As a professional in IT, you have several career options as an employee, freelancer, consultant or entrepreneur (business owner) among others. We will see the advantages and disadvantages of each option and then discuss how to combine them to test various paths before making such an important decision, like which career to follow.

Here we won’t even talk about careers as a programmer, tester, architect or software engineer; just a high-level view of how to approach your career.

The Employee#

IT pays well, even working as an employee, you can earn a good income being hired through CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws), the traditional employment contract with a signed card. There are many opportunities both in private enterprise and at various government levels. Several foreign companies hire remote workers and some even finance immigration processes.

Advantages:#

  • Vacations
  • Thirteenth salary
  • Paid sick days
  • Health plan, restaurant checks and other benefits that the company may offer
  • Notice period
  • Greater stability

Disadvantages:#

  • Salaries limited by the employer
  • Less mobility, we tend to stay in the same location for a long time, which hinders professional growth.
  • High taxes
  • Dependence on the employer

The employee has the greatest security or stability, as the salary is guaranteed by the employer. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, as it limits opportunities for career growth over the long term. To avoid exchanging job security for employment, the employee ends up limiting risk throughout their career, reducing opportunities for growth. This occurs frequently in public sector jobs, especially when they are concurred.

Professional growth is also limited to the success of the employer. When the professional does not work in companies with rapid growth, their career can be seriously impacted. Small businesses where IT is not part of the business are an indicator of potential problems, as the needs and opportunities offered to the IT professional tend to be limited by the size of the team.

Small cities also tend to offer fewer opportunities for growth, as they have smaller companies and more limited industries.

The notion of risk as an employee has two sides. On one hand, the salary is guaranteed during the employment relationship. On the other, you delegate someone else to generate your income. Depending on how you see this guarantee can lead you to choose a different career.

The Freelancer#

The freelancer performs specific tasks such as web design, technical support, interface design and even software testing. The freelancer usually works through a network of contacts, often created during college or when they worked as employees.

Advantages#

  • No fixed working hours
  • No boss or superior hierarchical level
  • Can organize your day as you want, requiring great ability to self-organize to avoid missing deadlines
  • Can charge different values for each type of work

Disadvantages#

  • No fixed working hours
  • Depending on the duration of each service or contract, there may be several days or weeks without work, especially in the beginning.
  • There is no guaranteed income, a health problem can greatly affect your income as a professional
  • Work can be irregular, with periods of intense activity alternating with periods of little or no work. Regularizing cash flow can be stressful.

One of the greatest advantages of freelancing is the constant change of clients, an environment that is dynamic and where each job may have completely different conditions from the previous one. Continuous learning, as to remain productive and up-to-date, the best tools and methods must be used.

The career as a freelancer requires some degree of financial and marketing/sales dispositions that are not possible for all IT professionals. Managing the stress of periods without contracts can be more stressful than many people could handle. Good financial management is essential for times without projects.

Managing your own time and stress is fundamental. Not having fixed working hours is both an advantage and a disadvantage that can lead to either better quality of life or physical and mental saturation due to excessive work.

The Consultant#

A consultant usually works on longer projects than a freelancer. The consultant also has a more “Corporate” context in their day, working with large companies that need external opinions or quick access to a specific technology.

Another difference is that the consultant usually works for a consulting company that allocates them to one or several clients.

Advantages#

  • Salary guaranteed by the consulting company
  • Usually well-paid
  • Position of expert in a given subject or technology
  • Greater continuity of activities than a freelancer, not losing income when there are no contracts
  • Accumulates the advantages of an employee

Disadvantages#

  • When contracts are long-term, it can be quite some time working for the same client
  • Must constantly update
  • Certifications and training are part of daily life
  • A more formal work environment with presentations and meetings

The Entrepreneur#

The entrepreneur has a higher risk acceptance profile than the previous categories. The entrepreneur may finance development projects before they are sold or even before a viability study has been done.

It is entrepreneurs who create start-ups with their own money or from investors.

Entrepreneurs also create recurring businesses, where initially they develop a product or service that can be customized for each client.

The entrepreneur works in teams, with several partners, or hires employees to write the software, handle clients, etc. The key words are: vision, risk, focus and sales.

  • Vision to build a new business product or service.
  • Risk because something may go wrong, such as no one wanting the new product or service.
  • Focus because building anything takes time and distractions can delay or prevent the entrepreneur from achieving their goal.
  • Sales because knowing how to sell and maintaining contact with your clients is essential, as a product or service that does not pay must be abandoned as soon as possible.

Recurring income is the entrepreneur’s objective.

Advantages#

  • You are in charge, you decide what to do
  • You start using other people’s time to make money
  • Greater possibility of profits

Disadvantages#

  • You are in charge, you need to ensure that tasks will be done properly (increasing income, minimizing risk as much as possible)
  • Managing risk and the business’ finances can be very stressful
  • Managing your own time is essential for maintaining physical and mental health.
  • Greater administrative and legal burden
  • Pleasing clients, salespeople, investors and employees is not a simple task

Entrepreneurship is not easy and not everyone has the preparation or motivation to do it. Another problem is access to capital.

What to choose?#

It all depends on your profile, where you live and what opportunities are available to you. Availability of capital and your level of risk acceptance also play a fundamental role in making the best choice.

There are many combinations that may suit different people. An example is combining multiple careers at once, one main and another secondary. It’s not uncommon for public employees to work as teachers, often allowed by statutes. Or solo entrepreneurs, where you work alone on your business, creating a product or service after work, or even as a primary activity, but without employees.

The internet has brought many new business opportunities that can be explored from an office in any part of the world. From creating small 3D printed products, books, courses, SaaS and websites that allow hiring freelancers.

If you’re starting out, it’s worth a little bit of everything. There are entrepreneurship courses at organizations like your local SEBRAE. You don’t need to open a business to see how things work, training and even videos can help foster interest.

For freelancers, sites like Fiverr or Upwork can give an idea of what is paid and the most sought-after services. Be careful with international competition, especially from countries that are cheaper than Brazil.

As a consultant, sites like Toptal can be a good starting point. But usually require professionals with some experience. Expect also a selective process with many requirements such as training, intelligence tests among others.

As an employee, besides public companies in your region, large private enterprises are an excellent option. Large American companies also hire worldwide, such as Facebook, Google, Netflix, Microsoft among others. But you need to prepare for interviews that are very demanding, with programming problems and knowledge of algorithms.

In all options, doing a formal course is not a bad idea. It’s common when we’re 20 or 25 years old, to think two or three years is too long. A good undergraduate degree is still essential. Try to get into the best university you can and make the most of it. It’s an investment of time that may bear fruit for many years. At worst, the university or course will help create your network (networking) which later may open other opportunities.

And in all options, speaking English is fundamental. It’s another significant investment of time, but it will multiply business and job opportunities. Learn to read, speak and even write in English. Just going to class is not enough. If you study for more than two years and can’t read or speak almost nothing, you’re doing something wrong. Mastery of the language comes with experience and time, but basic skills are accessible in two or three years. Increase your exposure to the language with music, movies, activities, books.

Don’t look for magic lists or courses. There is no course or book that will give you complete access to a career. This will be built over time, effort and dedication. A career does not build itself in 3 or 6 months; it’s the result of years of work. Try to take advantage of your time and every year improve, resist comfort.