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Poll: The freedom of being a freelancer comes at a high personal price.
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Apr 24, 2008

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "The freedom of being a freelancer comes at a high personal price.".

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Andrea Riffo
Andrea Riffo  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 21:31
English to Spanish
+ ...
Just wondering.. Apr 24, 2008

... if it came "at a high personal price" it wouldn't really be freedom, would it?

Andrea

[Edited at 2008-04-24 14:57]


 
Jocelyne S
Jocelyne S  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 01:31
French to English
+ ...
My thoughts exactly... Apr 24, 2008

Andrea Riffo wrote:


... if it came "at a high personal price" it wouldn't really be freedom, would it?

Andrea

[Edited at 2008-04-24 14:57]


Indeed.

Best,
Jocelyne


 
Carla Guerreiro
Carla Guerreiro  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 01:31
Member (2006)
French to Portuguese
+ ...
Not so easy Apr 24, 2008

Well, let's say that being a freelance is not that easy.
Of course, we don't have problems with a boss or with colleagues, but things are far from easy...


 
Julia Esrom
Julia Esrom  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 01:31
German to English
+ ...
freedom for a fair price Apr 24, 2008

Carla Guerreiro wrote:

Well, let's say that being a freelance is not that easy.
Of course, we don't have problems with a boss or with colleagues, but things are far from easy...


Freedom may not be easy, but it is rewarding. All good things come at a cost. If your family supports what you do and you enjoy what you do, then it is an acceptable price. If you don't, then perhaps a different job might be the way to go. It is up to us translators as a whole to keep the personal cost low by keeping prices at a sustainable rate.


 
Kathryn Litherland
Kathryn Litherland  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:31
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
for me, lower personal price than on-site work Apr 24, 2008

Carla Guerreiro wrote:

Well, let's say that being a freelance is not that easy.
Of course, we don't have problems with a boss or with colleagues, but things are far from easy...


If it were easy, they wouldn't call it work!

For me, working in on-site in an office had a much higher personal price. There have been few, if any, downsides to going freelance.


 
Maria Isabel Pazos Gómez
Maria Isabel Pazos Gómez  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 01:31
German to Spanish
+ ...
Could imagine another job... Apr 24, 2008

... than beeing freelance. Just start to work 3 months as employee and you return to the freelance!

Maria Isabel


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 01:31
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Return to freelancing Apr 24, 2008

Maria Isabel Pazos Gómez wrote:

... than beeing freelance. Just start to work 3 months as employee and you return to the freelance!

Maria Isabel


I entirely agree!! Honestly, I cannot see myself working as an employee again, having to give explanations about any break I make, having to take any job no matter how hard, and working long hours for a fixed, rather short salary at the end of the month, trying to park an old car somewhere in the street while I see my boss' big and shiny car as he parks in the garage of an expensive building downtown... No way José!! I will do my best not to go back to that.


 
Elvia Rodriguez
Elvia Rodriguez  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 18:31
Member (2007)
English to Spanish
The cost is not that high Apr 24, 2008

That's true that sometimes you have to stay awake almost all night, that you have to work during weekends (sometimes) and so many things while working as a freelance.

But I don't regret any of that things because I am free to decide to do them or not. I am free to be with my kids any time I want and any time they need me to. I take my vacations whenever I want and for the time I want without seeing my boss' face. My work is only my responsibility and I do not depend of anybody t
... See more
That's true that sometimes you have to stay awake almost all night, that you have to work during weekends (sometimes) and so many things while working as a freelance.

But I don't regret any of that things because I am free to decide to do them or not. I am free to be with my kids any time I want and any time they need me to. I take my vacations whenever I want and for the time I want without seeing my boss' face. My work is only my responsibility and I do not depend of anybody to make it right and on time.

I will never come back to work in an office... no way!!!

I think I learned to have the best of both words =o)
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R. Alex Jenkins
R. Alex Jenkins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 21:31
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Tickets going cheap - get them while you can Apr 24, 2008

I'm not really sure what was implied by the question...at a high 'financial' price, agreed - I don't earn what I used to in Information Technology. But at a high 'personal' price? No! (with an exclamation mark). I'm a much more enriched person than I used to be. My goals are much more altruistic. My perspective is a lot clearer. I'm getting to where I want to be....'personally', the entrance fee is rather cheap I feel.

 
Harry Bornemann
Harry Bornemann  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 18:31
English to German
+ ...
freedom of being a freelancer = freedom from being employed? Apr 24, 2008

I think it comes rather with a high personal rate compared to the effective word rate you earn as an employee.

 
Joan Berglund
Joan Berglund  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:31
Member (2008)
French to English
Financial yes, personal no Apr 24, 2008

There is definately a financial price in the US, having to buy your own health insurance and not having employer contributions to SS. But not a personal cost, no, the personal side is the reward for losing employee benefits. But like what's his name is always babbling on about, freedom isn't free I guess.

 
Catherine Shepherd
Catherine Shepherd  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:31
Spanish to English
+ ...
In a way... Apr 24, 2008

I understood that "high personal price" was not financial, but in your personal life. I would say in a way yes, because sometimes you spend all day working and might not be able to make time for a coffee with a friend, but that isn't always so. I'm willing to sacrifice a little of the free time that I would have if I were employed somewhere, when necessary. And of course, as it has been said, you have to work some weekends.

Other than that, you know all the advantages. I make my fri
... See more
I understood that "high personal price" was not financial, but in your personal life. I would say in a way yes, because sometimes you spend all day working and might not be able to make time for a coffee with a friend, but that isn't always so. I'm willing to sacrifice a little of the free time that I would have if I were employed somewhere, when necessary. And of course, as it has been said, you have to work some weekends.

Other than that, you know all the advantages. I make my friends jealous by saying that sometimes my pyjamas are my work uniform.

[Edited at 2008-04-24 19:47]
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Andrea Riffo
Andrea Riffo  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 21:31
English to Spanish
+ ...
That's just it... Apr 24, 2008

Catherine Shepherd wrote:

I understood that "high personal price" was not financial, but in your personal life. I would say in a way yes, because sometimes you spend all day working and might not be able to make time for a coffee with a friend, but that isn't always so. I'm willing to sacrifice a little of the free time that I would have if I were employed somewhere, when necessary. And of course, as it has been said, you have to work some weekends.



Sometimes being unable to go out and sacrificing some free time when necessary isn't quite the same as a "high personal price", is it? Not for me, at least. Perhaps the issue is what we understand by "high personal price".

The same could be said about in-house work: sometimes you have to work overtime, have office problems that may result in a lousy mood and cause you to fight with the ones you love (displaced anger), be overtired and just don't feel like going out with friends...

Of course there are sacrifices; I never said it was easy.

My point was, I would never choose to pay "a high personal price". Therefore, if I ended up actually paying "a high personal price" it would be because I had no choice and, therefore, I couldn't really talk of "freedom".

To me, the "free" in "freelancer" is the key. If I ever feel I am being pushed into a corner and have the ability to make choices taken away from me, I'll go back to in-house employment in a heartbeat.

Andrea

[Edited at 2008-04-24 20:38]


 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:31
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Precisely Apr 24, 2008

Julia Esrom wrote:

Carla Guerreiro wrote:

Well, let's say that being a freelance is not that easy.
Of course, we don't have problems with a boss or with colleagues, but things are far from easy...


Freedom may not be easy, but it is rewarding. All good things come at a cost. If your family supports what you do and you enjoy what you do, then it is an acceptable price. If you don't, then perhaps a different job might be the way to go. It is up to us translators as a whole to keep the personal cost low by keeping prices at a sustainable rate.


All forms of work come at "a high personal price" - otherwise it wouldn't be work, or not paid work, anyway.
Just go back to the ghastliness of working for spoilt, rude, self-aggrandising, hysterical investment bankers for a while and you'll long to be a freelancer again.
I'd never go back at any price.
Vigorously,
Jenny


 
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Poll: The freedom of being a freelancer comes at a high personal price.






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