Very few people consider freelance work at the start of their career path, but for those that do take the plunge early on, they have challenging – but very rewarding- years ahead. With dedication, good self-discipline and excellent customer service, freelancers like Mary Tsiara can think of no better path to follow….
Mary grew up in Trikala, a small town in Greece, not far from the popular coastal city of Thessaloniki. Like all Greek schoolchildren, she was taught English as a second language from the age of ten years. Mary was enchanted by English and found herself reading books for hours, enjoying learning numerous new words and phrases. Within a short time, she knew that she would love to work with English when she finished school and to enter the exciting world of books and publishing. For school leavers in the town, there were only two main choices – to leave the town to study at uni in Athens or Thessaloniki or stay at home and join a family business. Mary decided that she definitely wanted to study English Language and English Literature for a double degree in Athens – which she did very successfully.
On graduating, Mary thought that she would teach English to give herself time to contact various publishing companies. Mary laughs as she recalls-
‘Teaching was definitely not for me! The job was not fulfilling, the compensation left much to be desired, and because there were so many of my friends doing the same, there was strong competition, and it was hard to find students – especially as I had no way of developing my client base’.
Thinking things through, she decided to get herself more highly qualified in English to have a better chance of securing a job in the publishing world. She decided the best place to study English was of course in England, and as this was pre-Brexit, she was able to begin her MA course at Newcastle University. It was to prove a very challenging time because in the following February, the world was gripped by the global pandemic and all her course work was moved online-
‘I certainly got very good at using zoom and while we covered all coursework online; the dynamics were very different because there was no opportunity to meet face to face’.
The early days were difficult
Mary realised that there would some hurdles to get over once she graduated as getting a suitable job during lockdown was going to be extremely difficult. While she was preparing her dissertation, she decided that to ‘bridge the gap’ she would get her profile uploaded onto a few freelance platforms including Upwork. She also watched a number of videos on YouTube that taught her how to best showcase her skills.
She well remembers her first jobs which were editing and providing feedback to clients self-publishing fiction. She finished her studies and as the months passed the number of job offers she was getting through Upwork were steadily increasing and she was being recommended by clients who were delighted with her work to their friends.
‘I did find the early days difficult because I was totally on my own and I did make some mistakes. Unfortunately, there are always going to be people trying to scam you or take advantage of you and I did get caught out once, but learnt a tremendous amount from this experience’.
So what are the main attributes that she feels a freelancer should have?
‘I think that you do need to be able to interact well with your client. It is very important to understand exactly what they are expecting you to do. When I am communicating with a potential new client, I always offer to write/ edit a piece for them so that they can understand the way I work. I want to give them the space and time to make sure that I have the skills they need and that I will be a ‘good fit’ for the job. I am always very sensitive to the fact that when I am editing a client’s work, it really is their work, and I am purely correcting errors and grammar and not trying to inject my character into it in any way. If I have an idea for a particular part, I will always provide it in the feedback and discuss it thoroughly with the client’.
I would go for ‘The job was not fulfilling, and the compensation left much to be desired.’
(Although I am not interested in tutoring, I wouldn’t want this to reflect badly on any future consultation endeavours)
My volume of work and earnings on Upwork speak for themselves
Mary has Upwork clients who have employed her as their editor for several of their projects. One of her first clients regularly asks Mary to edit his books and when the first title was published in the United States, he sent her a paperback copy. Seeing her name listed on the acknowledgement page with the dedication was a particularly rewarding moment -’it suddenly made it all real’.
Since then, Mary has undertaken numerous editing jobs and provides excellent feedback to her clients. She gets real satisfaction learning that their novels have been successfully published and are selling well and the fact many contact her again and again to help with their various projects is testament to the quality of her work. Mary is proud of the positive feedback clients leave on Upwork as this is both recognition and confirmation that they are pleased with her work. She feels strongly that leaving feedback is something a client should do voluntarily-
‘I never ask my clients to leave feedback as I feel that it would be wrong to pressurise them. If they do so without being prompted, it is a very special moment when I read how delighted they are with my work. If they do not leave feedback, my volume of work and earnings on Upwork speak for themselves’.
Mary feels very confident using Upwork as a freelance platform –
‘Upwork is very transparent and it is impossible to hide as your experience and the jobs you have completed are there for all to see. It is important to spend time ensuring that all the documentation regarding each job is in place. With escrow protection, you know that the money you have earned will be paid to you. Having said that, because it is such a large organisation, it is important to be wary too as there are people using Upwork who are scammers and who want to exploit freelancers and this is an important fact to always bear in mind. Some potential clients like to interview you using the platform’s service, but I prefer to exchange messages and keep communication in the chat so that everything is on record. That way, I can re-read our conversations to understand the work needed and to decide if it is something I would like to do’.
I really like freelance flexibility
For Mary, being freelance brings many bonuses –
‘I really like the flexibility and the way that I can schedule my week to suit my other commitments and leisure plans. If you are a freelancer, it is important to clearly define your working and leisure times. This can be tricky and sometimes the line does get blurred!
A huge bonus for me is that being freelance means that I am able to travel whenever I want and visit the countries of my choice and my family, who are very important to me – with a laptop in my bag, it is easy to take my work with me! I certainly plan to travel as much as possible in the years ahead’.
In the early days, Mary did find it difficult establishing herself as a freelancer and since then has been asked for advice by fellow grad students and friends. Since the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in the number of people wanting to turn freelance and work remotely, but many lack confidence to make the leap into the freelance world.
‘I remember these feelings well and am at present preparing to start my own consultancy to help people wanting advice on how to successfully make the transition and to support them when they leave the security of a 9-5 job to go freelance. There are so many points to consider and questions to be answered, I believe that my help will prove invaluable to many’…
If you would like to get in contact with Mary Tsiara for helpful advice about becoming a freelancer, you can email her on maryt.freelancingservices@gmail.com or message her on her LinkedIn and UpWork profile.
We will bring you full details of her new service early in 2023.
This interview was first published in Freelance Life Magazine Issue No3. If you want to check other interviews and other articles from the magazine, read the magazine completely free.
