Hi so I (27) need some advice on my current job situation. I started working about half a year ago as a full time designer for this up & coming company that has found huge success and is growing at a rapid pace. It is obvious that this company is going to grow to be a huge entity and on one hand I feel lucky to be part of the team right when it’s starting to grow. However, I am contemplating asking my bosses if I can go contract so I can start setting up a base as a freelancer and have more time/room to grow as an artist selling my work (which is the ultimate end goal/dream I’ve had ever since a small child). Ive told this idea to a couple people and have mixed feedback. Some say it’s a good idea, others have said I need to stick it out for at least a year and see how I feel then because this company can be a huge asset in the future if I stay on…. Which I understand, but work has been absolute HELL and here’s why:
-bosses are very young and I find that half the time, the projects I work on and pour countless hours into get scrapped last minute/changed last minute because they can’t make up their minds. And OK as long as I get paid fine. But they always put immense pressure to get things done super fast and I get stressed just to find out the 20+ hours I put into a project ended up for nothing.
-unequal work load. It’s a small design team but the work load is mainly on me. Feedback isn’t very constructive. There is one coworker who literally took 2 weeks off for vacation within a month and didn’t work at all and they didn’t say jackshit to him. Yet they were hounding me on my 1 PTO day. They say this is because I am great at my job and. Is trustworthy. That’s great but I don’t get paid enough for it (pay is average salary for designer, I get paid less than my other friends) and say I’m due for a promotion but it’s not official yet.
-somewhat related to first point: they love to drop last minute workload and demand it gets done in an unreasonable amount of time. I know the solution to this is just to tell them I need more time, and I know they would understand but it’s just the initial demand and pressure and checking in that stresses me out.
-I am not creatively fulfilled. Which is the biggest reason for me considering other options. I am an artist and need some creative input. I don’t get a lot of that and most times am wasting time doing last minute changes/fixing other peoples work.
-fear of being laid off. Coworker got let go unexpectedly. I thought he was a great employee so I was shocked. They say they wouldn’t do that to me, but it makes me question on what basis they are making decisions from bc the guy who vacationed half a month and doesn’t do much imo is untouchable (he doesn’t even have a formal education; just had connections).
These are the main complaints I have weighing heavily on my mind. There’s are pros to this situation I guess? Like I said, it’s growing to be a booming company and it would be a good benefit to be a part of it? They have pto and all other benefits. The naysayers say it’s because going contract isn’t really reaping the benefits and are unsure the probability of going back on full time if I change my mind. I’m stuck.