Does Freelancing Require Paid Training In 2022?

The covid pandemic has left us with a world that is not the same anymore. Freelancing has emerged as a new trend. Freelancing jobs are becoming more and more relevant. This is mainly because a majority of the traditional job systems have started collapsing because of the pandemic.

Earlier freelancing was believed to be unstable. Now because of layoffs in traditionally operating companies, the term job stability has nearly become non-existent. Because of this, people’s mindset is slowly changing. Even companies have realized that it is easy to employ a freelancer and make payments based on their contributions rather than having someone working full-time.

Until now we have invested lakhs of rupees into college for training and job security. Now that the traditional model of employment had become unstable and not so relevant, a lot of youngsters are deciding to become a freelancer. Since all this is very new the first question that pops into one’s mind who chose to become a freelancer is  ‘Do I need any training to become a freelancer?’.

The answer is both yes and no. This is because the most essential part of becoming a freelancer is having the relevant skills and many of the current generation's skills can be self-taught for free or through formal training from reputed platforms or institutions.

There are lots of high-paying in-demand skills like copywriting, content writing, video editing, game design, graphic design, web development, and many more. A majority of the skills can be self-taught or acquired through formal training. Both of these methods have their very own merits and demerits.

First, let's walk through the self-taught method. Youtube and the democratization of media have let a lot of people create their content. Experts from, various fields who are interested in teaching have put their teaching in the form of videos on YouTube. Since all these educational contents are available for free this is the cheapest and most easily accessible form of self-learning.

 For example, if one wants to become a freelance graphic designer, he/she can go to youtube and type ‘Photoshop tutorials’ and get hundreds of free tutorials. But the problem with using YouTube as a learning source is that a majority of the content will not be structured and one can easily get lost in the ocean of tutorials available. 

Also, YouTube is the most distracting platform to learn anything substantial. Because it is not a platform made exclusively for educational content one might easily get distracted by other mindless entertainment videos.

So if you want to have clarity and a proper road map in learning skills it's better to opt for an online platform that provides paid educational content. These platforms will provide you with tutorials that are structured and make your learning process more swift and elegant. Most of these platforms will also provide you with internships. This will help you use the skills in real-time to gain experience.

Apart from these platforms, there are also many individual tutors who are experts in their field who provide this type of paid content. One more advantage of learning from these individual tutors is that they come from a place of professional experience and will help you understand more nuances as per the industry requirements and train yourself accordingly.

So to become a freelancer you can acquire skills either by learning through YouTube and blogs for free or opt for formal training through any reputed platform or institution or a professional individual by paying them. But one should keep in mind that the fee paid for these platforms or individuals is much lower than the fees one pays for college. So to opt for formal training or not is your choice based on your financial situation and state of mind.