Plenty of people dream about freelancing. You choose your own clients, set your own hours and never sit through another all-hands meeting. Fewer people stop to ask whether they would actually enjoy it. Skills and experience matter, but a survey reported by Forbes suggests your personality plays a bigger part than you might think.
What the survey measured
Skynova, a provider of invoicing templates, asked 397 freelancers and 508 traditional employees to take the Big Five personality test. Psychologists use the test to measure five broad traits. The freelancers scored higher than employees on four of them and noticeably lower on the fifth.
| Trait | Freelancers | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Conscientiousness | 70.2% | 67.2% |
| Openness | 70.1% | 54.4% |
| Agreeableness | 66.1% | 58.7% |
| Extraversion | 56.9% | 39.3% |
| Neuroticism | 57.6% | 74.5% |
Here's what each trait means for freelance work.
Openness: comfortable with the new
Freelancers scored almost 16 points higher on openness. That makes sense, because freelancers start new projects with new clients all the time, often in industries they haven't worked in before. Every brief is a little different and every client has their own way of doing things. If variety energises you rather than wearing you out, that's a good sign.
Extraversion: you have to sell
Extraversion showed the biggest gap of all, at nearly 18 points. Freelancers are always selling, whether that means pitching for work, following up on a quote or explaining their rates. Outgoing people tend to find that easier.
That doesn't rule out introverts. Plenty of successful freelancers are quiet people who let their work do the talking. A marketplace helps here, because clients come to you with a project already in mind. Instead of cold-calling, you quote on work someone has already asked for, and your profile, portfolio and reviews do much of the selling for you.
Conscientiousness: your reputation is everything
Conscientiousness covers being reliable, organised and following through. Freelancers scored only slightly higher than employees here, but the stakes are different. An employee who has a bad week still gets paid. A freelancer who misses a deadline may never hear from that client again, and a poor review follows them to the next job.
Agreeableness: clients are relationships
Freelancers were also more agreeable, meaning more cooperative and easier to work with. Just over half (50.7%) of the freelancers surveyed had long-term or recurring clients, and they said they genuinely enjoy working with nearly 61% of their clients. Repeat work is the most reliable income a freelancer has, and it comes from clients who like working with you.
Neuroticism: less stress over the small stuff
This is the one trait where a lower score helps. The survey defined neuroticism as being very sensitive to your surroundings and overstressing about everyday things, like replaying a conversation with a colleague or worrying whether an email was perfect. Freelancers scored nearly 17 points lower than employees.
That fits with the job. Freelancing comes with uncertainty built in: quiet months, late payments and clients who go silent. People who can shrug that off and keep going tend to last.
Choosing to freelance makes a difference
How people got into freelancing mattered too. More than three-quarters of the freelancers surveyed chose it, mostly for flexibility and autonomy, and they earned an average of US$50,000 a year. The quarter who freelanced out of necessity averaged US$32,000.
One fun detail: freelancers who described themselves as morning people earned about US$3,000 a year more than night owls.
Is freelancing actually better?
Not necessarily, just different. Freelancers and employees reported almost the same job satisfaction (57.6% and 56.8%). Freelancers reported slightly better work-life balance (62.3% against 58.6%), although 78.8% of them also worked weekends. Most of those (62%) said the weekend work was worth it.
A few caveats
The survey dates from 2021 and was run in the US. It also shows a pattern, not a rule. It can't tell us whether certain personalities are drawn to freelancing or whether freelancing shapes people over time. Plenty of freelancers don't fit the profile and do just fine. Personality is one factor, alongside your skills, your savings and the demand for your work.
How to find out if freelancing suits you
- Take a Big Five test. Free versions are easy to find online. Treat the results as a prompt for reflection, not a verdict.
- Be honest about the gaps. If you scored low on extraversion, think about how you'll find work without forcing yourself into constant networking. If you scored high on neuroticism, think about what would help you through a quiet month, such as a savings buffer, some part-time work or a few regular clients.
- Try a few projects first. The best test is the real thing. Before you quit your job, take on a couple of small projects on the side and see how it feels to quote, deliver and get paid on your own terms.
OzLance is a good place to start. Set up your profile, browse projects posted by clients across Australia and New Zealand, and send a quote on something small. A few real projects will tell you more than any personality test.
Source: Elaine Pofeldt, "Do You Have The Right Personality To Freelance? A New Survey Sheds Light", Forbes, 31 October 2021. Survey data from Skynova.