Job in the City
You know you're getting older when you ask your niece/cousin "what do you want to be when you grow up?". Or in this case, I asked my cousin, an arts school fresh grad, where he would apply job to. He said, "I don't know, maybe none. I think being a freelancer pays more, no?".
Money-oriented punk :) (Nope, I didn't think about money at all when I graduated from college. First thing I did was burning my lab coat and finding job as writer/journalist. Yes, sopjagung, I hated that goddamn school. Not the whole uni though, just that bloody faculty :) ).
Well, who wouldn't want to be a freelancer? No tight deadline, you can write what you want, no need to pursue shitty hard news every single day, and no office politics. I had been wishing to be a freelance journalist in the past three years or so. But based on my random observation, you have to earn expertise and long experience first before getting good pay as a part timer.
Otherwise, if you're a journalist at least, you have to become media whore to be able to pay the bills. But even that (well, depends on your lifestyle) doesn't really pay. You have to do other stuff too like copywriting, translation, etc..
And you know how the clients are. They rush you to meet super tight deadline, but when it comes to the payment... hmmm, dapet salam deh. Even if the project worths millions, you're already in debt waiting for the money. If it comes at all.
As far as I know, most of my freelancing friends are struggling with money, whether they're screenwriter, journalist or engineer. And one by one they're shifting into full time job.
It's different, however, if you're, say, political scientist and you can earn lots of money from giving lecture, commentary, or writing op-ed article. Or this particular expert I'm working with now, who gets thousands of dollars as a consultant. But still, s/he has to earn the expertise first.
However, as I accidentally became a freelancer, I begin to enjoy it. It's kind of scary, with no financial security (but hey, I got my better half to worry about that hehe), but it's exciting. Because aside of writing, there's other field that I can explore, like helping to do this research which is very similar to investigative journalism. And it pays well too, thank God. Other good thing is, unsteady paycheck forces me to save up instead of running to the nearest zara or mango shop everytime it put on sale tag haha.
What's next I have yet any idea. For now, my plan is being a freelancer for a while. Cause it fits me really well.
Money-oriented punk :) (Nope, I didn't think about money at all when I graduated from college. First thing I did was burning my lab coat and finding job as writer/journalist. Yes, sopjagung, I hated that goddamn school. Not the whole uni though, just that bloody faculty :) ).
Well, who wouldn't want to be a freelancer? No tight deadline, you can write what you want, no need to pursue shitty hard news every single day, and no office politics. I had been wishing to be a freelance journalist in the past three years or so. But based on my random observation, you have to earn expertise and long experience first before getting good pay as a part timer.
Otherwise, if you're a journalist at least, you have to become media whore to be able to pay the bills. But even that (well, depends on your lifestyle) doesn't really pay. You have to do other stuff too like copywriting, translation, etc..
And you know how the clients are. They rush you to meet super tight deadline, but when it comes to the payment... hmmm, dapet salam deh. Even if the project worths millions, you're already in debt waiting for the money. If it comes at all.
As far as I know, most of my freelancing friends are struggling with money, whether they're screenwriter, journalist or engineer. And one by one they're shifting into full time job.
It's different, however, if you're, say, political scientist and you can earn lots of money from giving lecture, commentary, or writing op-ed article. Or this particular expert I'm working with now, who gets thousands of dollars as a consultant. But still, s/he has to earn the expertise first.
However, as I accidentally became a freelancer, I begin to enjoy it. It's kind of scary, with no financial security (but hey, I got my better half to worry about that hehe), but it's exciting. Because aside of writing, there's other field that I can explore, like helping to do this research which is very similar to investigative journalism. And it pays well too, thank God. Other good thing is, unsteady paycheck forces me to save up instead of running to the nearest zara or mango shop everytime it put on sale tag haha.
What's next I have yet any idea. For now, my plan is being a freelancer for a while. Cause it fits me really well.