Adventures in Consulting - An Unexpected Risk?

(Part of the "Adventures in Consulting" series, please see previous posts for more info).

So you think you want to be a freelancer...?

Don't get me wrong -- there are some great advantages of being a self-employed consultant. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now, so I can assure you of that.

However, besides the more obvious risks like not having an assured paycheck, having to pay your own health insurance, losing 15% to employee matching, etc., here's another risk you might not have thought about...

What about if you want to eventually return to full-time work? You might end up with (as they said in the movie 'Office Space') a case of the "Muundays"

Take a long and hard look at this issue before making the jump to freelancing. Once you make that jump, then a few years later go and talk to a company about returning to full time work, expect to answer multiple questions about why in the world you'd want to come back to the full-time world. Expect polite accusations that you're only doing it until some new business idea takes off, some new client signs up for your services, etc.

You may face a situation where you are just as qualified (or more qualified) than the other people that are interviewing for the job, but many potential employers will count it against you that you ventured off of the corporate ladder and it may be tougher to get back on than you thought.

Just something to add to your list of things to consider.

Until next time...