What happens if your first job is freelance?
My first taste of work was self-employment, when I was 15.
As a result, I had to figure it all out myself. University didn’t prepare me for the reality of running a business in the slightest, as everything was pointed towards the assumption I’d “get a job”.
So, it’s been interesting to see in the last 12 months, and hinted at in this years research too, the increase in the numbers of young people who are considering and entering self-employment as their first step out of education.
What might this mean for how those in their early careers learn, develop and grow as professionals?
It’s crucial that universities and colleges provide real-world advice, support and training around self-employment as part of their work to make students ready for all forms of work - as modern work is increasingly not employment, but a wider range of types of working.
That’s why the work that Freelancer Club are doing to bring together senior leaders from universities across the UK, to co-design the country’s first Freelance Education Framework, and build a shared national approach to freelance education, is so important.
But also, it poses some real questions about hirers - what responsibility and role do those who hire freelancers play for supporting those in their early stage careers? Where does learning, mentoring and development sit? Does there need to be a new mindset around investing in talent than isn’t focused only on “owned talent”, but is more open minded about how talent is developed?
We keep using the phrase “future of work”, but this is very much a “today of work” reality.
A holistic reframing of “workers” needs to happen, as “employees” are not the only form of worker, and increasingly not the default choice either.
