Face fear, find happiness in professional prime

It's been a year since I left the comforting security of full-time, contracted corporate employment, and I've never been happier.

Partly, that's because today's big jobs in big companies are rarely comfortable, nor secure. You perceive that you're safe because of your contract, your benefits and the predictable pattern of your work life. But you often pay for that in a host of stresses, from the threat of redundancy to long-embedded corporate politics to the lack of mobility inherent in top-heavy old corporates.

But mostly, I'm happy because I'm calling my own shots, and have returned to the kind of work I love
doing. I've joined a growing host of marketing and communications specialists with 20+ years under our belts who no longer fit the profile of in house teams (young, cheap, unquestioning) but have a wealth of experience and skill to offer. London's contractor market is keeping us busy, and, in most cases, is giving us more fulfilling work than we were doing in house.

I hesitated longer than I should have before making the jump, Fear of the unknown, especially after years of a regular pay cheque hitting your account at the end of the month, is a potent inhibitor.  For those out there who feel hostage to their in-house jobs, but don't feel brave enough to change, here are three good reasons to make the move.

ONE: Empowerment reduces stress
It's a sad fact that marketing and communications staffers are often the first to get the chop when the downsizing starts. Inevitably, staying employed becomes the No. 1 objective. That's often at the expense of taking risks, being creative or doing the right thing. Once you become a consultant, the whole paradigm shifts. Yes, you still need to make your clients happy. But they're hiring you for your experience; they want to hear what you have to say. The nature of your employment changes. You don't expect long term, and can walk away at any time. That actually takes the stress out of tough times, and makes the whole nature of the relationship easier. You might choose to be a serial monogamist, taking one long-term contract at a time (the route I've chosen). It feels almost like an in-house role, but your retained independence is liberating.

Sure, there are other stresses. Your income is more variable, the future less known, the hassle of employment admin great. (Oh, how I miss an HR department!) But those are stresses you can plan for, and administrate your way out of.

Two: You're free to do what you're best at
Most great marcoms practitioners I know love to get their hands dirty. They love digging into a business problem, then getting involved in the solution with a bit of copywriting, a storyboard, dreaming up some campaign concepts, etc. Inevitably, the higher you get inside a corporation, the less actual marketing communications you get to do. At best, you're coming up with ideas and coaching younger team members as they take on the work. At worst, you're channeling ever more energy into administration and corporate politics. Once independent, you're back in control of the kind of work you do. I'm at the coal face again, mixing strategic advice and fresh ideas with practical deployment. With that comes joy. The nature of contract work generally means more discrete projects with set time frames ... leading to a greater and more regular sense of accomplishment. And your clients want the same thing you do. They're paying you for a specific skill, thus are far more conscious than in-house bosses of not wanting to waste your time (and fee) on work that doesn't fit your brief.

Three: You'll be at the cutting edge of a new in-house marketing model
While I question the long-term wisdom of their choices, experience shows that most corporations want to get rid of their older marketing communications staffers. I've seen this my whole career; it kept me employed as a cheap 20-something while early employers collapsed. The trend, however, seems to be accelerating, with 50 as the gateway to the employment danger zone. Sure, this is keeping marketing costs down, but I think corporations will increasingly feel the pain of that lost experience. They inevitably tend to repeat their marketing mistakes of the past, because there's nobody left in-house with institutional memory. The upside, however, is a new and growing army of highly experienced freelancers, usually working at or well below the rates of equivalent agency people. A savvy, brave brand could now almost completely virtualise its marketing department, selecting the individual freelancers best for particular needs, flexing up and down at will without any of the hassles that come with permanent employment. All while spending far less than with an agency, while getting a higher match of the exact skills they need. My current client is brilliant at using contractors strategically, and I strongly believe this will become the norm in marketing. Those of us in today's freelance market can help bring about the revolution.

I'm not saying I'll never consider a contracted, in-house role again. Merely that it's not the only summit of the career ladder. Think hard about what you want, and be brave. Job satisfaction is much under-rated and too often ignored. Ironically, embracing your fear may be the path to true happiness at work.