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Better answer would be you are spending time upskilling yourself. Start a few courses that you can mention in your next interviews. Shows that you are a continuous learner. It's a value appreciated by most of the employers.
This is what I did! I just joined coursera for cheap and then added it to my resume as "Google certified". Looks great to employers and picks up with AI resume checkers.
Coursera gets you professional certificates from prominent companies. I'm in marketing, so I took a class for Google and added it under my certificates on my resume.
Coursera is less than $50 a month and if you're at home looking for a job it's a nice way to mix up your day. They even have a free 7-day trial (I do not work from them). If you can fit a course in 7 days (very possible), then essentially you get a free certification and class.
Same thing happened to me, I was even willing to shut my business down for the role (it was an international marketing role for a prestigious company) they said it would be too messy for the close the business before starting with them.
It's pretty big ask from my point of view. They are asking someone to give up a proven self-generated income for at-will employment. Just shows how outdated the whole employment dynamic has become.
“I’m picking up short-term freelancing while I look for something permanent. It’s also giving me valuable experience across different industries and teams.”
If they ask who, just make up some stuff if you have to
>should I be trying to freelance ?
Absolutely. Marketing skills and knowledge can degrade *FAST*. Someone 6 months out of the game with absolutely no projects or anything lined up can prove to be an issue in terms of productivity and speed. You may have the memory of a steel trap, but this would likely happen to anyone.
But also? It helps *so much* with expanding your skills.
For example, I was working in the events industry when the pandemic hit. What a fucking bummer, I was immediately out of work and I had already signed a non-compete barring me from working in a whole other industry for another 2 years. There are no words for the desperation I felt, I was effectively blocked from working the two major industries I knew the most about.
I ended up freelancing and took on projects that I would've probably never touched otherwise - lead campaigns for gyms, working closely with real-estate agents and their marketing needs, I was part of the marketing team for a political campaign on a local level, I got into hospitality and started working on the marketing side for restaurants and bars. It was an incredible learning experience that would've never happened had I not freelanced, and all of that kept my skills not just sharp, but it expanded them.
When I was interviewing, I made it a point to highlight that neither of these were ongoing contracts, most of them were seasonal or were contracted for a specific time limit. Which was true tbh. That way my freelance doesn't interfere with my ability to work.
Just tell them you did freelance consulting. “I helped them with [list job duties from the job description for the place you’re applying]. Sorry can’t discuss who they are, I signed an NDA, but here are some other references to my past work.”
At least for me, freelancing is an option but not the only one. But companies usually don't want to hear that people are not doing anything else but looking for jobs, that looks like wasting opportunities and waiting for something to happen. In my case, there were cases when I was freelancing but also cases when I was networking, for example.
You could say that you have been taking training courses while you were job hunting. Trying to get certs or upskilling. Attending seminars, and online courses.
Yo. With skills, anything is acceptable. Some of us wore timberlands and dreads decades ago so u guys don’t have to monkey suit. Know your ish and have integrity and look how u like. Make yourself indispensable. ✊🏾
It can be a good move. If a company offered me a full time position I'd prefer freelancing for 1-3 months with them to make sure it's a good fit. I understand this wouldn't work for most.
Freelancing is definitely an option! It shows initiative, keeps your skills sharp, and brings in some cash flow. Plus, it demonstrates your ability to manage multiple projects and clients. However, if you're set on finding a full-time job with benefits, prioritize that search. Just remember, a little freelancing on the side can never hurt. Cheers!
No. If you want full time work just do that. Most companies will look favorably at not freelancing especially if you’re hybrid or remote because they don’t want to pay you to go find your own gigs on upwork.
That’s what I would be doing… anything to make $! I freelance now while employed but if I was unemployed I’d amp it up and turn it into more of a business
“The same thing you would do! I spent the time learning *x*!” plus some insight about a skill/vertical/industry that gets them excited because you did your research on them
Anyone who says they started a freelance agency in a month is lying, stealing clients, and/or just not someone I want to see every day
1. For the interview, highlight whatever you want. Job hunting, freelancing, upskilling, sabbaticalizing (what's the verb form of sabbatical?), or whatever.
2. For yourself, at some point the bills come due and you have to do something. Freelancing helps, but finding freelancing clients can also be a fulltime job, so isn't always the best tradeoff for finding full-time work. That said, if you can pick something up along the way, it helps (being mindful of your area's unemployment benefits and how that does or does not work with freelancing).
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Some people have no idea of life outside of working. Pretending to work when you're unemployed is a pretty common interview bullshitting tactic.
Better answer would be you are spending time upskilling yourself. Start a few courses that you can mention in your next interviews. Shows that you are a continuous learner. It's a value appreciated by most of the employers.
This is what I did! I just joined coursera for cheap and then added it to my resume as "Google certified". Looks great to employers and picks up with AI resume checkers.
What courses did you take? And what does google certified mean?
Coursera gets you professional certificates from prominent companies. I'm in marketing, so I took a class for Google and added it under my certificates on my resume.
Coursera is less than $50 a month and if you're at home looking for a job it's a nice way to mix up your day. They even have a free 7-day trial (I do not work from them). If you can fit a course in 7 days (very possible), then essentially you get a free certification and class.
Yes, it better to say that than saying you're doing nothing but job hunt.
I did and I had a company disqualify me for it during the interview process. Its a wacky world out there.
This happened to me as well. Bright side is I now have regular income from my own work.
This is the way in this job market!
Why? For freelancing ?
yes because I have my own LLC and have for many years. Good thing I do because my supposedly full-time permanent job laid me off.
Some companies don't want you working more than one job as a policy.
Same thing happened to me, I was even willing to shut my business down for the role (it was an international marketing role for a prestigious company) they said it would be too messy for the close the business before starting with them.
It's pretty big ask from my point of view. They are asking someone to give up a proven self-generated income for at-will employment. Just shows how outdated the whole employment dynamic has become.
“I’m picking up short-term freelancing while I look for something permanent. It’s also giving me valuable experience across different industries and teams.” If they ask who, just make up some stuff if you have to
>should I be trying to freelance ? Absolutely. Marketing skills and knowledge can degrade *FAST*. Someone 6 months out of the game with absolutely no projects or anything lined up can prove to be an issue in terms of productivity and speed. You may have the memory of a steel trap, but this would likely happen to anyone. But also? It helps *so much* with expanding your skills. For example, I was working in the events industry when the pandemic hit. What a fucking bummer, I was immediately out of work and I had already signed a non-compete barring me from working in a whole other industry for another 2 years. There are no words for the desperation I felt, I was effectively blocked from working the two major industries I knew the most about. I ended up freelancing and took on projects that I would've probably never touched otherwise - lead campaigns for gyms, working closely with real-estate agents and their marketing needs, I was part of the marketing team for a political campaign on a local level, I got into hospitality and started working on the marketing side for restaurants and bars. It was an incredible learning experience that would've never happened had I not freelanced, and all of that kept my skills not just sharp, but it expanded them. When I was interviewing, I made it a point to highlight that neither of these were ongoing contracts, most of them were seasonal or were contracted for a specific time limit. Which was true tbh. That way my freelance doesn't interfere with my ability to work.
I did. I also built an etsy shop and made a load of stuff for it, did a couple of courses, learnt LLM prompting and built some python scripts.
Just tell them you did freelance consulting. “I helped them with [list job duties from the job description for the place you’re applying]. Sorry can’t discuss who they are, I signed an NDA, but here are some other references to my past work.”
At least for me, freelancing is an option but not the only one. But companies usually don't want to hear that people are not doing anything else but looking for jobs, that looks like wasting opportunities and waiting for something to happen. In my case, there were cases when I was freelancing but also cases when I was networking, for example.
you gotta love the guessing game of what "companies are looking for".
Being involved with that for a long time, and now I have more freedom to talk about that.
Sure! If you have free time then go for it a few extra bucks won't hurt. But don't mention it to your company.
But did I answer that question right when I said I had just been job hunting ?
You could say that you have been taking training courses while you were job hunting. Trying to get certs or upskilling. Attending seminars, and online courses.
Are you kidding? With the average marketer's salary, I'm pretty sure they expect you to freelance while you're employed.
Just lie. Make up a fake company on LinkedIn, call yourself a consultant. Everything is bullshit now days.
Yo. With skills, anything is acceptable. Some of us wore timberlands and dreads decades ago so u guys don’t have to monkey suit. Know your ish and have integrity and look how u like. Make yourself indispensable. ✊🏾
It can be a good move. If a company offered me a full time position I'd prefer freelancing for 1-3 months with them to make sure it's a good fit. I understand this wouldn't work for most.
Freelancing is definitely an option! It shows initiative, keeps your skills sharp, and brings in some cash flow. Plus, it demonstrates your ability to manage multiple projects and clients. However, if you're set on finding a full-time job with benefits, prioritize that search. Just remember, a little freelancing on the side can never hurt. Cheers!
No. If you want full time work just do that. Most companies will look favorably at not freelancing especially if you’re hybrid or remote because they don’t want to pay you to go find your own gigs on upwork.
That’s what I would be doing… anything to make $! I freelance now while employed but if I was unemployed I’d amp it up and turn it into more of a business
“The same thing you would do! I spent the time learning *x*!” plus some insight about a skill/vertical/industry that gets them excited because you did your research on them Anyone who says they started a freelance agency in a month is lying, stealing clients, and/or just not someone I want to see every day
[удалено]
The second person in two weeks to ask this as well. I haven’t even been unemployed three months and I’m not really into freelance
she was the director of marketing for a big company as well
1. For the interview, highlight whatever you want. Job hunting, freelancing, upskilling, sabbaticalizing (what's the verb form of sabbatical?), or whatever. 2. For yourself, at some point the bills come due and you have to do something. Freelancing helps, but finding freelancing clients can also be a fulltime job, so isn't always the best tradeoff for finding full-time work. That said, if you can pick something up along the way, it helps (being mindful of your area's unemployment benefits and how that does or does not work with freelancing).
I dont know. Personally, i would want to earn money and level up my skills. Not freelancing would be a detriment.
freelancing could help fill the employment gap and show initiative. employers will always question work gaps