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down payments. This is meant to create trust between the freelancer and client. Lastly, most
traditional jobs come with employer benefits. A good example is health benefit which has
become very expensive over time. In addition to that, starting you own freelancing job means
that one is no longer legible for paid sick days or has vacation time that he/she can use. With
freelancing, a day counts and everyday one does not work it means that there is no money for
you. You don’t get paid at all.
CONCLUSION
This research confirms that with so many graduates unemployed, they have managed to overlook
the challenges that come with freelancing and have focused on the benefits that come with it so
that they can better their lives thanks to the positive impact of technology.
Therefore, I conclude that freelancers need a more frequent supply of work, a community of
other freelancers and support from employers or recruitment consultancies to help their careers
flourish, whether that be through networking and training opportunities or general career advice.
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REFERENCE
Benefits Of Going Freelance In IT World - Digital Edge. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.digitaledge.org/benefits-of-going-freelance-in-it-world/
Duffy, B. (2015). The romance of work: Gender and aspirational labour in the digital culture
industries. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(4), pp.441-457.
freelancing!, 9. (2018). NAKAMA Global | Nine Benefits of Freelancing. Retrieved from
https://www.nakamaglobal.com/news/9-benefits-of-freelancing/27954/
Is Freelancing The Future Of Work? - Digital Marketing Agency in Kenya. (2015). Retrieved
from https://digital4africa.com/2015/09/19/is-freelancing-the-future-of-work/
Masters, D. (2015). Entrepreneur or Freelancer - What's the Difference?. Retrieved from
https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/entrepreneur-or-freelancer-whats-the-difference--cms-
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Terranova, T. (2000). Free Labor: PRODUCING CULTURE FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY.
Social Text, 18(2 63), pp.33-58.
Vaswani, J., & Vaswani, J. (2015). Freelancing in the Era of Digital Marketing. Retrieved from
https://www.teninnovate.com/blog/2015/4/11/freelancing-in-the-era-of-digital-marketing
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