Freelancing is a great way for students to earn money while still having the flexibility to pursue their studies. While you might have heard a lot about freelancing, you may still be confused about how to start freelancing while being a full-time student. The sole purpose of this article is to clear that confusion and highlight the proper path for learning skills that you might want to sell as a freelancer.
Table of Contents
Freelancing is All About Skills
First and foremost, it’s important to understand that freelancing is not a skill in itself. Rather, it refers to selling your services online on a contractual basis. To be a successful freelancer, you must have a hard skill that you can sell as a service. If you don’t have a skill that you can sell, don’t worry! With the abundance of online resources available today, it’s easier than ever to learn new skills. However, keep in mind that learning a new skill takes time, effort, and passion and there is no substitute for these things.
Choosing the Right Skill
Before you start learning a new skill, it’s crucial to choose the right one. While it may be tempting to learn the same skill that someone else is learning, it’s better to spend some time understanding yourself and exploring the different kinds of skills available to learn. One way for choosing the skill is to consider the Venn Diagram of Purpose (popularized as ikigai), which revolves around the following four questions:
- What do you love to do?
- What are you good at?
- What does the world need?
- What can you be paid for?
If you can find a common answer to all four questions, voila, you have found your ikigai.
To identify the first two components “what you love” and “what you are good at”, you’ll need to do some self-reflection on your abilities, mindset, hobbies, likes, and dislikes. To research the final two components “what the world needs” and “what you can be paid for”, you can use popular freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to learn about consumer needs. Check out the different categories and subcategories listed on these sites, and explore the different gigs offered under each one. Familiarize yourself with the different skill sets and software tools mentioned, and don’t be afraid to Google things you don’t know about. Look for the things that excite you and align with your interests and strengths.
If you’re still unsure about which skill to choose after doing your research, you can try the “hit and trial” method – choose a skill at random and see if you can achieve perfection in it, or switch to a new skill if it doesn’t work out. Keep repeating this process until you find the skill that you should master.
Learning the Skill
Once you’ve identified the skill that you want to learn, it’s time to explore ways to learn it. Enrolling in a proper course is often the best way to get a head start on your learning journey. There are many online platforms that offer courses on a wide range of skills, such as:
Coursera:
Coursera is a popular online learning platform that offers courses from top instructors around the world. While the courses are paid, you can watch all the lectures for free by using their “Audit Mode.” Additionally, you can apply for financial aid on Coursera, which is a simple process. If your application is accepted, you can access the complete course content and receive a certificate upon completion for free.
YouTube:
YouTube is another great, free learning platform, but it’s important to be cautious when using it. With so much content available on YouTube, it can be difficult to distinguish the good from the bad. To find a course on YouTube, search for the relevant term and use the “Playlist” filter to only get results for curated collections of videos with a clear beginning and end. Many content creators on YouTube do not have well-defined course structures, which can be inefficient for learners. When selecting a playlist, be sure to check out the beginning, middle, and end of the course to ensure it is detailed and well-explained.
Others:
Other platforms such as SkillShare, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning and Udacity offer paid courses, but often have free trial periods that you can utilize. Additionally, there are platforms that offer courses in Urdu language, such as DigiSkills. Such platforms can be very helpful for grasping concepts in your own local language
When choosing a course, make sure to research the instructor and the content to ensure that you’re getting high-quality instruction. It’s also important to be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to learning, and to find ways to fit coursework into your busy schedule as a full-time student.
Practice, Practice, and Practice
One common mistake that new learners make is thinking that going through a course’s videos is enough to learn a skill. This is not the case. While watching lectures is important for familiarizing yourself with a skill, it only accounts for about 30% of your learning. The other 70% comes from practice and reinforced learning. In addition to watching lectures, be sure to actively practice what you have learned and explore the skill or software in new and creative ways. You will inevitably make mistakes and get stuck at certain points – don’t let this discourage you. Use these challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Use online resources like Google and YouTube to find solutions to specific issues and continue to practice and explore. This process will give you valuable insights into the practical applications of your skill set and will reinforce your learning.
Build your portfolio
To get yourself ready for entering the field of freelancing, it’s important to build a portfolio of your work. A portfolio is a collection of your projects and work that demonstrates your skills and capabilities. Depending on your skill set, it may or may not be possible to create a traditional portfolio. However, it’s important to try to present your work in a professional manner so that it serves as evidence of your practice and familiarity with your skill set, for example, through your own website or through your LinkedIn profile.
Start Freelancing
After going through the above steps (which will take a considerable amount of time), you will be ready to start offering your services in the freelance marketplace. However, deciding whether you are really ready for it or not can be tricky. You want to avoid two pitfalls: 1) diving in too soon and getting discouraged by a lack of response or unsatisfied clients, and 2) waiting too long to try freelancing. The best time to start is somewhere in between these extremes. Find the right balance for you. When you feel ready, choose a freelancing platform that suits your needs, create an account, and list your services. Making your profile stand out from the rest will take in a lot of effort and advice on that will probably require a separate article.
A Golden Advice
Before wrapping up this article, I would want to share with you a golden advice that I learnt from my personal experience. As you embark on your learning journey, it’s important to remember that it’s okay to share your progress with a few close acquaintances, but try not to make too much noise about it. While it can be tempting to tell others about what you are learning and doing, this can lead to a false sense of accomplishment, which can ultimately decrease your motivation to continue. Instead, try sharing your progress with a few trusted friends or family members, as this can provide a sense of relief and validation without diminishing your motivation to learn.
Wrapping Up
In summary, the key to success in building skills for freelancing is to identify your capabilities, choose the right skill, learn it thoroughly through high-quality courses, practice extensively, and build your portfolio. These steps, when followed, will set you up for success as a freelancer.
The writer is a student of Economics at University of the Punjab. He is a WordPress Expert and is currently providing his freelance services on Fiverr.
