Freelancing is an exciting career! You get to choose your own projects, clients and workload. It is also a very competitive field, so your hard skills won’t be enough to keep up. Stay tuned for the top soft skills every freelancer needs to be successful.
Top Soft Skills Every Freelancer Needs
So you’ve considered all the benefits of freelancing and now you’ve decided to take the plunge and start your career. Having in-demand hard skills is great. It’s the reason why you could start freelancing in the first place. But to give you that competitive edge, you need workplace skills too. So we’ve put together a list of top soft skills every freelancer needs:
- Organisation
- Communication
- Time-management
- Networking
- Problem-solving
- Adaptability
Organisation
The best part about being a freelancer is that you are your own boss. You decide when and where you want to work. But this also means that you are the accountant, HR and customer service departments combined. So you have to be organised. This involves creating a schedule that you know you’ll be able to manage. Luckily there are many tools online to help you with project management.
Communication
Good communication skills are an essential part of any job, but especially with freelancing. These skills are used to pitch new ideas, give updates to clients as well as negotiate your fees. Clients who aren’t happy with the way you communicate won’t use your services again. A business English course could help you express yourself more efficiently.
Time-management
Even though you’re not working the traditional 9-5, there are still deadlines you have to meet. Your clients will not be impressed if they don’t receive their services on time. Also, as a freelancer, your salary often depends on your time-management skills. This means that you cannot keep taking on new projects without completing the others first. You’ll end up with burnout.
Networking
Networking involves connecting with people in your field to help you reach your career goals. Your next job opportunities will depend on who you know and who sees your previous work. This is one field where social networking can help your career. If you’re a photographer for example, people will be more likely to hire you if you regularly post your pictures on Instagram.
Problem-solving
According to Murphy’s Law, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. This can be true for any job, but as a freelancer you have to deal with any issues by yourself. This involves understanding the problem clearly before coming up with a solution. Don’t worry, practice makes perfect. Once you have more experience, you’ll be able to predict most problems and solve them before things get out of hand.
Adaptability
This career requires you to be flexible with your skills, ideas, time and more. You might also have to go where the work takes you. So it’s a good idea to not get used to a certain style of working or even the city you live in. You never know when it might change. If you’re a freelance makeup artist, the bride could change her mind about her look on the day of the wedding. You just have to go with it. You’ll notice that as you get better at adapting, your creativity and problem-solving skills also improve. Sounds like a win-win situation to us!
Skills Academy is the word support in every way.
Boost Your Skills With us
We have a range of open access courses to help you build your freelancing skills. The best part is that you can study these courses without matric. At the end, you’ll earn a certificate to add to your CV. All you need is the ability to read and write in English. Ready to get started? Contact our course experts today. You can:
- Call us on: 0800 39 00 27 – It’s free!
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