(Edited to add: The Freelance Writer Academy now offers scholarships! See below.)
Almost one in four U.S. residents joined the WFH (work from home) club at least part of the time since the pandemic was officially called in March 2020. According to a recent Bankrate.com poll, more than half of those (57 percent) said that working from had a positive effect on their personal finances.
Among those effects: fewer lunches out, no commuting costs, less need to dress up and fewer impulse purchases. Some also didn’t have to pay for child care, although how they got much done with kids at home is a complete mystery to me.
In fact, one of the least-favorite parts about working from home was simply the distractions while they were trying to work. Those surveyed also said they missed interaction with coworkers, and cited fewer chances for salary increases and promotions while at home.
Their favorite parts: more freedom, family time and sleep.
It’s worth noting that a lot of those who did well with at-home work were already doing well. More than a quarter of those surveyed (28 percent) earned $40,000 to $80,000 a year and more than half (54 percent) earned $80,000 or more.
The combo of lower costs and those three stimulus checks meant that quite a few households were able to pay down debt and beef up their savings. In a prepared statement, Bankrate.com analyst Ted Rossman notes that credit card debt dropped by 17 percent during the pandemic.
“For those who are able to do so, working from home could provide an additional tailwind moving forward,” Rossman says.
Freelance Writer Academy discount
The Freelance Writer Academy is celebrating its one-year anniversary. The trio of successful freelancers who created the course is celebrating not just with an anniversary discount but also a new extended-payment plan.
First, you’ll save 30 percent on the course by using the discount code ANNIVERSARY. Next, you can opt to spread the tuition cost over three months instead of plunking down the full freight. (And if you can’t afford it at all and need to change your career and your life, you might qualify for a scholarship. More on that in a minute.)
Here’s what you’ll get in return: in-depth, actionable information from three extremely knowledgeable writers. Ben Luthi, Miranda Marquit and Kat Tretina dive deeply into the nuts and bolts of successful freelancing, with topics such as:
- Finding decently paid writing jobs
- Establishing yourself as a “brand”
- Learning to work with editors
- Creating a portfolio
- Smart business practices, including how to deal with taxes and how to make sure you are paid promptly
- How to “expand your empire” once you’ve gotten started
- Transitioning from regular job to full-time writer
And if you don’t want to write full-time? You can use the course to create a very nice side gig, or set yourself up as a part-timer with an eye toward expanding later on in case of a change in situation.
For example, if your current job went away you’d already have the framework in place to ask for more writing assignments. Or if you decided to move because spouse/partner got a great opportunity elsewhere, the freelancing would tide you over until you found a new job in the new place.
I know all three of these people. They are smart, focused and passionate about what they do every day. While I will receive an affiliate fee from anyone who uses my link, I would not recommend this course if I didn’t think it would help readers who are considering the writing life, or who want to step up their current freelance game. (And if you’re not satisfied, there’s a 30-day refund policy.)
If it bugs you that I would get a referral fee, head over to their website and buy it directly. Either way, don’t forget to use the discount code.
And: If you want to work from home as a freelancer in order to change your life and/or realize a long-held dream but can’t afford it, you might be eligible for a FWA scholarship. Visit their scholarship page and throw your virtual hat into the ring.)
Selling your “soft skills”
Has pandemic-related unemployment left you feeling less, well, employable? Did you or a loved one recently graduate from college and wonder whether a good job could be found? A recent HerMoney newsletter reminds consumers that “any experience is good experience.”
Yes, even your job bagging groceries or folding T-shirts at The Gap. It’s important to spell out the “soft skills” you learned in those gigs. Employers are looking for these skills, including but not limited to critical reasoning, creative problem-solving, communication and collaboration.
“Just because your previous jobs were more of a paycheck than a steppingstone to greatness doesn’t mean that you weren’t gaining valuable skills that might now make you really attractive to a prospective boss,” the newsletter notes.
The rise of artificial intelligence means that many jobs are going the way of the dodo. For now, though, AI is lacking in soft skills – which means that some gigs just can’t be done by robots.
In an op-ed piece for The Washington Post, higher education writer Jeffrey J. Selingo cited a LinkedIn analysis of 100 metro areas that revealed a shortage of 1.4 million people with these vital abilities. That’s about three times higher than the deficit of software developers.
A college diploma has become “increasingly less reliable” as a measure of someone’s readiness for work, Selingo says. In the old days it meant you were prepared for employment. Now it may mean only that the graduate was able to attend classes, write papers and pass exams. Soft skills aren’t necessarily part of the package.
“Success in the future will belong to those able to tolerate ambiguity in their work,” says Selingo, author of “There Is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow.” [As an Amazon associate, I may receive a small fee for items ordered through my links.]
“Too many recent graduates approach their job descriptions the way they did a syllabus in college – as a recipe for winning in a career. They want concrete, well-defined tasks, as if they were preparing for an exam in college.”
Important safety tip, folks: Your job will probably never be 100 percent concrete and well-defined. Be ready to reason critically, problem-solve creatively, communicate with others and work with them, too. If you can do that, you’ll be way ahead of the competition.
Readers: How are your soft skills? Where did you learn them?
So well said, Donna. I hope you are giving commencement speeches out there in Alaska. You have a lot to offer!
Ha! Thank you. But no one’s asked.
We didn’t get much done at all! But we got enough done to scrape by. Still are 😬
I didn’t learn soft skills in college. Not at home either. I think I picked them up along the way, observing people who handled things in a manner I admired, or reflecting on my mistakes and seeing (eventually) where I had gone wrong. I wish I had learned soft skills from my parents but they didn’t have them and it showed in their careers. Thanks for that insight. Good advice for anyone.
I learned some at home, especially the “collaboration” one. With four kids and not much money, we all learned to do our parts in making the place run smoothly and to be happy with what we had. Certainly working in the greenhouse and later the glass factory were good practice for “job I don’t want to do forever but for right now is paying me so I’ll do it cheerfully.”
My parents also modeled creative problem-solving, although we probably would have called it “getting by.” For example, when my dad decided to take down an old barn on the property next door (which they’d bought to turn into a rental), he used the lumber to build a big storage shed on our own side of the line. When my mom didn’t have much of a grocery budget, she went to the bread outlet and could turn a pound of ground beef into dinner for six.
We lived close to the bone, but we never went without — again, because they were good at figuring out ways to deal.