Freelancing – A Serious Career Option

Freelancing is often a good option for people looking for flexible working hours, ability to work from home, more control and more creative independence. It is great for anyone who’s looking to work independently, and not in a 9-to-5 corporate job, and one who cannot start his/her own business. But, on the other hand, freelancing also poses a lot of risks for anyone choosing it as a career option.

One of the biggest hurdles for freelancers is a guaranteed payment from their employers. According to a survey by MastersDegree.net, a surprising 80% of freelances have, on more than one occasion, dealt with a client who did not pay once the freelance job was done. Clients often act smart with freelancers and hence a regular job, at times, looks better with a steady paycheck, a stable employer among other benefits.

The survey also suggests that the world of freelancing is dominated by women as 60% of freelancers are females. Another interesting finding of the survey is that freelancing is popular across all generations, among all age groups. Since freelancing does not require one to work full time with anyone in particular, and one does not really need to go to a workplace, the only qualification one needs is the quality of work, which can be found in any age group. And most of the freelancers are highly educated, which again makes sure that age is no barrier for a freelancer.

Currently, tech dominates the world of freelancing. The top 10 in-demand freelancers are as follows –

1. PHP Programmers
2. WordPress Programmers
3. Article Writing
4. Graphic Design
5. HTML Programmers
6. CSS
7. MySQL
8. Photoshop
9. Blogs
10. Javascript

And the IT freelancers also earn the biggest chunk of the money.

In spite of all the advantages, freelancing has got its pitfalls as well. There are many times when a freelancer does not get enough work, even if he/she is a highly experienced one. Often they also need to dig in to their savings during the down times. Also, they miss out on benefits which a regular corporate job can provide, like health insurance among other things. But, as has already been said, one of the biggest drawbacks of freelancing is to deal with nasty clients, who, at times, do not pay after a job is done.

But, ask any freelancer, and they’ll all tell you that freelancing is one job that is worth all these risks.

So, what do you think about freelancing as a serious career option? Have you had any bad experiences with a client while on a freelance job? Or maybe you are currently having a good time freelancing? Share your views with us.

Google+: the 3-way solution for Journalists

Journalists are never reluctant to explore new horizons, and Google+ is no different. A study conducted by Mashable.com reveals that today more and more journalists are joining Google+ and are finding it fascinating.

The journalists are more than thrilled to witness Google+ potential for journalism.

While some are updating personal accounts others have created profiles for their organizations. Most of them are raving about its benefits. We list below 3 ways, journalists are using Google+.

Hosting Audience Hangouts

In the present scenario journalists can easily host audience video chats. One chat can bring together people from multifarious parts of the world, to engage in a discussion.

“Its pretty awesome, on one side the reporter is talking and on the other side we can react to his news updates, all in one go,” says one viewer.

Engaging Readers

Although Google+ hasn’t opened its gates to the world, many News people and News channels have already joined the social networking site and have begun conversational discussions with audience. These News channels are overwhelmed to see the incredible feedback response.

Analyzing News Coverage

It is also an ideal platform for journalists to analyze News coverage. While on other social networking sites, journalists are restricted, as their news discussions go in the backlog and do not allow 100% involvement, Google+ brings conversations back to the top of a stream when new comments arise.

This gives the journalists a wide scope to analyze news coverage and encourage viewer engagement.

“I am surprised to see such a huge audience involvement, just in the initial stages of Google+,” says a journalist.

Twitter’s handy guide for Journalists

Nose for news? Journalists can now tweet for the same. Gone are the days when the only source of information for journalists was Google or reporting.

The guide aptly titled ‘Twitter for Newsroom’ is a precious tool for journalists, when it comes to finding sources and sharing stories with the world.

The social networking site has even released an informative guide that tells reporters how to use the tool in their daily travels. The guide provides tips on how to use tweets for reporting and to engage other users and followers through it.

While Twitter’s initiative clearly depicts the impact of social media on news, Facebook too had come up with a similar program, a while ago.

Facebook recently undertook a similar initiative, launching a Page for journalists on Facebook, intended to be a resource for journalists who want to incorporate social media into their reporting, networking and storytelling

“This is an interactive approach towards journalism,” says Pawandeep, a journalist.

It would not be wrong to say that in the present scenario, social networking sites like Twitter have proven beneficial to the Fourth estate, as it provides for an easy way to help them interact with the world in a jiffy.

Journalists mostly use the platform of Twitter to share their Blogs, features and informative articles. Be it a natural disaster, political development or breaking tech news – it is common to discover items of interest first on social networking sites.

Robert Scoble rightly quotes an instance, where, Twitter users reported a major earthquake in Mexico City several minutes before any major news channel did.

Thus, it would not be wrong to say that social networking sites are the newest and most innovative platform, for the journalists to display and share their work, with the world.