This week our lecture was from Helen McCarron and Claire Butler, from the careers and employability services. They came to give us a brief introduction on working in freelance, and becoming self-employed after our time at university is over, with their aim for the end of the lecture being we are all aware of their services and the support they provide – from starting your own business to providing workshops and funding. Workshops that include business planning, sales pitching, book keeping and trademarking.
They started off by showing us some statistics, from the Creative Skillset Workforce Report 2014, two of which were that 30% of people working in creative media are freelance, and 67% in audio, sound and music. They did a short quiz with us, just to see what our knowledge was currently on things such as taxes and the dates involved in regards to paying tax, and the level of income you have to reach to pay it. From this they did mention the importance of always keeping track of all your payslips; don’t throw them away, keep them filed correctly for the year so if you ever have any problems with HR revenue, you will make life a lot easier for yourself. Also, if you get business expenses from your job, keep those receipts as well, from petrol usage to business phone usage. In regards to the pros and cons of self-employment, pros are; freedom – a flexible work schedule, you are your own boss. Variety in projects – you will never be stuck in a rut of doing the same thing day in and day out, and this way you will build an impressive, diverse portfolio. As for cons they include the main one, uncertainty – nothing will ever be guaranteed, the future isn’t set in stone. But on the flip side of this it may become hard for you to switch off, as it will constantly be like you are taking your work home with you. Not only that but the initial start up costs, and no security – being self-employed means you will never get holiday or sick pay, which may stop you from having hardly any breaks throughout the year, and battling through any illness to stay afloat.
This lecture meant nothing towards my own personal audio project, but it did start to make me think about the possibility of being self-employed; I have always seen myself moving into a company of some sort, but seeing how high the percentages are of those that end up in self-employment after university brought me to some kind of reality. It is comforting hearing the level, and widespread, of support they provide us students when coming towards the end of our degrees, and the possibilities that are out there.
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