Winner takes all

Freelancing in construction may seem the preserve of well-qualified men in their 40s, but Amanda Hales, a freelance quantity surveyor, is proof that you can successfully freelance at any age. Hales, 29, turned her back on permanent work in February and is now enjoying her new-found freedom – but confesses to a few sleepless nights at first.
"Everyone was saying that there was no part-time work out there, and I was a bit worried that it would turn out like that," she recalls. "As it was, I sent my CV in on a Wednesday, had an interview with Kajima by Friday morning, and by the afternoon I had been called to say I could starting work on a project next week." She calculates that she earns roughly 30% more as a full-time freelance than she would do if she were working five day weeks in a permanent role.
"I get a good deal," she says. "I earn pretty much the same in three or four days as I would do working in a permanent role." Until next February, she'll be working Tuesday and Wednesdays on the new HSBC building in St James's Street, London, plus she's toiling away on Mondays and Thursdays doing QS work for the self-storage company Big Yellow. On Friday she's free to spend the day as she likes, but is also adding another string to her bow.
"I'm also working for myself, for private clients," she says. "Freelancing gives me the flexibility to do development work that I wouldn't otherwise be able to fit in if I worked five days a week." All Hales' fees from her private work as well as her wages from the two agencies she signed up with, Judd Farris and Consensus, are paid into Orca Court, a division of an umbrella company Freelance Professional Services, who do all the accounting for the money she earns.
"Some people do all the financial work themselves but I find it much better to do my job and let other people do that," she grins. "I prefer to keep my free time for myself." Hales did an ordinary national diploma (OND) and then an HND at Guildford College, near the home she shares with her partner in Grayshott, Surrey. She then secured a Bovis traineeship which involved a part-time degree nominally at Guildford but run by Nottingham Trent University. After three years of distance learning and a further couple of years with Bovis, during which she became a member of the Chartered Institute of Building, she joined contractor Osborne, where she worked a further three years.
She's not quite sure why she went freelance. "I just wanted to give it a go, to see how I got on and to have more free time for myself. The one thing I was worried about was that I wouldn't be part of a team, because I wouldn't be full time. As it is, I haven't found that at all. I still feel part of things – it's just that now I have much more time to myself." Hales' gamble has certainly paid off. Kajima was sufficiently impressed with her to offer her a full-time contract, but she decided that she liked her new freelance status too much to give it up. So Kajima offered a four-day week contract for a year, with the possibility of permanent work afterwards.
Therefore, as of February she'll swap London for the sunnier climes of Brighton, where Kajima wants her to work on a new PFI hospital project after the HSBC work is finished. It's a good example of how freelance work can reap real benefits. Hales now has flexibility as well as security, and even training.
"As well as the work, Kajima want to train me up on computer aided design, other IT packages and PFI work. It can all go on my CV, so I'm gaining experience at the same time as earning good money.
"Doing a good job is the main pre-requisite," she adds. "There aren't that many good QSs around, so when you strike up a good relationship with an employer, it can give you quite a bit of security." And if you need any further confirmation that freelancing is the way forward, consider what Hales is planning to do with her Fridays from now on. "I'm starting a massage course one day a week soon," she reveals. "I just look at my work as a means to an end: the rest of the week is my time."