What is a Freelancer?

Today, there are a growing number of freelancers around the world. It is even regarded as one of the most sought after job because of so many reasons.  Freelancing is a great way to work from home or anywhere convenient for a contractor. As long as he has a laptop or a computer with internet connection he can work in any place of his choice. A freelancer’s work includes but is not limited to writing, data entry, proofreading, web design, computer programming and translating.  Other freelance sites now also cater customer service support and administrative assistance to employers or buyers.  So a freelancer is often defined as someone who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. Usually, they are just working in contractual basis that’s why they are referred to as contractors and not as employees. 

A freelancer’s career oftentimes begins with an agency wherein the freelancer has a contact.  He gets hired in contractual basis and later on gets another contract related to his expertise. Many contractors who have daytime jobs with minimum salary leave their employment because they earn more in freelancing. Some finds this job very fulfilling both in financial and convenience-wise aspect. 

For employers or buyers, there are also some advantages of this freelancing job. They use freelancers in a particular work that only requires a short time or a onetime project. With that, the company has a lesser responsibility in hiring a full time employee and don’t have to provide benefits that a regular employee has. 

There are a lot of freelancing sites available through the internet. This is the most common way of finding a project for freelancers. They create an account, apply for a job posted by an employer and get hired. The site usually charges the employers a small amount for using their system and the contractor is paid through the site. This is more convenient for both the employer and contractor because the site manages the staff time and payment method. So all they have to do is complete the task assigned for them and wait for the payday and usually payment is done weekly.