IT consultant – ESN vs Freelance!

In the course of their careers, IT consultants in Switzerland can face a major choice: whether to opt for the freedom of freelancing or the security of an ESN (French acronym for Entreprise de Services du Numérique ), a digital services company.

Indeed, ESN offers the assurance of getting paid.

However, if there is one personality trait that is often found in IT consultants, it is their fondness for freedom.

But what if there was a world where you could have all the benefits of working for an ESN, but still have the freedom of freelancing?

ESN: team spirit and fixed salary

While it is undeniable that an ESN offers advantages in terms of job security, these advantages also extend more widely.

On the one hand, in addition to having a guaranteed salary, security extends to aspects of social protection. Working as an IT consultant as an employee entitles you to unemployment benefits.

Working for an ESN also means having the opportunity to work in a team and having easier access to training than if you were an independent IT consultant.

In addition, the ESN company structure generally offers a certain solidity in terms of projects and customer typology. It also offers a wide variety of projects for you to work on.

ESN = Security, but…

As for the negative aspects, the first is of course the lack of freedom. As a salaried IT consultant, you don’t get to choose your assignments when you work for an ESN.

So you don’t develop your entrepreneurial skills or the competences you choose. But those that will be useful to the project.

Lastly, and in our opinion the main drawback of this method, is that all the work you put in will feed the company’s reputation, not your personal visibility.

So, at a time when some influential authors on the future of work, such as Laetitia Vitaud, are talking about managing your professional reputation like a real business, this is real food for thought. You need to look at it in depth, so that you can weigh up the pros and cons before succumbing to any attractive IT services salary.

Freelancing: freedom and entrepreneurship

Obviously, becoming an IT freelancer offers the enormous advantage of freedom. This is particularly important for IT Consultants, who are highly autonomous.

And freelance work is attracting more and more people.

Freedom to make your own strategic choices, to build a reputation and develop expertise and skills in a sector that you are passionate about. Freedom to set your own daily rate as an IT consultant and to manage a business relationship according to your own policy, etc…

There’s a long list of attractive points when it comes to freelance IT work.

Secondly, a freelance career in IT offers you the opportunity, at no cost, to develop your own network.

At first, finding your own assignments can be a daunting task, but once you have solid expertise and an excellent reputation, it’s not.

From that point on, the IT freelance opportunity comes knocking at your door, and becomes more of an invitation to develop your portfolio.

It’s up to you to seize the opportunity to make this more than just an IT assignment.

If, for example, you’re just starting to transition into IT, there are a plethora of IT freelance platforms.

So, with all these positive points, why not sign up straight away?

Freelance = Freedom, but…

Freelancing has its own high requirements: rigour, constant professionalism and the organisational skills needed to allocate your time properly.

Not to mention that as a sole proprietorship (raison individuelle), assuming that’s the status you choose, you are putting your personal liability at stake.

It’s also about multi-tasking: sales canvassing, customer management, production, training to improve skills, and above all administration… which is often the pet peeve of entrepreneurs.

Finally, obtaining sole proprietorship status in Switzerland comes at a significant cost, both when you set up your business and when you have to declare your income.

Security + Freedom = ?

Working in an ESN offers salary comfort and security, but a ‘lack’ of freedom and recognition.

As a freelancer, management is time-consuming, costs are higher and the risks are considerable…

But is this necessarily the cost of achieving the level of freedom and/or security you are looking for?

Not necessarily…

In the intro, we talked about an intermediate option that brings together the best of both worlds. This option is called wage portage (“portage salarial”), which we explain in this article.

Of course, wage portage has a certain cost, but in return, it offers the security of employee status and the flexibility of self-employment.

Curious?

Don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be happy to explain how wage portage works in more detail.