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Who does your taxes? Need a recommend. Thanks.
Who here is freelancing while working full time?
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Trust me, you’re not going to find anything “too soon”. I guarantee it won’t seem soon enough.
Sorry to hear friend. The market has been really rough these last 2 years so I doubt you’ll find something “too soon.”
Therefore since it’s definitely going to take awhile to find something anyway, I would start searching immediately while you work on your own projects.
At least that’s what I’d do.
Shake off the Anxiety. Work on your projects and enjoy your time away from corporate. The job market is in the toilet.
Enjoy your freedom of time for however long you’d be financially able—I think if one can take an extended break, absolutely take it, times are hard.
Meanwhile, I would put feelers out there right away to colleagues/connections you already know and trust, and let them know when you’re fully available. If you want to wait months to be available, that’s fine to say that, but as others have echoed, you may be waiting to find work for a while longer than that.
Maybe let yourself not vie for work (ie cold-applying or going to recruiters) for a month or so, see if your network can connect you to any opportunities, and then you can get back to the “hunt” for work if your network doesn’t strike gold.
I would take a couple of hours each day to look for jobs. Prep Ai and LinkedIn or other good sources. And then go about your personal projects. Do it early so you get the whole day for unexpected good or bad email news while you do your thing. And remember, like everything else in life, compound interest will get you to your new sweet spot.
Yeah I had a large regular contract end in November 2024 and haven't found anything to replace it
Enjoy your time away from the full-time job … maybe pen a real inviting new resumé version that is for freelance work, and send to every agency around that you’d like to work with, meet other advertising pros, and build your professional community!
The job market is dead as a doornail, so do your thing. You won't be missing any opportunities because there are none at the moment, and it's not likely to change anytime soon.