Another posibility when looking for a job is to work on your own, also known as freelance work or being a freelancer.

A freelancer is a worker whose activity consists in tasks related to his or her profession but self-employed, for people who ask for their services.

We usually connect the image of the freelancer to an independent person, who doesn’t want to be tied to any rules (hours, dressing, etc)… However, this stereotype is changing to a much more realistic image. The truth is the world economic crisis is making people try and offer their services as freelancers.

In the beginning, the main area for freelancers was journalism. Companies from the media would have full-time employees and also freelancers who’d write some articles and get payed for them. More areas followed, like IT, graphic design, photography, translation and many other professional and creative services.

Internet has helped freelancers in areas like software development, websites design, IT and business… since it allows the freelancer to work from distant places (their own home or even different countries).

There are also many websites that are only for freelancers to offer services or look for jobs.