So you’ve just graduated and you haven’t got a clue what to do. Well, have you thought about going freelance after university? Whether you’re a writer, photographer, videographer or something else – freelance might be the career path for you! But when you finish university, you aren’t given any guidelines. You have to figure it out for yourself which isn’t always easy, especially not with freelance. So here are some brief tips to get you started.
Make a basic CV
You’ll be thinking about updating your CV anyway when you graduate but making one specifically for freelance work is also important. Try using Canva to create a professional CV and make sure you include any previous job role or experience that might benefit your CV. You can leave out things that aren’t relevant.
Volunteer
To create your portfolio, you might want to do some volunteering. Now, this can get a little draining. Offering up your time, and your talent, for free can get disheartening but persevere! In the long run, you will be very grateful for the voluntary experience you got. Approach companies, small businesses or whatever industry you’re going into and see if they need any extra assistance. Then take notes. Lots and lots of notes.
See also: Why I Love Volunteering
Portfolio
Once you’ve done some volunteering and got a little more experience in your back pocket you can build your portfolio. There are multiple ways you can do this. Whether you choose to create a website, a social media account or a printout – the list goes on as digital formats are constantly developing! Either way, they all need to do the same thing.
Your portfolio needs to ‘show you off’. Put in all your best projects, pieces of work, published pieces or your most inspiring or influential work. Include passionate explanations and experiences that have got you to where you are today.
Set your rates
And once you’ve got your portfolio and you feel confident and ready to go, you can start approaching places and offering your freelance work. This means you’ll need to set yourself a rate, which can depend massively on the industry you’re going into. Some simple advice is to start lower and quickly build your way up. This can be over a matter of months. Maybe start with an hourly rate and move on to daily rates when you start to pick up more work. You may also find that clients prefer to work on a pay-per-project basis.
You can create a PDF on Canva with your rates and just attach it to an email when asked by a client. Don’t forget, you’ll also have to take into consideration paying your Tax and sort this out independently too which can be a little time-consuming. But once it’s done, it’s done!
Have confidence in yourself
Lastly, remember your worth! When you start up after university you feel a little lost with whatever industry or career you find yourself in, and freelance can often be even harder. Navigating your way around this new chapter is not as easy as it seems so don’t forget that everyone has been there before. Have confidence in your work. You are good enough and don’t let anyone tell you any different.
The key to going freelance after university is to be persistent and confident. You’ll get there!
See also: The Umbrella Theory: Marketing Yourself After Graduation
