How to Successfully Go From Freelance Work to Permanent Job

As an ex career freelancer who now wants a permanent job, are you concerned that employers might be less inclined to consider you because of your freelance history? Here’s how to handle this during the freelance to permanent recruitment process and at that crucial interview point.

Many agency recruiters are very familiar with freelance staff and have a healthy respect for them. However, to a certain extent they may regard a freelancer as someone who earns a lot, with few commitments, and likes the freedom to disappear when they want to travel and indulge in other pastimes … so being something of a maverick, if a delightful one.

They may also assume – usually erroneously – that freelancers are snapshot experts who come in and perform great things on a one-off basis, but are probably far less familiar with handling longer term projects from start to finish, as a member of a team.

There are however many very good reasons why a freelancer will choose to go permanent. You just need to be aware of your reasons, be confident about them and be ready to appreciate the quite natural concerns a prospective employer may have. The decision on who they hire is an important one after all. Get yourself well prepared by taking the advice and direction I can offer you here. If you have any personal experiences I’d love to hear them in the comments or via Twitter 

How To Explain The Gaps In Your CV

To begin with, if you haven’t had a freelance job in some time, your CV should “fill in that gap.” Whatever you do, don’t leave an unexplained gap in your CV, as that is inviting potentially uncomfortable questions at interview.

Instead, say how you used that time to take a career break to study for something, do voluntary/charity work, be a carer to a friend or relative, recover from illness, etc.

Much as whatever you were doing may not be connected with business, it is still likely to have been enriching to you as a person which in turn can help to make you an attractive full-time candidate.

Explain Why You Now Want A Permanent Job

As always, honesty is the best policy.

In your CV you need to make it clear in the “abstract” / executive summary / introduction that you are now seeking full time employment because – (of a specific reason).

Even if the reasons for switching from freelance to permanent are negative, you can make some of them, at least, appear more positive. And of course don’t forget that such positivity must relate to your potential employer – not just you.

5 Positive Reasons To Go From Freelance to Permanent Work

These are some common types of reasons. Twist them to suit your situation:

1.     I would rather devote all my efforts to doing what I’m good at, i.e. (whatever is your discipline) than spend increasing, non-productive time seeking new freelance jobs, especially in these difficult economic days.

2.     Due to my recent marriage and new family commitments, I want to stabilise not only my finances but also my whole working life.

3.     Having recently set down roots with a home and mortgage of my own, I want a regular income to ensure I don’t have to worry about repayments … which will free me up to deliver the best possible service to my new employer.

4.     I now feel I have a sufficiently broad range of experience, as a freelancer, to offer a permanent employer a wide and varied range of skills that perhaps someone with a purely agency background might not be able to match.

5.     While working as a freelancer has been an excellent way of honing my skills and developing a good grasp of our business, I have grown to dislike the isolation. Now I want to share my experience and those skills with colleagues on longer projects I can “get my teeth into,” and contribute to a team.

What if the Interviewer is Sceptical?

So, the CV was a winner and you have made it to the interview. You’re sat in their office and the interviewer seems sceptical. Here are a few sample questions an interviewer might ask you when you are going from freelance to permanent work, and some suggestions as to how you could turn them around. Be bold, confident and show empathy.

Q: “You’ve been freelancing for some time. How do I know you may not try to solicit direct freelance business from some of our clients?”

A: Because for me to do so would severely damage my career – both as a freelancer and as a (whatever discipline you are).  People who try that tend only to do it once, because the word gets around that they are cheats. I am not a cheat; not only for moral reasons, but also for the simple, practical reason that if I were to behave in such a bad way, I would never work in this industry again.

Q: “How on earth could you conform to the discipline of working within a team and being “managed,” when you have spent so long doing your own thing?”

A: With all due respect, please remember that even as a freelancer, my remit is nearly always to contribute within a team. OK, that maybe a virtual team or even one that’s very vague. And of course as a freelancer, I have always been “managed…” by my clients.

Q: “Do you think you could cope with having to ask for things like days off for personal reasons?”

A: Yes, of course. Don’t forget that while freelancing I was running a business, albeit a very small one, and someone taking time off – especially if it was unannounced – could have been disastrous. So I have total respect for that issue.

Q: “You have been running a small business for a long time. How could that fit in with what you’re proposing here?”

A: The nature of freelance work is that you have to be adaptable and responsive to lots of different people, environments and attitudes every day. This experience makes it easy for me to work well with different management styles and personalities.

Q: “Why do you think that employing you permanently rather than an ex-staffer could benefit our clients?”

A: If you want me to get involved with client contact you’ll find that I have instant empathy with their business needs and can spot where they need help, probably, a lot faster than many agency staffers can.

Summary: Why Freelancers Make a Great Permanent Hire

I hope that has been a help if you are considering ending your freelance work to take a permanent role. There are of course many benefits you can bring an employer from your experience as a freelancer. If you are confident about them this will shine through. Understand their concerns and be ready to hit them head on. Here are the main benefits you can offer an employer when going from freelance to permanent:

·         “Street wisdom” in business

·         Particular empathy with clients

·         Understanding of clients’ need

·         Wide range of creative experience

·         Wide range of external contacts

·         Appreciation of job security

·         Renewed enjoyment of teamwork

Have you successfully made the transition from freelance to permanent work? What suggestions do you have for someone who wants to make the switch?