Everywhere I look, I'm reading about the increase in freelancers in America. People are calling it the "gig culture" and it's causing a stir amongst those who have only ever known the full-time 9-5 workforce of our parents' generation.
I've found myself in this "gig culture" on-and-off over the years in New York City. I worked a lot of gigs throughout my grad school years to make some extra cash while in classes full-time. I worked anything from hostessing at a restaurant to online styling for an app, handing out theatre flyers in Times Square to cater-waitering. It's true what they say -- you can do anything in this city to make money.
After graduating grad school (and six months of unemployment), I landed my first big girl, full-time job at a dot com. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing, but it was health insurance, experience, and a paycheck. Three years later, I was miserable and ready to move on but unsure where to go.
I always wanted to be a writer. Whether I was writing short stories in elementary school or news features in college, I knew I wanted to spend my time writing. But, I could never really figure out how to make that happen.
It took me three years of a job I didn't enjoy, a couple classes, and a stint of being unemployed to realize I was the only person who was going to make my writing career happen. I wasn't going to be discovered and no one was really just reading my tweets thinking I'm hilarious (besides a few loyal friends). So, I started emailing and networking and "putting my feet to the pavement" to make this dream come true.
Networking, as they say, is the strongest tool to getting you to where you want to be. Every freelance job I've gotten since leaving the full-time workforce has been through someone I know. And, I've gotten many of my friends freelance work as well. My advice is not to only reach out to your contacts when you want a favor, but to keep an on-going friendly relationship that serves you both personally and professionally.
In a city like this, filled with qualified freelancers, someone is bound to chose a friend over a distant contact when the next "gig" pops up.