Choose your path. Its a tough way ahead.
There are always two options when an individual steps into an industry. Either enters the industry by getting employed by an established firm or being a business owner/freelancer. At the second session of IMMT718, we explored these two options and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the same. The session also threw light on the difference of being a business owner or a freelancer.
There were various pros and cons in either path one chooses. This discussion provided an in depth idea of the different criteria one has to consider before looking forward to take their path.
Firstly, an employee is usually bound by a contract or has to follow the company rules adhering to content privacy. I learnt that many of the firms make employees sign NDA's to prevent them from talking about trade secrets. However in terms of coverage, the employees are covered under Employment Standards Act and federally under General Labour Code. These are definitely some factors to consider while choosing a career path. On the other hand, an employer has the burden of deducting taxes while paying the employees. An employer is responsible for deducting Canada pension plan contributions, EL premiums, income tax and other taxes. An employee is free from the overheads.
Another important highlight of the session was the difference between being a freelancer and a business owner. A number of insights were shared and the professor shared information with regards to the registration and taxes that each role has to deal with. A freelancer does not have to register the company as it is under his/her legal name whereas a business owner has to be registered with Service Ontario. A freelancer does not need to collect or pay HST if he/she makes less than 30,000 annually whereas a business owner should register for HST.
We also learnt the different factors to consider while determining the employment status. There are instances when people are confused about what role they are playing towards and organization and also individually in their freelance work. People get overloaded with work or sometimes the employer is taking advantage by introducing more work at different stages of the project. Employment status is determined when we evaluate a few facts like level of control payer has over worker’s activities, whether worker provides the tools and equipment, whether worker can subcontract the work or hire assistants, degree of financial risk the worker takes, degree of responsibility for investment and management the worker holds and the worker’s opportunity for profit. It also highly depends on contracts because the employer can sometimes take advantage if they are not bound by the contract and visa-versa. It is always better to have clauses in a written format for referring to in case of confusions or controversies.
Overall, personally being a fresh entrant to the media world I would chose to be employed. Initially I could learn about the structure and working of a media firm and gain some useful insights about successfully running a media firm. Also I do not need to worry about the overheads and a vacation will be a real vacation for me unlike the business owners or freelancers who need to keep a track of what is going on with their projects.
Internships was another topic discussed and I feel its best way of gaining hands on experience in the industry but again one has to be aware about the intern rights and avoid being exploited at the workplace. We also discussed dressing styles for the interactive media industry. As Professor Sofia said that one cannot be dressed as if he/she works at a bank. We have to blend in the 'funk' factor with the professional look, being careful of not going overboard with the funky aspect.
Everyone has a choice to make regarding their path of work in the media world or other professions.The bottom-line is that no matter what path you choose, there is always going to be a tough way ahead.