As we examined in a recent blog post about the future of work after COVID, the world of work is changing and people may be seeking new careers. So, we’ve again teamed up with FlexJobs to examine trends in the world of work. FlexJobs identified the Top 10 career paths for those working in the world of freelancing which have all grown at least 10% since January 1, 2021. PAIRIN then looked for the top skills necessary for these career paths and examined what specific jobs were in each career path. We analyzed the most common and important PAIRIN attributes needed in those jobs based on the highest averages of skills, resulting in a list of the most important attributes needed for each career path.
Top 10 Freelancing Jobs and Skill sets
| Rank | Top Freelance Career Categories | Top PAIRIN Skills |
| 1 | Therapy | Supportiveness Influential Leadership Flamboyance Service Orientation Relationship Originality Social Awareness |
| 2 | Data Entry | Compliance Relationship Order Equilibrium Productivity Service Orientation |
| 3 | Bookkeeping | Social Awareness Service Orientation Supportiveness Compliance Flamboyance Relationship Management |
| 4 | Medical & Health | Service Orientation Supportiveness Social Awareness Accountability Perceptivity Compliance |
| 5 | Accounting & Finance | Social Awareness Compliance Relationship Conflict Management Critical Thinking |
| 6 | Education & Training | Self-Assessment Cooperative-Practical Dynamism Enriching Others Equilibrium Social Awareness Originality |
| 7 | Marketing | Assertiveness Inspirational Leadership Influential Leadership Relationship Conflict Management Relationship Management Self-Assessment |
| 8 | Customer Service | Supportiveness Service Orientation Conflict Management Stress Tolerance Assertiveness |
| 9 | Project Management | Relationship Management Productivity Collaboration & Teamwork Dynamism Organizational Awareness Decision Making |
| 10 | Writing | Assertiveness Cooperative-Practical Intuitive-Conceptual Order Originality Creativity Problem-Solving |
We also analyzed these data in aggregate to see what the top skills are across the top 10 freelancing career paths. Listed below are the top 10 skills that account for more than 50% of the skills in the freelancing career paths:
- Originality – The ability to invent or independently conceive of ideas, methods or products of the first order (underived), regardless of their usefulness.
- Service Orientation – The ability to anticipate, identify and meet people’s often unspoken needs through assistance, products or services. The drive to generate customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Social Awareness – To relate and respond to the feelings, needs and concerns of individuals or broader societal groups.
- Supportiveness – The drive to assist, protect and provide for others in emotional or physical need.
- Assertiveness – Global tendencies to express and interact with boldness, enthusiasm and confidence.
- Compliance – Global tendencies to maintain self-discipline and conform to another’s plan, rules, will or direction.
- Productivity – To set and meet goals, even in the face of obstacles and competing pressures. To prioritize, plan and manage work to achieve the intended results.
- Relationship – The drive to draw close and remain loyal to another person or people—to truly connect and enjoyably engage with them.
- Conflict Management – The ability to effectively negotiate and resolve disagreements.
- Creativity – The desire to think, do and express in ways that are different from the norm. This includes personal elaborations or variations on known or existing techniques.
A major overarching theme in this group of jobs is that they are relationship-based and service-oriented. Essentially, in order to be a freelancer, you need to be able to focus on serving others and being interested in working with the idiosyncrasies of people’s needs while resolving their conflicts and problems. Another common theme is that people working in freelancing careers need to be intrinsically driven to be productive and engaged. They also have a tendency to want to employ originality and creativity in their work.
As we noted in our previous work with FlexJobs on top remote jobs, there may be myths about remote work being a more isolated endeavor, which one might think even more of freelancing jobs. However, it would appear that even this work is highly social, requiring many relationship-based soft skills to excel.