I ran this infographic over on HR Bartender and wanted to share it here as well. We talked about having a side hustle or freelance gig as part of unretirement. Organizations will be looking for contingent workers. as part of their staffing strategy. The question becomes what kind of contingent worker are you?  The term includes on-call, temporary, freelancers, consultants, and contractors (just to name a few). But even within these titles, there are differences.

Take freelancers for example. If you Google the definition of freelancer, it says “working for different companies at different times rather than being permanently employed by one company.” By this definition, I’m a freelancer. A full-time freelancer.

But I believe many people would say that a person with a full-time job and a side-hustle does freelancing. Or a person who is retired and takes an occasional project. LinkedIn recently shared this infographic on the five different types of freelancers in today’s workplace.

Organizations are not only going to want to make decisions about hiring freelancers for their business, but they are going to have to decide what kind of freelancer will fit with their operation. I’m not just talking about culture fit – although that is important. Freelancers have to be able to work within the structure of the organization. So, if the company needs their freelancer to stop by occasionally for meeting, can a “side gigger” make themselves available? Or if the organization would like to engage a freelancer for a year, is the “substitute” going to bail on them once they find a job? These are things organizations need to consider. Which means these are things for you to consider as you plan out your unretirement.

What type of work are you planning to do? When considering a freelancer assignment, think about more than just the task. Will phone calls or meetings be required? Is there the possibility this could turn into a regular freelancer assignment? It might help you decide the type of work you want to do and assignments you want to consider.

Consider short-term and long-term arrangements. Speaking of assignments, if you want to have a regular side gig, then you will need to build relationships with organizations. That means marketing. Think about what you’re prepared to do to keep some semi-steady income.  Everyone benefits from the arrangement, but it takes work and resources from both sides.

Once you understand the type of freelancer you want to be, it will make it easier for organizations to hire you. Hiring the wrong freelancer is like hiring the wrong employee. The company will constantly be in hiring mode and training people to do the work. That’s not something they want to do. And you don’t want the hassle of finding new clients all the time.