Self Employed To Full Time Job: Is It Possible?

A recruiter recently asked me whether I would make a good fit for a 9-to-5 role.
 
She was concerned that as a self-employed individual, I might not be prepared for the rigours of a full-time role.
 
“There’s a reason why there’s a ‘free’ in ‘freelance’; you always have some free time for yourself,” the recruiter said, pointing out a misnomer.
 
It got me thinking: can you go from being self-employed to a full-time job?
 
A reason to wake up and grind
 
I read Grit by Angela Duckworth right before starting my MBA. Duckworth defines grit as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals."
 
“Grit is working really hard, to make that future a reality. Grit is a marathon, not a sprint,” Duckworth says in her TED Talk, which revolves around the subject matter for her book.
 
Essentially, grit determines your capacity to work hard and maintain focus on specific goals and tasks not just for weeks, but for years.
 
Duckworth notes that it is grit, and not talent, that determines long-term personal success.
 
As I prepared to enter the hallowed halls of business school, I took the lessons espoused by Duckworth into account.
 
But it struck me: I already had grit, as does every other self-employed person. I had been self-employed for two years prior to starting my MBA in 2018.
 
It’s because of that grit that I learned to hustle and find various clients to grow as a freelancer.

Self-employed workers bring an entrepreneurial spirit with them, a lens that doesn’t view a full-time role at a company solely as a 9-to-5 job.

I also completed my MBA while being self-employed.
 
But it was way before business school that I learned to hustle as a freelancer.
 
During a freelance writing course I took in journalism school, my instructor taught me everything ­— from writing the perfect story pitch aimed at editors, to keeping a line of credit for those dry spells when client work dies down.
 
These are all essential tools one needs as a self-employed writer.
 
I also learned how to create a schedule to work with a disparate number of clients with unique needs and demands.
 
I’m privileged to have worked full-time in the pressure cookers that are newsrooms.
 
Yet, the hustle, self-promotion, and constant networking needed as a self-employed individual makes working full-time in newsrooms—dare I say—easy.
 
Self-employed workers--who are increasing in numbers—offer a mindset that complements companies looking to scale.
 
Our innate need to continuously grow our own business bodes well for companies on the up and up.
 
To answer the recruiter’s question: yes. The 9 to 5 doesn’t faze me.
 
Self-employed workers bring an entrepreneurial spirit with them, a lens that doesn’t view a full-time role at a company solely as a 9-to-5 job.
 
Rather, we see it as time spent helping a company grow, something we are pros at doing for ourselves.