As a student, you may have thought about freelancing. Student life is not easy, you have to worry about the exams, a future job and savings. Many students prefer doing part-time jobs to save some money. But as a design student, you have a good opportunity to do freelance. Instead of doing part-time jobs at the gas station or cafes; you can start freelance designing. This not only helps in saving but also benefits career building. If you have a creative mind and enough time then starting freelancing is a good option.
Top reasons to become a design freelancer as a student
Good for your portfolio
Life till college is still bearable, but the real world after the studies can be really harsh. Getting a good job is not easy without a good portfolio. When you are in your college, good marks are everything. You study hard, make projects to get good marks on your exams. Good marks mean more respect and a better image. But when you walk out, marks are not only enough. For a job, the interviewer won’t select you if you don’t have a good portfolio. As a design student, you can only show small projects which you have done in college. But if you add projects which you have done as a freelancer then your portfolio will look good. Don’t think that your projects are small, as a student any project is good. It improves the capability to design.
Help in choosing your career
When you are in college, you study lots of subjects. Choosing a career in a subject you are good at is always correct. Getting good marks doesn’t mean you are good at it. If you start freelancing, you can find whether this career is good or not. When you choose a project as freelancing, you can find out the basics about the designing profile. It helps you to get experience about the real job of designing. Freelancing is different from having a full-time job but the work is similar. As a student, if you find designing a good career then do some freelance projects before finalizing your job stream.
Get better experience apart from the college
Your books provide good knowledge about the subject. It’s necessary to have all the basic information about design. Your college helps to know more about your subject but that’s not enough. Having knowledge doesn’t mean experience. Textbooks won’t help with real-life projects. To get a better experience as a designer, freelancing is very helpful. You have to find the clients, talk to them and get a vision of the project. In freelance, you have to do data mining, finding ideas, implementation etc. You also have to deliver the project in time. When you get all these experiences in a small project; it helps to work calmly while dealing with big projects.
Earn money
Not all but most of the students are broke. Designing is a professional course and you need lots of money for tuition fees. If you are not from a wealthy background or you don’t want to ask parents for the tuition fee; freelancing can be great. There are other things you might require as a student.Living with your parents means life is not that difficult. But when you are at the hostel or renting an apartment then you have several things to worry about. Instead of doing a part-time job outside the college, go for freelancing. Freelance designers earn more than other part-time jobs. Your payment will not be as much as a full-time worker but still good enough to have a stable life.
More cooperative connections
Freelancing is a potential method to create good connections. As you know, just your skill may not help while finding a job. Connections to the company can provide a good chance to get the job. In freelance, your client, inspect the project and the delivery time. If you are able to deliver the project in time with good detailing then he may become interested in working with you. If you have good experience and connections then it becomes easy to get a good job after college.
Top tips to start freelancing as a student
Anyone can be a freelancer if he has that skill. But only skills won’t help if you don’t know its basics. As a student, you don’t have much knowledge about the real world. If you are thinking of starting to design freelancing then get more information about it.
Search your clients
Just because you have posted freelance designs on LinkedIn, you won’t get projects. Never add “aspiring” on the profile. Nobody wants to work with an amateur. Before searching for clients outside, you can ask known people for the project. If your friend is opening a cafe, you can design a website or logo for his restaurant. You may have to re-work a lot and get little payment. But you add this project in your experience column. Create the account of freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.
Create a strong personality
Once you get enough projects and clients, create a professional brand for your work. It helps to find more clients who can pay good money. You can’t always work for the same payment. When you brand your work, the work rate increases automatically. As a freelancer, you are not just a worker but a person who can fulfil the needs of the client.
Create good portfolio
Add as many projects as you can to the portfolio. Clients always check your past projects to know more about your work experience. Adding more projects means adding more new clients. Whether the projects are small or big; add them to your portfolio. Keep the big projects at the top so the client can trust your work easily.
Impress your clients
When you are new, impressing the clients is necessary. In designing, there are certain steps. Get the feedback before regularly. It helps to deliver the project that is required. Send the project on time so he can think about giving you more projects in future.
