How To Future-Proof Your Freelance Skills For The Long-Term

The face of work is changing as we speak. Driverless cars are poised to replace gig drivers. Drones are taking over delivery jobs. And a huge amount of manual labor tasks are said to be replaced by intelligent automation. Freelancers, especially the knowledge workers, may think that these titanic changes will not have much impact on their employability prospects. However, data indicates otherwise. Per Upwork Quarterly Skills Index , released last year, 70% of the fastest-growing freelance skills were completely new to the index. The World Economic Forum report also identified that in many global markets and industries, the most in-demand jobs and specialties did not exist ten or even five years ago. They also expect the pace of change to accelerate even further. If you want to remain employable in the long-term and get a steady stream of jobs , you should not get too comfortable with what you have now. Below are several actionable strategies that will help you ensure that your freelance skillset is up-to-date and will remain so in the future. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE Keep tabs on the emerging skills and tech tools Upwork, LinkedIn, Glassdoor and several other organizations publish the most in-demand skills and jobs indexes on an annual basis. Be sure to check those out. Acknowledging the change and remaining in-the-know is the first step towards ensuring that your career is moving in the right direction. Lifelong learning is a must The future of work will not be about degrees. It will increasingly become about the skills you have. And few (if any schools) can provide you with a comprehensive skill set that will withstand the impact of new tech disruptions on your career field. Your learning process should no longer be limited to some selected period of your life. It must become an ongoing process. In fact, freelancers are nearly twice as likely to re-skill over the course of their career, when compared to traditional employers. And that is a major advantage for sure. Cultivating the habit of lifelong learning is not that challenging at all. There’s an abundance of free and paid e-learning options available for pretty much any freelance niche: Coursera , Suffolk University and many others . But still, you’ll need to make some targeted effort to embrace the learning process and make that habit stick. Below are some helpful tips for that: Be committed: Block off specific times on your calendar and dedicate those to self-development. Create a learning plan and stick to it. And if you are having a hard time, find an accountability partner of a mentor that will give you that much-needed kick to keep going. Organize your learning: Plan a suitable method for storing your learning materials, notes and aids. Create summaries of what you have learned and put the newly acquired skills into practice. Repeat: Go through the studied information more than once as the process of repeating helps transfer knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. You may no longer need […]

Click here to view original web page at www.forbes.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/how-to-future-proof-your-freelance-skills-for-the-long-term/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-future-proof-your-freelance-skills-for-the-long-term
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

Working With Freelancers or Other Remote Staff: 13 Rules to Remember

It can be a challenge to keep team members up-to-date on changes as well as feeling connected with the rest of the team. To help ease your communication pains, as well as help improve morale, members of the Young Entrepreneur Council answered the following question: What is the most important thing to remember when working with remote staff or freelancers? Here is what they advise: 1. You Need to Establish Clear Rules Make sure to set clear rules and reminders. Before we start a remote day, I always send my team a “remote day checklist.” It includes important reminders such as setting up the workspace, ensuring you have the necessary work tools like charger and Wi-Fi, and a friendly note to message team members when off-line for breaks longer than 5 minutes. These rules are easy to follow and ensure a productive remote day. – Cooper Harris , Klickly 2. Keep Your Employees Motivated The most important thing to remember is that remote staff have a lot of the same needs as physical staff. You have to find ways to keep remote staff engaged, motivated and looking for growth. Instead of just giving remote staff task after task, talk to them like your physical staff (if you have any), and include them in more conversations to keep them in the same atmosphere and mindset as others. – Frederik Bussler , bitgrit Inc. 3. Communicate More Often They need more communication than interoffice workers. You need to stay more in touch so they don’t become disengaged and so they know that their work is important. Sometimes even an informal check in about how things are going, in general, can be effective. – Andrew Schrage , Money Crashers Personal Finance 4. Establish a Reliable Method of Communication When managing a remote staff or freelancer, one of the most important factors is having a reliable way to communicate. It’s important to have a go-to tool for online meetings, video chats, simple chats and email when dealing with different countries and different time zones. With right communication tools, you can communicate clearly and work well together to accomplish team and company goals. – Liam Martin , TimeDoctor.com 5. Focus on Company Culture Remote workers need to feel that they are a part of your team. Efforts to assimilate them in the company culture is a rewarding experience. Make sure that you do not participate in any discriminatory practices based on the employee location. The perks offered should be same for all. Communication and collaboration between remote staff and the existing team is a must for long-term success. – Rahul Varshneya , ResumeSeed 6. Don’t Micromanage Staff Just because your employees work from home doesn’t mean they need you to micromanage their every move. It takes even more trust to run a remote company because you can’t look over your team’s shoulder, but this is better for your company because it establishes the trust that people will get their work done efficiently. Trust your […]

Click here to view original web page at www.business2community.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/working-with-freelancers-or-other-remote-staff-13-rules-to-remember/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=working-with-freelancers-or-other-remote-staff-13-rules-to-remember
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

How to Manage Your Time as a Work-From-Home Freelancer

Being self-employed and working from home come with a staggering amount of freedom. I have a few meetings or calls every week, and I definitely have deadlines, but I mostly set my own schedule and work as much or as little as I want. During the school year, it’s fairly easy to stick to a normal-ish (7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.) schedule, since that’s when my son is at school. In the summer, however, I have a 15-year-old at home, and we have all sorts of travel, day trips, and other non-work activities planned. To make my work goals, I follow a much more rigid procedure than I do during the school year. It’s a system that takes advantage of my flexibility, but also relies on a sort of personal rigidity. Being a work-from-home freelancer offers a lot of flexibility. Image source: Getty Images. Here’s how I balance work and family Over the course of this summer, I have taken three cruises, spent a long weekend in Key West, visited various central-Florida theme parks, and visited two different water parks. In the next few weeks, I have a trip to Connecticut for a wedding, three days in the Bahamas, and two different trips to Orlando (about a three-hour drive from my home in West Palm Beach). To make all of this travel work , I set strict monetary goals for my week and I never let a free moment pass until I hit that goal. That means that if it happens to be a Saturday and I’m not doing something fun, I’m working to bank completed projects (and earned dollars). In addition to front-loading my work week, I also make sure to understand my schedule. For example, I’ll be spending May 1-4 with my son and his cousin at Atlantis, a resort in the Bahamas. It’s full of beaches, a water park, and some really nice pools, so while I will work a few hours a day, I won’t be hitting my normal daily financial goal. To cover for that, I’m doing extra work in the time leading up to that trip. That means working at least partial days during my earlier trip to Connecticut, which requires sacrificing some things I would have liked to do and limits my ability to visit people while there. It’s not an ideal system, but in a summer where I have not had a single week without some sort of travel, it’s the best I can do. I’ve spent weekends working 12-hour days and late nights catching up on work so I could do things my son wanted to do during the day. I’ve been the guy in the cruise ship coffee shop putting in a few early morning hours (probably after some late night fun). You need to set goals It’s important to note that I don’t generally operate this way during the school year. If I want to (or have to) take time off, I make up for it by upping […]

Click here to view original web page at finance.yahoo.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/how-to-manage-your-time-as-a-work-from-home-freelancer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-manage-your-time-as-a-work-from-home-freelancer
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

Times News seeks freelance writers

The Times News is looking for freelance writers to cover meetings and events throughout its circulation area, particularly the following areas: Lehighton, Parryville, East Penn, Weatherly, Northern Lehigh and Palmerton. Interested applicants must be available nights and weekends, have transportation and a camera. Send resumes to mgouger@tnonline.com.

Click here to view original web page at www.tnonline.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/times-news-seeks-freelance-writers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=times-news-seeks-freelance-writers
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

Where to find and hire freelancers (or get a job as a freelancer)

Companies across the world have developed a flexible attitude towards remote workers and freelancers. With skill gaps becoming more dominant, companies often find it difficult to find new hires with the right skills in a short time. Finding and hiring freelancers has become easier with time especially if you know the right places to look for them. The freelancer platforms discussed here are common market places for people looking to find and hire freelancers, and vice-versa, for freelancers looking for jobs. There are several platforms that are great to start your career as a freelancer. With the right skill sets and approach, you will find many projects that suit your taste and also help you earn a good income. In this post, we have listed 33 platforms where you can find freelancers with different skills sets and if you are a freelancer with good skills, you can register on these platforms and earn good money. Table of Contents General Freelancer Platforms These platforms have a broad range of freelancers with different skills sets. Whether you want a developer, writer, salesperson, marketer, SEO specialist, virtual assistant or any other service provider, there are freelancers available on these platforms. If you are a developer, photographer or an individual with a skill set in demand, you can always register on these platforms and find projects that generate interest. Fiverr Fiverr is a good platform to find freelancers for various niches like digital marketing, writing and translation, programming and tech, video and animation and many other niches. Fiverr makes it possible for clients to find freelancers at lower costs. For example, it only allows a fixed price for projects and not hourly rates. The platform offers payment protection and the payment is only released to freelancer after you are happy and pleased with the work and services provided. Upwork A few years back there were two platforms – oDesk and Elance to find and hire freelancers. In 2015, both platforms were combined to create one marketplace which was named Upwork . As a result, Upwork is one of the biggest platforms for people wanting to hire freelancers and also for people who are looking for a job as a freelancer. Currently, there are more than 15 million freelancers registered on Upwork and more than 5 million clients who post more than 3 million jobs each year. You can find freelancers here from every niche. Upwork takes 20% cut from the total project costs as fee at the beginning. It is one of the best places to find freelancers of different skills levels at lower costs. Freelancer Freelancer is similar to Upwork with hundreds of projects available for freelancers at a fixed price or hourly rates. Finding a freelancer on this platform is easy and all you have to do is job posting. Whatever your need, you will always get a freelancer to get the job done- from mobile app development, developer, web design, and product manufacturing or virtual assistants. PeoplePerHour The name of […]

Click here to view original web page at www.supermonitoring.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/where-to-find-and-hire-freelancers-or-get-a-job-as-a-freelancer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=where-to-find-and-hire-freelancers-or-get-a-job-as-a-freelancer
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

The top tech companies hiring part time, remote workers

A blog post published by FlexJobs on Monday is sure to be interesting for tech professionals looking to make some extra money, or add new freelance clients. According to FlexJobs, there are 30 companies to look to first for part time, remote tech work. With the current job world leaning hard on remote, flexible work as the new normal , it is likely tech professionals will work remotely at some point in their careers. Even if you’re not currently looking to add extra income or take on more freelance clients now, this list will be a good one to bookmark: You never know when a bit of extra work will be exactly what you need. SEE: Managing remote workers: A business leader’s guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic) Not all of the organizations in the list are looking for tech professionals: Many are looking for tutors, ESL teachers, and other telecommunication or remote work. Here are five that are specifically looking to hire those with IT, development, and other tech experience. Note: The list includes companies hiring for at most 35 hours a week, as well as those who have posted jobs that require employees to be on-site at least some of the time. Kaplan hires tutors and test prep instructors in a variety of subjects, but it’s also had postings for UX designers, software engineers, and other tech jobs. Robert Half International is a temp staffing agency that appears to regularly have postings for web developers, cloud architects, and programmers. Strayer University is an online college that has had postings for tech-related instructor positions. Want to take that IT experience and developer training away from the computer for a bit? This may be a great opportunity. Independence University is another online college that has also had regular postings for programming, graphic arts, and even for specific topics like Salesforce classes. Gun.io is geared around finding jobs for web and mobile tech professionals. It has hired in the past for positions such as iOS developer, Full Stack hybrid app development, sysadmins, consultants, and more. It also boasts an over 90% placement rate, so this may be your best bet for jobs in the tech world. For the rest of the 30-company list, you can find the link to the full post at the beginning of this article. For more on remote work, check out ” Why companies that ban remote work hurt only themselves ” and ” Why employees are sick of cities and want to work remotely ” on TechRepublic. Also see Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Click here to view original web page at www.techrepublic.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/the-top-tech-companies-hiring-part-time-remote-workers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-top-tech-companies-hiring-part-time-remote-workers
via https://freelancingbuzz.com

Freelancing: What you need to know

Image credit: Efe Kurnaz on Unsplash Somewhere, early within my 24-year career, I vividly remember working as a sales rep and I told myself at the time of leaving the company that I will never again work for commission. I recall sitting behind my desk making cold calls to reach a target of 10 new business meetings per week to reach a specific sales target at the end of the month. I remember spending countless hours in traffic, driving to and from prospective client meetings, working after hours to get proposals drafted and submitted, and numerous follow up calls in attempts to close deals. The competition within the sales team was tough and not knowing what my exact income would be every month drove me to tears. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am, working as a freelancer in the competitive world of marketing having to do all those things I said I would never do again. Is it an easy way to earn an income? No! Is it rewarding? Yes! How to become a freelancer A freelancer is self-employed and hired to work for different companies on particular assignments. To be able to call yourself a professional freelancer, therefore, means that you have no other income than what you generate from your projects – you do not work for a boss and you don’t earn a fixed salary at the end of the month. Anyone in any industry can choose to become a freelancer. According to US firm Moonlighting , some of the most popular freelance skills include marketing, blockchain, writing and editing, graphic design, web design, photography, accounting and virtual admin assistance. Before you hand in your letter of resignation in pursuit of a freelance career there are a few things you need to do. In my view, the most important thing is that you need a good reputation. Start building a reputation and portfolio in your area of expertise before you quit your full-time job. If you are a bookkeeper at a corporate and you are considering a freelance career in accounting, start moonlighting by offering tax return services within your local community. This is something you can do after work to build your reputation and client base. I can also highly recommend that you join the South African Freelancers’ Association ( Safrea ). The organisation offers different types of membership based on your annual billable income. This means that if you work full-time and earn less than 60% of your income through freelancing, you can still obtain membership. What to expect from your freelance career So, you’ve quit your job and forthwith call yourself a freelancer. If you think you can now sit and binge-watch your favourite TV series during the day and do some tax returns for your new client base after dinner, you have a big surprise waiting. Taking a quick balcony moment between work. #freelance #freelancer #freelancelife pic.twitter.com/6qQIqWymhQ — Elliott Bledsoe (@elliottbledsoe) July 13, 2019 Yes, freelancing offers you […]

Click here to view original web page at www.bizcommunity.com

from Freelancing Buzz https://freelancingbuzz.com/freelancing-what-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=freelancing-what-you-need-to-know
via https://freelancingbuzz.com