Freelance first year: what to do

02.04.202221.04.2022 Sam

The first year can be the hardest in freelance work: you need to learn how to cope with various difficulties, such as adjusting your work schedule or learning how to quickly switch from one activity to another.

Adaptation to freelancing is not easy for everyone, especially if you used to work in an office and then switched to remote work. A beginner freelancer needs to understand what to do in the first year of his work, because during this period he lays the foundation for his future success.

Freelancer problems in the first year of work

In the first year of work, a freelancer faces many problems, and how quickly and effectively he learns to solve them will depend on his adaptation to this type of employment. Problems can be:

You are not trusted by orders. This situation is due to the lack of proper experience and your specialization in a particular area. Do not despair. Many companies work with freelancers who have no experience and do not regret it, the main thing is your desire and the appropriate working attitude.
Competition. Beginners should not give up. It is important to gain as much practical experience as possible. At the same time, become a true professional in your field. Theory is as important as practice. Any employer is pleased to work with a competent employee in his field. Become such, constantly improve your knowledge, take on different orders and gradually you will have your own unique style of work.
Low cost of work. It’s hard to charge a high price when you’re not a professional yet. Yes, and there is still no great confidence in their abilities, because there is no valuable work experience. As a result, the freelancer agrees to any work at the price that the customer offers or assigns it an order of magnitude lower than that of competitors. It is better to work with prepaid customers. The period of uncertainty is temporary, with each well-executed order, it will grow, so be patient.
Unstable income. At first, you may have to focus on a small number of orders and low income. First you will look for customers, and not vice versa. When you manage to successfully establish yourself in the service market, they will find you themselves.
Fear of moving on. This happens when you have already established a system of work, but you are afraid to expand your horizons. Then the income will not grow. In freelancing, it is important not only to achieve a certain stability, but also to constantly improve your capabilities, given that the competition also does not stand still. If you want to always be in the “top” in the market, improve professionally.
Lack of support from loved ones. In the first year of work, it is important for a freelancer to be understood and supported, because not everything works out right away. If, in addition to difficulties with work, you are constantly faced with criticism and condemnation of your actions from loved ones, self-confidence disappears. As a result, you drop everything at the initial stage and start looking for another job. Due to the stereotypes about freelancing that exist in society, it is difficult for many to understand its value. No wonder your loved ones may be among them. You should not argue with them and prove something, just tell them about the prospects of freelancing and show the first results. It is also important to bring them all the advantages of this type of employment.

The first important steps for a beginner freelancer

The first steps in freelancing will help you navigate the right course of financial success. For this you need:

Build a loyal customer base. Regular customers are a guarantee of stable work. In order for your client to turn into a permanent one, you need to properly establish yourself in the field of service delivery. In other words, your work should not just suit the client, but be performed at its best. Word of mouth will be very effective when they tell their acquaintances and friends about you.
Create a website for your services and working documentation. The site can be done independently or contact the experts. The main thing is that its design should be as comfortable as possible for users. The set of working documents can be minimal: price list, commercial offer, etc.
Make a portfolio of work. The client must see how you can work. Portfolio emphasizes your uniqueness, helps to see the style of work and decide on cooperation with you. At the same time, it is important not only to provide a photo of your work, but also a description of the solution to the tasks, as well as customer reviews. It’s best to keep your portfolio updated whenever you have new work.
Place emphasis on planning your work. You must have a plan not only for the short term, but also for the long term. By working according to the plan, you increase the chances of completing your tasks on time, without delays and nerves. It is important to consider not only working hours, but also time for rest. All tasks should be distributed according to their urgency. It is better to warn the customer about all force majeure situations.

How to properly establish yourself in the eyes of the employer as a novice freelancer

The first year of freelancing can be called adaptation. At the same time, it is important to create the right reputation in the eyes of the customer. This is easy to do if you are determined and focused on the result. Tips for building a successful reputation are simple but effective.

First, you need to pay attention to the style of your work. In what way do you work, what principles are you guided by. The customer must understand that he is dealing with an interested specialist who can work quickly, efficiently and according to his requests. At the same time, there should be something that significantly distinguishes you from competitors, what is your personality. What do you know how to do like no one else?
Secondly, don’t break this rule: customers must not be let down, all obligations you have given must be fulfilled. Otherwise, the next time the client simply will not contact you.
Don’t be afraid to work with orders of varying complexity. This is how you improve your level and expand your ability base.

Work with employers who value your work. Working on the freelance exchange Avtor24 will become for you not only a valuable experience, but also an opportunity to constantly improve your own professional level.

When, after many sleepless nights, the diploma is finally ready, I want to pass it and forget it. But the university will not lag behind the student so easily. After all, the full text of the diploma was read only by the supervisor, and a whole commission will gather to evaluate it. Therefore, in many respects, his assessment depends on how the student defends his diploma.

So what is a successful defense?

Competent protection text
positive diploma review
confident answers to commission questions

In the introduction to the course it is necessary to indicate many important points. One of them is methodology. The student is required to indicate what methods he will use in the study of the topic. This is not the easiest task, and often students cannot cope with this task themselves. In this case, you can contact us. Our specialists will write you a paper of any complexity, and you can discuss the price with them personally.

Speech structure

Of course, what exactly to say in the defense depends mainly on the topic of the thesis and on what exactly is written in it, but there are general recommendations that are suitable for everyone.

First, we need to say hello to the members of the evaluation committee. (“Dear members of the attestation commission! Your attention is presented to the final qualifying work on the topic …”)
Introductory part. Here you need to reveal the topic and identify the issues that are raised in the work.
Relevance of the topic. At this stage, it is important to prove the relevance of the chosen topic and the degree of its development in other people’s works. Indicate the subject, object, objectives and purpose of the study.
Theme disclosure structure. Here you just need to list the paragraphs that are in the work and briefly describe them.
Problem statement. To confirm the relevance of the topic, it is necessary to state the problem and indicate debatable opinions on this matter.
Conclusions. At the end of the speech, the commission should hear the conclusions that the student came to in the course of writing the diploma, in which there are ways and methods for solving the stated problems.

On the one hand, it seems that it is much easier to write a graduation speech than the diploma itself. However, high-quality speech is a skillful squeeze out of the work, as well as its competent presentation. And it often happens that a diploma is written with the highest score, and a student gets a worse grade. Therefore, if there is a lack of self-confidence, you can order a speech on our website. And then the probability of failure due to bad speech will disappear. After all, we give a twenty-day guarantee for the work, and if something does not suit you, you can demand that the author finalize the order for free. We make sure that students are satisfied, so if the final version of the work does not meet the stated requirements, you will get your money back.

Formal requirements

When writing a speech for a thesis, you must also take into account that there are purely formal requirements.

Time. Do not forget that there are many students, but only one commission. Therefore, the time for a defensive speech is regulated and ranges from 5 to 7 minutes. At the same time, you should remember about the time that will be spent on commission questions.
Intonation. Where, no matter how on the defense of a diploma, is it important to win over listeners? Therefore, it is better not to read the speech monotonously, making accents with intonation.
Style. When presenting a speech, it should be remembered that the main goal is understanding on the part of the commission. Therefore, you should not be too smart, but you can’t switch to colloquial speech either. In this matter, you need to observe the golden mean.
Pronouns. As in the diploma itself, it is important to remember during the defense that although the author of the diploma is clearly spelled out, there are a lot of true owners of knowledge reflected in the work (the authors of all the sources the student relied on plus the supervisor), so first-person pronouns are not appropriate here.
Questions. After the end of the speech, questions from the commission will inevitably follow, and you need to be ready for them. Suggested questions should be written down in the course of writing the thesis, work through all the questions that arose during the pre-defense, and you can also look at the questions at the end of chapters from textbooks on this topic.
Pre-protection. In such a matter as defending a diploma, it is better not to be presumptuous and neglect pre-defense. On it, you can practice giving a speech and write down possible questions from the audience. This will allow you to feel more confident in the official defense.

Of course, these are only recommendations, and no one forces you to strictly follow them. However, the rejection of some positions during the defense will create additional questions from the certification committee, which is not always loyal. Therefore, it is best to think through all possible questions and answer them in advance in a defensive speech. Then the teachers will have a minimum of questions, and they will be grateful for the saved time.