Freelance Instructional Designer vs Full-time Employee

Wow great video! I just finished my masters and i also want to join big tech but it seems like freelance could be better! I would love to see a video where you talk about first steps as a freelancer, mistakes to avoid, classes you had to take that helped you maybe? I feel lost with everything i want to learn and unsure about the expectations out there.. thank you so much for this content, looking forward to your new series :)

Really useful video! Keep them coming!

Thanks for making this video Devlin! Very inspiring. Curious how many percent of Upwork works out of all work you did in your first year freelancing?

Hey Devlin, could you please do a day in the life of an instructional designer? that'd be extremely helpful for those who are interested in working in the field. I have been watching several videos about it but can't seem to grasp what is that an ID really does

Amazing content! I found a lot of other material surrounding I.D a bit unclear. Thank you!!

Hi Devlin,
Very interesting video, thank you for making it.
I've never thought about the stability point from this perspective (consciously) but it sounds logical.
I am not sure if you have a video on that but I think when you make this comparison it could be also useful to talk a bit more about the different skillset that you need for these two different paths. I mean if someone wants to be a successful freelancer, they need to have specific skills that might not be needed at the workplace (and the other way around), for example, marketing, innovation, time management, creativity re. opportunities etc.
I know you mentioned something related to this but still I think the pros and cons would be more clear based on these.
Thank you for the videos again!

Great video, as always. Thanks for sharing this info!

Hi Devlin. That's my first comment on your videos. I just wanted to thank you for the simplicity and also honesty that I feel within your way of talking. Your videos are really beneficial and it's my honor to be one of your channel's biggest fans. I'm a teacher of English as a second language and willing to shift to ID. I believe your channel will be my mentor. Thanks 🌹 🌹

Devlin, this was fascinating! Much of what you said resonates with me. Right now, I'm a part-time College Prof and a part-time ID student. Next spring I graduate and will be looking for ID work. The thing with me is that I've worked 9-5 jobs for years and I always hated the feeling of working within that 9-5 Monday-Friday confine, with 4-5 weeks of vacation. My college teaching gig is much more flexible - I only need to be at the college during teaching hours, and I lesson plan and mark whenever I want to. I also really like variety in my work. Thinking about taking a full-time ID job and leaving the teaching world bothers me, so I've been thinking more and more about keeping my part-time teaching gig while doing freelance ID work part-time. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that, or maybe even your advice. Thanks for all of your great content Devlin!

Awesome video! Was searching every where to find a video that compares and contrasts the different instructional design routes and this was perfect. Thank you!

I’ve been watching a lot of your videos about freelancing vs working for a company. If you are freelancing, what is a reasonable amount of projects to take on at one time? Did you start out with one at a time when you first started? Or is the norm that you are working on multiple projects at once? I’m very new to this and trying to transition from teaching. Thank you!

I always appreciate your honestly about the pros and cons, especially that networking and marketing aspect involved with working for yourself. I've had a freelance business as a writer, editor, and teacher for quite a while, yet the pay for amount of work is just not there. Some people manage to break through and find the high paying freelance editing and writing work but it is very difficult and, of course, that is true for teaching jobs - the illusive tenure track positions, for example. One of the things that intrigues me about the ID world is that the skill is a bit more niche (everyone thinks they are a professional writer now) so there is definitely more of a skill to market. Besides, ya know, just LOVING the whole process of learner / user experience.

Where do you look for freelance opprtunities? Or, where were you looking before you had the audience you have now?

One advantage, although there are many, to the full-time vs the freelance employee is that if you work for a large organization you can serve as part of a team to create elearning that you wouldn't be able to create easily as a contract employee. For example, leading having a dedicated graphic designers, videographers, voice talent, in addition to the SMEs that allows you to more easily create content that you couldn't easily create alone. To those of you who work primarily as freelance elearning developers are you able to collaborate with others (beside SMEs) to create your deliverables?

Thanks for your honest perspective.

Discrimination is key to keep learning and growing to expand your network. I am currently transition from teaching to instructional designed, I also considered Amazon but your video has giving me some clarity. Thank you for sharing.

I love freedom, so I'd definitely go the freelance route.

What are your thoughts on full-time vs. freelance instructional design? Let me know!