BIG NEWS: I got a full-time job!

Sorry I’ve been MIA the past week. Last week was a busy one – I actually applied for a full-time office job last Sunday and after a phone interview, an in-person interview meeting with four different people and a writing and editing test, I was offered the job!

To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I’m going to warn you in advance that this post might be rather long and jumbled, but I’ll do my best to organize my thoughts in a way that’s easy to read and understand.

What will I be doing?

Basically, the same thing I do now (writing and editing) only on a full-time basis. I am the new Web Content Editor and Writer for a financial company here in Charlotte. I can’t wait to use my knowledge and experience over the past three years of freelancing to help out a company and bring what I have to offer to the table. I feel I am a perfect fit for the role and am beyond happy I was offered the job.

Truth be told, I wasn’t necessarily looking for full-time work, but I was looking for one “main” job in addition to all of my freelancing clients. As a freelancer, one of my biggest struggles is keeping my work flow consistent (I’m sure my fellow freelancers can relate). I was searching for jobs last Sunday as I normally do and came across the one that I got. After reading the description, I had a feeling that this job was meant to be.

What does this mean for my freelance work?

As of lately, my workload has been extremely light. A few of my clients will be of conflicting interest to the new company I’m working for, so those ones will have to go. For the rest of them, I plan on continuing to freelance in the evenings and on weekends. I’ve worked hard to build a career in freelancing and hope to continue some of my work over the years.

The benefits of full-time work over freelancing

Ok – here’s the big one. I used to be all about freelancing. The benefits truly are amazing, but…and a big “but”…there are also a ton of benefits you get through working full-time for an employer that freelancing just doesn’t provide.

I get to be in an office…with people!! I’ve been doing the SAHM/WAHM thing for three years now. While I love my daughters more than anything in the world, I’m ready to socialize again with adults. Don’t get be wrong – we go on plenty of play dates and do lots of activities throughout the week, but I want to work with a team and be a part of something. As many of you know, we moved all the way from Phoenix, AZ to Charlotte, NC last summer. I grew up in AZ and had a huge social network of friends – both mom friends and best friends since high school. I also had my family there. I socialized plenty without working because of the tight network I had. Now, I don’t have that. I’d be lying if I said I don’t get lonely some days working from home by myself.

I get a break from my daughters. Again, my girls are my number one priority. Always have been, always will be. But they are challenging!! I truly believe I will be a better mom because I’ll have a focus outside of “mommy.” My girls currently are in daycare part-time so I can freelance and they will be switching to full-time once I start my new job. They are already adjusted to their current daycare and love it. The days they don’t go, they both wake up begging to “go to school.” Now, I can justify sending them more because of the increase in income I’ll be receiving.

I get to work from home two days a week. That’s right – I truly landed the best role for me. I will be in the office three days and telecommuting the other two days. I get socialization and the benefits of being surrounded by like-minded people, plus I get to work from home which is something I’ve (obviously) always loved. Most likely, my girls will go to daycare for half-days on these days to save some money. They still both take 2-3 hour naps in the afternoons which will give me time to work. I might adjust this depending on my workload, but I am so excited to be working for a company that is so supportive of working moms.

I have a salary. Need I say more? No more chasing work, no more waiting on clients to pay me, no more working my butt off just to earn a few hundred extra bucks. I have a set salary, with bonuses, and raises, and equity. This will allow my husband and I to budget our money better and to better prepare ourselves for our future.

My work is streamlined. This is probably one of the biggest benefits. With freelancing, my client list is pretty big and I only work part-time. I’m extremely organized and have never missed a deadline, but my work is truly all over the place. Not only do my topics vary, but so do the guidelines for each blog and website. Some sites want AP style, some sites want a certain number of links included, some sites want the first letter of the first word of each heading capitalized whereas others want the first letter of every word of each heading capitalized (are you still with me?). I spend a lot of time making sure my articles are in the correct format and I spend a lot of time searching for more work. I can’t wait to have one main focus as my main income stream!

I get PAID TIME OFF. And with this specific company, it’s actually unlimited. That’s right – unlimited paid time off. Of course, this cannot be abused and I never would, but it’s wonderful to know that if I get sick I can call in worry-free, if one of my girls is sick I can take a day off and I can travel often as long as I’m meeting my goals and getting my work done.

And there are more benefits I haven’t mentioned–like room for advancement, a matching 401K plan and quarterly bonuses. If you asked me last year if I thought I’d ever work in an office again, I would have said “no way!!” However, here I am with an opportunity that was just too good to pass up, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Are you a freelancer or do you work for an employer? Do you like your current situation? Would you change it if you could?