I became a freelancer when my job offer was rescinded. It helped me land a full-time role, but the insecurity is stressful.

Ben Chipman said freelance work made him a better corporate employee. 

I fell into freelancing by accident as a college student. I started at Duke University in 2019, where I helped launch their creator economy programs.

I was a content creator on LinkedIn and TikTok already, so understood the creator space. I hosted an event at Duke with Serena Kerrigan, an influencer and alum. During the event, I became friends with her creative strategist, whom I shadowed at work in 2021. She helped me learn how to make content in line with digital trends and build an audience.

I began cold-contacting creators on LinkedIn, offering social media management and content management and landed some freelance clients while studying.

My grad job offer was rescinded

Even though I was already freelancing, I planned to work in a corporate job after university. The culture at Duke was focused on becoming a lawyer, doctor, or consultant, and I internalized those expectations.

I completed an internship at LinkedIn in the summer between my junior and senior years in 2022. I learned so much. At the end of 2022, they offered me a graduate job on their business leadership program. I spent my whole final year thinking I had a job lined up at the end of college, so I didn’t apply for others.

I graduated in May 2023. That same month LinkedIn told me my job offer had been rescinded because the program was sunsetted. The tech job recession threw me and many of my classmates for a loop. I felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me.

I was forced to go into freelancing full-time in August instead.

Freelancing was difficult at first

My freelance work had provided my “fun money” at university. When it became my only income, it was a shock. I’d planned to move to San Francisco for the LinkedIn job. Instead, I moved home to the Boston suburbs, which wasn’t an easy adjustment.

I was at least grateful that LinkedIn told me my job was rescinded. It made me focus on figuring out what I was doing. Many of my peers had deferred job offers. I knew I had to bet on myself and figure out how to get more experience under my belt.

I didn’t have a hard time finding clients

I reached out to creators I’d worked with in university, and Kerrigan’s creative strategist put me in touch with a few people. I’d ask if I could pitch them for projects and help them strategize. o help me get a foot in the door, I said I would take a small percentage of brand deals instead of a retainer.

I reached out on LinkedIn to old mentors and people I respected in the creator economy industry saying I could work with them in whatever capacity.

My first freelance clients were influencers. It was a good time in the market for freelancers because fewer companies were hiring full-time employees, and there was a lot of investment in the creator economy.

There was a big appetite for contract work. I didn’t have a hard time finding clients.

I liked the flexibility and variety

The bulk of my work was with startups, including Canopy, an app for creators. I was involved in several different projects for them. I led influencer marketing campaigns, ran their newsletter, and helped launch their podcast.

I enjoyed the flexibility. I like getting up early at 6:30 a.m. and working for a few hours, taking a long lunch, doing a yoga class, and coming back to work afterward. I traveled, staying with friends in Lima, Peru, and working remotely in Madrid for three months.

Financial insecurity was stressful

There were things I didn’t like about freelancing.

I’d be nervous when one contract ended and I didn’t know when the next one was coming. Within two weeks, I’d usually have an email in my inbox for another job.

The overwhelming reason I stopped freelancing was because of financial insecurity. It was hard to deal with. In the first six months, I was very stressed about money. I didn’t want to live at home but I couldn’t afford to move out with the high cost of living and rent prices.

I also wanted the chance to learn new things. Freelancers are hired for their expertise and to solve a problem. It was hard to learn new skills with some clients. Companies have more budget for supporting their employees’ continued education.

I also wanted to see for myself the caliber of work expected by Fortune 500 companies. Working with startups, there is so much to do and it doesn’t necessarily go through the same process as a larger company.

I got a corporate job

I first heard about my current job, which is commerce partnerships for NBC Universal, in January. I met my current manager while at college when I was freelancing for a startup. We’d meet up a couple of times a year to catch up and talk about my career goals. They told me to look out for a role on their team.

I applied in February and went through rounds of interviews remotely from Madrid. I heard I got the job in April and started it in May, a year after graduating. I moved to New York and started working in the office three days a week.

Although I liked doing my lunchtime yoga class as a freelancer, having set hours works for me. It’s nice to have colleagues to speak to at the water cooler and over coffee.

When I was a freelancer, I used ChatGPT as my manager. I would tell it, “Act as a senior content strategist at X firm” and ask questions. Having a real person as a manager to ask is refreshing. I like having that personal perspective.

But, in a big organization, people’s roles and jobs are more clearly defined. As a freelancer, seeing a project through from the initial idea to the final product made me feel like I had more ownership.

I learned a lot from freelancing but I wouldn’t recommend it to grads

I’d go back to being a freelancer in the future. Since my first job offer was rescinded, I’ve been in the mindset that I have to bet on myself. But I want to expand my skill set first to charge clients more.

I learned more as a freelancer than I think I would’ve in an entry-level role. Knowing how to manage my workload and come up with ideas for companies has helped me in my corporate job. Still, I wouldn’t recommend it as a route straight out of college.

Wages aren’t keeping up with the rising cost of living and I’m seeing more Gen Z peers take on portfolio careers, where they do freelancing on the side for some extra money to keep afloat.

People now are freelancing because they have to.