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One of the perks of being last year student in college is busy finishing your thesis while having an internship you have to take. This comparison is probably going to be unfair, as I have only gaining my title as a freelancer 2 weeks ago, while on the other side, having experience as an intern for around 10 months at 2 different tech companies. But I will go anyway!
Internship Life
Both of my internship is done at newly founded startup company. One is 3 year-old company in wedding industry, the other (where I'm currently having my internship at) is an e-commerce company in health industry. I super love my first-ever internship job and was enjoying every second of it! Mainly because I'm so into wedding, and the job itself it's quite challenging for the experienceless noob like me. Both company have different cultures. First is where you can literally wear sleeveless or sweater with sandal and no one would giving you a weird look because it's completely normal to wear casual everyday. Second is where you can only wear formal outfit in particular color every other day but Friday. Plus, no sandals.
What I love the most about my life as intern is I get to try and involve in various job/tasks. Your supervisor could ask you for help beside your main job which is good for learning and adding more experience. I can learn a lot. Not so lots, though, but surely more than I can get in freelance job. Especially when your job fits your passion, you can gain a connection and probably have a chance to become a full-time employee there. The only thing I dislike about internship is when I feel like everyone is underestimating me, especially when there is seniority which creates a huge gap between interns and employees (like I-don't-want-to-eat-on-the-same-table-with-you-because-you-are-not-on-the-same-level-with-me kind of seniority). I can easily become forgotten and invisible there. This kind of seniority doesn't apply in all companies though. Overall, the people is great and friendly but there is a slight chance some people would treat you like that.
How about freelancing?
I guess many people would agree that one of the biggest advantage I can have as freelancer is flexibility. I get to work every time I want, not having to wake up at 7AM and have a typical 9-to-5 job everyday. I also get to work everywhere, not having to go to same place everyday, even I can get my job done in my bedroom while munching on my favorite snacks. What could be better than having a job with minimum rules? Plus, for introvert like me, I super love freelancing because I don't have to meet a lot of people. Yay!
But the cons is... I don't get to meet new people. I know I just said the exact same thing above, but this also could be a cons because I will have lesser connection as a freelancer that I do as an intern. Freelance job also only allows you to do monotonous job, which sometimes makes you bored and start questioning the worth of your job (lol!).
The verdict
I can't decide which one I like the most! While reading the title, I know you were hoping to know the clear verdict, weren't you? But seiously, every job, either freelancing and interning, has its own pros and cons so I couldn't really decide which one works best.
But for you that insist to get a clear result, I would go for freelancing at this time. Simply because now I'm also busy with my thesis and I wish to have more flexibility for a better time management. Internship is still great though, and I never regret to walk my path as an intern.
