From freelancer to full-time: the shifting mentality.

What can feel jarring at first, could also be a superpower.

One philosophy that exists about the those who come into your life, is that people can come for a reason, a season or a lifetime. I like to think the same thing applies to the way we work. In one place of work, I made life-long friends. I also met my partner whilst working on a different job. One wildcard application led to a completely new career change whilst another allowed me to simply bring in more money when I needed it.

With the changing terrain of different industries, I've known more people than ever to switch careers in the last couple of years. Some people wanted to find work which felt more meaningful to them. Some had to change careers for their own sanity and some needed secure work where freelancing was no longer serving them. On paper, a secure workplace along with consistent colleagues and a predictable income can feel like an answer to a prayer, but, adjusting to the ‘climate’ of a full-time job definitely has it’s own unique set of quirks.

For anyone who is either considering the change from freelancing to a full-time job, or who is in the thick of the change already, here are the things I observed that may be useful to you:

You have time to make connections

When you zip from project to project, you have a short amount of time to make connections with people in order to work effectively with them. In my experience, this has ranged from a three week long TV show to a three-month long stage show. Each new project brings a different team of people, and so you learn to quickly hot-wire these working relationships so that you build a sense of trust and support. It also puts others at ease if you can hold up your ‘I’m a great-bet’ card. This has often felt like a necessary bit of admin to proceed - the secondary payoff being that you meet other great people who are following their passions and taking the same risks as you are. However, when I’ve previously switched from ‘freelance’ gear to ‘full-time employee’ gear, I found that making connections felt a bit clunky. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking so long to warm-up and get to know people. I hadn’t experienced a slow-burn working relationship for a long-time, and so I kept wondering if there was a broken part. With time, I came to realise that these relationships were starting to feel as rewarding and trusting as I hoped. This was just a gear switch that I needed to make because this route wasn’t a rally, it was long-distance.

You don’t have to be on high-alert

That feeling of always looking over your shoulder for the next job can take up a lot of real estate in your brain. Do yourself a favour and take this off your plate. You don’t need to be in a survival mindset when you have a full-time job. It’s yours now - so relax! Yes you need to work hard and possibly see through the probation period, but you don’t need to do that ‘extra’ thing to impress, to make sure you land your next gig. Once I realised I didn’t need to spend energy on this, I found that I could let something else in, which was a bonus.

Learn to push back

I’ve always said that one of my wealth priorities is autonomy over my time. So when I didn’t have this, it was a challenge I needed to overcome. One of the other freelancer hangovers I experienced, was learning to always say ‘yes’ to everything because you need that next job, so of course you can do it! I had very little experience of pushing back on things with long-term colleagues because I had been so used to managing my own time that I didn’t ever feel the need to in the past. Learning to say ‘I can’t do this now but…’ and finding an alternative solution is a very normal part of working life, it just took me a while to learn this myself. So don’t be afraid to say no, or come up with a workaround. It won’t rock the boat. It’s a vital tool that you will probably need to use all the time.

Keep your routines simple

I’ve never really mastered a routine, but I have found that with more autonomy over my time, I can pepper in social plans and activities that suit my needs. I find I’m more able to sustain my commitments because I am completely in charge of my deadlines, and don’t have to be accountable for the small details of my schedule. When I became a full-time employee, I wasn’t able to keep up with my previous exercise or activity routines to the same level. So I learned to strip it back a little. I made meals easier to prepare. I also pared down the frequency of random activities and just stuck to ones that I knew I needed less headspace for, or that I needed to arrive at a certain time for. So pre-scheduled classes at the gym became a workout or even a run, and I took up an evening writing class online that I could do from home. This was much more manageable and helped things to feel like they were running smoothly.

Reframe: you’re getting paid to experiment and learn

One of the great things about being in a full-time position is that you get to try things out with a ‘net’ underneath you. This net might be your line manager, or other team members that can support you through a project that you’ve never tried before. The fact that you get to do this and get paid, rather than having to fund your professional development yourself is a big win.

Bring in your ‘multi-tasking’ strengths

As a freelancer, you are operating as your own mini-business. You sort your finances, chase your invoices, manage your workload and daily schedule. You have to switch contexts between different projects and get to know people in the different companies you are freelancing for. These are skills that are unique to being a freelancer, that not everyone will have. They are also skills that can be extremely valuable in your job and can make you a versatile team-player, which will make you an invaluable asset.

Make space for a personal project

Going from building up a portfolio to working for a single company can be a strange identity shift. One thing I realised I needed to do pretty quickly was to keep working on a passion project so that I still felt like ‘me’. Not everyone has to be defined by their work, but freelancers often trade the security of a solid payslip, pension and other benefits to pursue their passion for their work. So if you’re finding the identity shift is a little drastic, then keeping a passion project going on the side can be a great antidote to this.

If you’re making the switch between freelancing to full-time or changing the way you work, it’s inevitable that your mindset might need a little maintenance. It can be hard if you aren’t able to relate to anyone about the changes you’re going through, but it’s completely understandable and normal to feel these things. It’s also exciting to try out a new way of working and to experience life on the other side. I was able to better understand certain people in my life, because I was finally experiencing working in an environment that was similar to theirs so it actually helped those connections too.

For anyone who is considering making a change and is curious about what the journey might be like, you can hear six exclusive and unique career-change stories here.

On In My Previous Life, I got to interview guests who had made the leap from one path to a completely different career, and they all took very different routes to get there.

I hope, like me, you’ll find some inspiration and motivation from listening to their stories too if you’re looking to make your next career leap.