Does Freelance Experience Counts in Actual Job Interviews?

In short “Absolutely!", freelance experience counts in Job Interviews but as in every situation, there is always a caveat. In this particular case, the condition which makes the experience count or not is “Relevance” and “Quality”.

Relevance

The first criteria for a freelance experience are to contribute something meaningful. The work is related to the applicant's position. For example – freelance experience in logo designing or graphic designing will make a positive impression for someone who is applying for the position of designer. Although the same experience may not contribute any significant value to someone who is aiming for a position of a backend developer.

Quality

The second criterion for a freelancer to make a positive impact is if the quality of the work is up to the mark. Even if we have done a lot of work, if the majority of them turns out to be of very low quality or simple copy cats then it doesn’t provide significant value for any career. Even if we didn’t start with very high-grade work still if there is progress over time and real development in skills then that definitely can make a positive impression.

Other Benefits

In most cases when someone starts working as a freelancer, the amount of technical support and resources which they have is not enough to complete a big project. That’s why the Internet becomes the best resource for any freelancer. From an employer’s perspective, it represents a process where a potential employee is learning as well as applying the knowledge in a practical situation. A crucial factor that many freshers end up ignoring is, since there is no clear direction for the correct answers, most of the freelancers end up looking at a lot of solutions and possibilities to solve a problem. This method of learning ends up providing a lot of extra knowledge which strengthens the base of any career. Something which may not be of relevance in one process may end up solving a vital step for another process.

In many ways, freelancing provides work experience in a specific field. It also provides other valuable experiences related to any career. In terms of manpower, most of the time freelancers are either a single person or a small group. Due to this condition, every single person ends up doing a lot more work. They are related to the overall business. In the process of Project Management, a single person acquires skills of client communication, time management, budget requirements, and marketing. These are essential for any freelancing career to keep on moving forward. This process develops the overall value of a person as a human resource to any company.

Conclusion

While going through the hiring process every employer looks for human resources. They will make the company better as a living system. We have to keep in mind that a good brand in many ways is similar to a living system that constantly evolves to be better than what it was yesterday. This is why an employee’s behavior, attitude, and emotional values also contribute to the environment of a company. Someone who has the willpower to create something positive on his/her own, who strives to learn, who understands the whole process of running a company has a higher value than someone who only knows how to solve a problem.

Freelance is a platform that provides opportunities for all of these experiences. That is why it is never a bad idea to have freelance experience, although keep in mind the caveats!