6 Reasons You Should Become A Design Freelancer In College
75% of freelancers are happy with their work and wouldn’t choose any other form. This statistic tells us a lot about how freelancers are satisfied with their work and prefer it over other work types. But what does it mean for you?
It means that you, as a college student, can also consider freelancing. We’ll not talk about general freelancing in this blog but about freelancing for design students. It will be different from the general one.
You may be thinking, “Why become a freelance designer when I can become a designer in a company after graduation?”
We know this is a common question that students have in mind. We’ll answer this question in today’s blog. We’ll tell you all about becoming a design freelancer in college. So, sit tight and get ready for a blast of information.
Let’s begin.
Identify Which Design Career To Choose
When you’re in college, you don’t have a very good idea about which design career you must choose after graduation. Everything in designing (logo design, website design, and social media design) can seem amazing fields. And there is no doubt that all of these are amazing fields. But you can only choose one to two.
Moreover, the fields you’re interested in now may not be the ones you want to pursue a professional career in. Don’t get us wrong because we feel a person should have expertise in a single field and avoid becoming a jack of all trades but master of none.
We know this may be a lot of information to process. But we assure you that when you start freelancing, identifying all these things will become pretty easy.
Get Practical Experience
In college classrooms, you learn about design and everything new happening in it in theory. This is not how the real world works. You can be exceptional in the theory subjects, but that won’t be helpful if you can’t create an actual design.
When you freelance, all of it changes. You start experiencing how clients ask you to change the design. You also start understanding what exactly clients want you to design. Both these things can be pretty frustrating, but you become better at designing when you prepare for it before entering the actual job.
Initially, students take some time to create a design. But with time, they become faster, and we feel becoming faster is essential because designs have to be created in a limited time in the real world.
Know The Latest Trends In Design
When you start working as a design freelancer, you discover all the latest things happening in the industry. You not only know about them but also work on them. When you know all the latest trends in theory, you can’t really understand the concepts clearly.
We know when you’re freelancing, you’ll initially have a hard time understanding how to do the latest work in design. The clients will ask you to do the work before a deadline. It will be challenging, but you’ll come out with more industry knowledge when you successfully complete the job.
You’ll Earn More Money
During your college years, you’ll require money to live a comfortable life. Because of this, most students take up different kinds of odd jobs to earn whatever they can. But most never think that freelancing can help them earn way more than most part-time jobs.
It is easy for you to start freelancing when studying design because you have cleared most of your doubts in the classroom and from the professors. If you find some freelance job that you don’t understand, you can ask your professors, and they’ll gladly tell you everything about it. The chances are that your professor will also appreciate you for working while studying.
You’ll Learn To Manage Money
Jumping straight from your high school to college life means you have zero to little knowledge of how to manage money. Though you may not realize it initially, it will play a major role in how you manage your money. You can check any successful person’s interview, and they’ll surely say that everyone must learn how to manage their money.
It is a life skill, and we feel everyone must learn it. Those who don’t always have a problem remembering where their money went. For those people, any amount of money is never enough. We don’t want you to face such a situation when you’re already tight on budget.
Although you can learn money managing tips from Google and YouTube, we recommend you learn it practically by dealing with actual clients who assign you the work. That’s because no theory can ever beat practical knowledge. And when you learn practically, be prepared to fail and not understand some things initially. It’s natural and happens with everyone because most of what we’re taught about money is false.
Once you learn this essential skill, you’ll benefit in more ways you can imagine throughout your life.
You Identify The Value You Offer
Most people underestimate their skills and therefore undercharge. It is a common problem with freelancers from developing countries. We say developing countries because the prices of things in these countries are low, and they expect to earn less. But freelancing opens the global market for them, meaning they can charge the rates designers in developed countries charge.
Even designers with less skill are earning more than college students who excel at their work. The problem is what we discussed in the above paragraph.
The solution to this problem is simple.
- Observe the freelance platforms for the top freelancers in your field.
- Look at the rates they charge for designs.
- Compare your work with them.
- Start charging at least half the amount top freelancers charge.
- After building a repo on the platforms, start increasing the rates.
When you increase the rates for your design service, people realize that you’re not overcharging because you have reviews to back them up. So, do it without worrying about losing clients because people who want good work will choose you, no matter the price you charge.
Conclusion
Becoming a design freelancer in college is one of the best decisions you can make for your life in & after college. It is because of the many benefits we discussed in the blog.
We know many students feel it’s difficult to juggle between studies, assignments, and freelancing. No one can deny that it definitely is. But don’t let the difficult time for some time let you stop from freelancing. No good thing can be achieved without working hard and facing difficulties.
We tried to include the most prominent benefits of working as a design freelancer in college. After reading this blog, we’re sure you’ll be encouraged to create an account on any of the freelance platforms.
If you liked reading this blog, share it with your designer friends.
