As the employment landscape changes and freelancing becomes popular across a wider range of industries, the University of Northampton's Wray Irwin explores the ways that careers professionals can support those who are considering this route
The world of work is changing. No longer can careers professionals support students and graduates with any certainty about the career pathways open to them, or how the degree they achieve will help them to build their career.
Technological advances, such as the development of artificial intelligence (AI), are hollowing out traditional professions and replacing entry-level roles - that have been the first foot on the ladder for many graduates - with algorithms and software that complete simple tasks in a fraction of the time.
The 2018 Law Society report Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession identified that lower paid legal roles will be replaced by technology and working practices changed forever by the resultant decline of traditional employment - and the rise of alternatives such as self-employment, sessional employment, and the 'gig' economy. Every industry is facing these issues and changes to the way we all work are inevitable.
Technology isn't the only driver changing the graduate employment landscape. The increasingly globalised nature of business requires applicants to be able to work across territories, cultures, and jurisdictions. Increased awareness of political, environmental and economic crises feeds a sense of loss of control over their destinies for many, with the world becoming more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA).
Being a freelancer is a mindset, not a skillset that can be taught - and isn't for everyone. Graduates need a tolerance to risk
These uncertainties impact us all, with a quarter of the heads of careers services in higher education reporting that the graduate labour market will be unpredictable or uncertain over the coming 12 months. This requires us to provide solutions that enable students to make the most of the opportunities that are out there.
Careers professionals are best placed to prepare students for this VUCA future and ensure they possess the tools needed to navigate the madness that is out there. One of these tools is freelancing.
Identify students with a freelancer mindset
Freelancing is a distinct form of self-employment that requires graduates to provide their skills and talents to a number of clients on a flexible basis. They are workers who have made the conscious decision to adopt a flexible approach to their work. They are not employed by a company or committed to a single customer - they have the freedom to choose the projects they'd like to work on and the clients they'd like to work for.
Freelancing has been a traditional option in the creative industries for many years, but we are seeing this model adopted across a growing range of industries and disciplines. What do graduates do? 2018/19 identifies a diverse range of subjects where freelancing is now evident - from entrepreneurship to marketing, architecture to HR, and IT to education.
It appeals to Millennials and Gen Z because it allows them to choose the contracts they take on that align with their own sense of value and purpose. They can mix part-time work with freelancing, or structure a job to fit around family and personal commitments.
Being a freelancer is a mindset, not a skillset that can be taught - and isn't for everyone. Graduates need a tolerance to risk. After all, they are not guaranteed work nor do they earn a regular wage. They need to be self-reliant and motivated to work on their own and do whatever is needed to get the job done. They need to be amazing networkers, building a profile for themselves and leveraging those relationships to gain work.
Make freelancing part of the employability offer
As careers professionals we have a central role to play in identifying freelancing as a graduate opportunity for our students. This requires us to look beyond our existing suite of support tools and adopt a more nuanced hybridised approach to employability support.
At the University of Northampton, we have integrated our student entrepreneurship programmes into our employability offer, adopting an enterprise coaching model that supports students to explore their perspectives on work. We focus on all aspects of 'working for yourself' to include freelancing, contracting and self-employment as career options.
Freelancing not only opens opportunities for graduates, it also develops the skills employers say they are looking for
Working with local employers and social enterprises, we create opportunities for students to work on consultancy projects, scaffolding support to help them succeed while learning about themselves and developing the skills, behaviours and mindsets needed to be entrepreneurial. Our Changemaker employability offer is embedded in all our undergraduate programmes so that all career options are explored in the context of their taught subject and mindsets as well as the essential skills needed in the 21st century are developed, practiced, and valued.
As the labour market becomes more complicated and requires greater flexibility, creativity, and entrepreneurial workers, the supporting of freelancing as a career option not only opens opportunities for graduates to work for themselves, it also develops the skills employers say they are looking for from graduates. To maximise our ability to support our students requires us to demonstrate the same flexibility, creativity, and entrepreneurial approach to our own practice.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of HECSU/Prospects
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