With major companies laying off workers by the thousands and small businesses afraid to hire because their costs are going up, finding a job can be an impossible task.
So why not hire yourself? When even America's top financial experts recommend this route, it's something to consider.
And they are recommending it.
Suze Orman, on page 42 of the July 2010 issue of O Magazine, says "Stop looking for a staff position...
" "...
package yourself as an independent contractor for hire on a project by project basis.
" This is what graphic designers, web developers, tech gurus, virtual assistants, and copywriters like me have been doing for years.
But now experts like Suze Orman are recommending it for others as well.
Is it right for you? Being your own boss does require a mind-set shift, and it can be scary when you don't know how much money you'll make - or when it will arrive.
On the other hand, in this economy, I would be more afraid of going to work and wondering if my job was going to be downsized next week or next month.
Self-employment also requires developing some strong record-keeping skills.
The IRS will want to know how much money you make - and you'll want to deduct every possible expense.
If you're already good at keeping track of household expense, it isn't that difficult.
You just need to get on the IRS website and review all the different kinds of things that you can use as a business deduction.
You also have to learn to price your work fairly - for both you and your customer.
In the past, your employer paid a share of your Social Security and Medicare payments, and may even have contributed to your health insurance.
Now you'll be paying for everything.
For instance, say you'd been earning $25 per hour at your job and you worked 40 hours per week.
Your take home pay was $1,000 less your income taxes and your share of Social Security and Medicare.
But your employer, depending upon the kind of work you did, paid as much as 40% more by the time all of his or her taxes, etc.
were included.
So if you want to end up with $25 per hour, you need to add that 40% and charge $35 instead.
But that's not all.
In addition, you need to look at your overall month and see how much of your time you'll be spending on income-generating work and how much on record keeping, buying supplies, talking with potential customers, and marketing your services.
These are all tasks that your employer or another employee provided when you had a job, and every one of them is vital to your success.
Using our example above, multiply $35 by 40 hours and you now need to earn $1,400 per week.
If you'll spend 15 of your 40 hours on non-income-producing tasks, you now need to divide the $1,400 by 25 hours - to come up with a fee of $56 per hour.
But don't let that make you feel like you're over-charging.
Remember, when you worked for someone else, those costs were added to your wages before your employer passed the cost of your work on to a customer.
He probably also added a strong percentage for profit.
So don't be bashful about pricing! There's one more thing - being a freelancer means having a less structured lifestyle.
Most of us work from home, which gives us flexibility to work during the hours we choose, but also means numerous distractions.
And, because our work is right there at all times, we do tend to work at all hours - and work far more than 40 hours a week.
For me, it's the only way to live.
Is it right for you?