If you have recently graduated or expect to do so soon, then you’ll be thinking about your career and how you will start earning a wage. It may be that after some set backs, or if you just feel confident you can offer something to the market that is different from what is currently available, then you might think about self-employment.
There are lots of positive reasons for working for yourself including being your own boss, working to your own time, reaping more of the benefits when you have success, but there are also downfalls such as the threat of failure. Graduates.co.uk have put together an infographic will some statistics about self-employed graduates.
In summary:
- Over the past decade the number of graduates which have started out as self-employed has been steadily increasing across all sectors.
- The majority graduates from artistic and musical degrees, and a considerable number of textile designer graduates are self-employed.
- Your age at graduation also makes a difference to whether you are likely to become freelance as the older you are, the more likely you are to head out on your own. 3.4% of graduates aged 18-20 started their own business, whereas over double that, 8.6% of graduates over 40 years of age started their own business.
