What are the pros and cons of working as a creative employee in a digital agency vs. working as a freelancer (VA for a coach or social media manager)? What do you think are the motivations of those who choose one over the other? Asking from a point of view of a career shifter who had been an employee in a BPO for more than 10 years.

Fitz: Well, I would like to answer this question in the sense that, is it better to be an employee or to be a freelancer? And I believe that it really depends on your preference. Find the option where you will have the most self-fulfillment, where you feel that you can grow better as a person. When it comes to being an employee, of course, one of the advantages of being an employee is you have an access to a network because you have your officemates, you have your bosses, you have your clients, et cetera. And you also have the opportunity to learn. It really depends on the ad agency, but of course your company will usually provide training. Your company will usually send you out to events, conventions, conferences, where there is an opportunity to learn a lot.

When you are working as a freelancer, you are more self-directed. So if you're the type of person who wants to be independent, when it comes to directing your career, then it would be, that's an advantage of being a freelancer. And of course, being a freelancer is the first step towards becoming a solopreneur and then being an entrepreneur. I've met a lot of freelancers who after working for a couple of years, they eventually put up their own agency. So they're now managing their own set or roster of freelancers and they are running the business.

If I will choose, I would tell them to work as an employee first in a digital ad agency, because it's a great experience to see how an agency works. And then if you feel that you want to put up your own agency or you want to become a freelancer, then that's the time that you go towards that path. There's really some value in working as an employee. I myself remember there are a lot of lessons that I've learned that I still apply today that I learned when I was still working as an engineer in an office. So those are really valuable things that you can pick if ever you go to becoming a business owner.

Sean: Completely agree with Fitz that you have to first get as much as you can and learn as much as you can before starting out on your own. Because starting out on your own is not as easy as it looks and sounds, especially with the glorified startup scene that we have all over the world right now, that, “No. Follow your heart, your passion. Go do your own thing.” It's not as easy as it looks. And I know a lot of people who have been burned and they lost interest or they're now fearful or afraid to do it again because they jumped before the ship was there to catch them. And so they hit the mud and it’s difficult that way.

So get as much as you can and choose your leaders. Go to a company where the leadership is really good. Because whatever it is that you plan to start up someday if you know leadership well, if you're able to practice it well, I believe that increases your chances of success by a thousand fold. Those are some of the pieces of advice that I'm going to give you. It's not a matter of pros and cons. It's difficult to just say here are the pros, here are the cons. There's a lot of going on in between that you have to also consider.

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