People have been doing remote work for clients without getting into an employee and employer kind of association for quite some time now. The term “freelancer” was coined to represent this way of working freely without any long term contractual associations or being bound by a 9 to 5 working environment. And statistics say that there are more and more of freelancers every year. At first, freelancing was perceived as an additional source of income, or part time work. But now, the situation is changing and people are already leaving their usual place of work. They leave their jobs to make money on the Internet without leaving their home and without depriving themselves of comfort.

And this kind of work is especially comfortable for students, who often need money to fund their studies or manage regular expenses but do not have enough time to find a full-time job.
However, freelance jobs also have their disadvantages. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of this way of working so that you can decide if you really want to be a freelancer while being a student.

Advantages of Freelance Jobs for Students

A person working online does not actually have a boss. That is, no one monitors and interferes with the performance of his work. He chooses how much time he will work per day. Also, a freelancer can work even at night or any time of their choosing.

Freedom of Schedule

An online worker does not need to get up early to work in order to get to the office since he works at home. This is a very important aspect since the distance from home to work is often very large in big cities. It takes several hours, which can be spent on more enjoyable activities. All that a freelancer needs to do is make himself a cup of coffee and turn on the computer. After this, he can start working.

Earnings

A freelancer earns as much as his work really costs: no one sets boundaries for him, he can set a price himself. And talented people can even save some money and create a business on the Internet. But even without a business, freelancers’ earnings are not shabby. You can easily earn up to $100 per day, provided you possess skills that people are looking for.

Also, a student does not even need to have work experience, he can just come to the freelance exchange markets and start making money. And you should know that people are not discriminated against on the basis of gender, appearance or any other features. All that is required of them is to be professionals in their field and be responsible for their work.

Cons of Freelancing as a Student

All of the above make people leave their jobs and become freelancers. However, there are negatives in this kind of job as well. And it is worth considering them in detail.

Studies can get Neglected

While freelancing as a student has many benefits and provides easy means to earn money that can go into funding. You still need to be careful. When I was a student, I enjoyed my web design freelance job a lot. It was more interesting than my studies. Once, I got many orders and I was working 10 hours a day. As a result, I could not deal with my assignments and I had to look for a custom service to pay someone to write my essay. So, do not be like me and careful with your schedule and please do not get too excited about your job. You still need to write some papers.

Hard to Start

In most cases, no one will teach a person how to be a freelancer in detail. You can only learn some information superficially. Successful people in this area are unlikely to share their experiences. Therefore, the journey of a freelancer is treading the path of learning and making mistakes, which cannot be avoided. However, at this stage, you can understand whether you really want to do this seriously or if it is only temporary. But still, if you choose an easy to start skill set like writing, or for example essay or any other types of paper writing, then your chances of making mistakes get minimized a bit, because it all comes down to your skills of writing and use of language.

Scammers

In addition, a huge number of scammers are operating on the Internet today. Therefore, each freelancing platform that offers various types of freelancing work must be checked by reading reviews of it’s users. You should also remember, that you can not earn quickly without making any effort on the Internet. Easy ways are often a walk on the edge of being helpful and honest or trying to game your clients.
And you should also never trust customers who pay the total amount after you finish the work. Unless you know you are protected by a payment gateway like escrow, which is often used by some of the major Freelancing platforms. Most often, after you complete the order, they are no longer there to respond to your payment related queries.

Discipline

Freelancers are usually undisciplined. When working in the office, the employee is mostly under the control of their manager. And while there are types of controlling that are somewhere near the edge of being toxic, but yet there are still rules and guidelines that help an undisciplined worker work better.
A freelancer is free from bosses but also they are their own boss, and hence can often lack in self-discipline. This can often turn out to be one of the major hindrances for progressing for many freelancers. Having tried themselves in this field, they again end up needing to go to an office, where they will be following rules and learning discipline.
However, this completely depends on the individual in question and can vary between one person to another. A person who is good with self discipline in their regular life will also be good at working on their own. While, a person who lacks discipline in other areas of their life might end up struggling when trying to keep pace with freelancing work.

Concluding Thoughts

Freelancing for students is definitely something that offers far more advantages than any disadvantages. As long as a person knows something they can offer for work, they should be able to find clients who are looking for that kind of work.
Writing is one of the easiest of those, while designing and editing images or videos is another. Not to forget, with the advent of platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok, the possibilities of creating some type of content that attracts an audience have increased many fold. The future keeps looking bright for those who want to work from their own place and at their own time.