If you're married, it's easier. List down your occupation as housewife, and just submit the bank certificate.
Cool sis!
But would it be just easier to get approved with visa if you list your occupation with the occupation you do in odesk (i.e. writer, graphic designer, web developer, data encoder, etc.). Parang questionable ang housewife na may huge bank account? (Or did you tell that all the money in the bank is from your hubby's?)
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Ako rin, I'm planning to go back to corporate for the meantime (unless I am lucky to get hired freelancing for new projects where I do not have experience yet), I have same reasons as AnJelatine's plus more.
Not sure if I'd go back to full-time freelancing, especially with reason #3. Maybe I will kung masolve ng parents ko ang problem nila. However, I will not stop doing accepting freelance jobs though - in or out of oDesk.
1) I need to learn more skills and experience. I cannot break into better-paying skills in and out of odesk without quitting my current project and having no income while building portfolio sample to represent my newly earned skill.
* Tama ang sinabi rin ng isa pang freelancer sa field ko. Takes a year or even more to get established sa new skill and gets clients of my own. Kulang ang emergency fund na six months to cover such change.
2) Build credit. Mas madali pa ring mag loan for a house and lot and even to fund a business when employed. I was earning a lot sa freelance gigs noon, but any of my loans weren't granted. (But I know some odeskers did it - pero mostly inipon nila instead of getting a loan, but in my case it was difficult. Siguro nagkataon mahal ang real estate dito sa amin dito sa Baguio - buying a decent house here costs Php3M, that's far from the business district pa. You'd want a house that costs at least P4M to live comfortably. You need at least P5M or so if you want to live near the city business district.)
3) [Perhaps this is the biggest reason of all]. I am the only breadwinner at the moment. Single parent pa naman ako. I am supporting both aging parents and a kid that will enter college in a few years. May pera sana ang parents ko, but they are facing some bank-account draining lawsuits in relation to their real-estate properties. My father can't work - he suffered stroke. Yung nanay ko ang umaasikaso sa kaso. Nakakakaba ang walang income or low income if ever sa ganitong setup. Walang ibang income kundi sa mga projects ko lang manggagaling.
* I do much of the load. Wala akong kapatid. Nag-iisang anak lang ako.
4) [Related to above reasons] I'm beginning to feel na saturated na sa skill ko. I have to move out to learn new skill. Eto ang mahirap sa IT. Every few years you have to keep updated. Kung nasa office ako, I still get paid learning new skills, but in freelancing, you may have to reduce projects or even completely stop accepting new projects just to transfer to that new skill. That means little or no income.
Lately, it has come to the point na kalevel na rin ng nakukuha ko monthly sa mga salaries sa office. Those at the office have benefits, while ako out of the pocket ang pagbayad ko ng mga SSS, PAGIBIG, Philhealth, etc. Those at the office covers half of those expenses.
The rising cost of goods does not help. When I checked these days malaki na rin ang tinaas ng sahod sa office lately compared noong 2008, both government and private, na napapantayan na rin nila ang nakukuha ko sa freelancing - even with tax deducted. Now I have to work twice or even thrice as hard and lower my rates. The low salary in the corporate was only true last 2008 in my case, not now anymore.
5) Career stagnation. Few years more and I'm regarded as "old" to do IT work na dominated ng mga youngsters. Pag bumalik ako sa office in later years, gu-gustuhin pa kaya nilang maghire ng matandang programmer? Hehe. Age discrimination exists! I do not mind working with the youngsters and having a younger boss though, I just worry about getting hired.
Now these are my disadvantages to getting back to office:
1) Better work opportunities with career/skills advancement are in Manila or overseas. Mababa ang industry rates dito sa amin and there's less opportunity to grow and much lesser skills to develop. I checked jobstreet, and there are good office jobs that pay good rates (or even better than what I am doing now) down there.
Getting higher pay also means getting qualified to bigger loans.
* Hirap ako mag-apply ng job overseas so I might opt to go for a few years in Manila. Feeling ko kulang pa ako sa skills. I am doing simple projects sa odesk all this time thinking that was enough. Di rin pala. It will really come to the point na pwedeng maging saturated ang skills sa freelancing market - oh well, this happened too soon.
2) [The very thing that worries me.] Iiwan ang kid. I worry - lalo na at single parent ako. Teenage years could be tough times. Mahal naman kasi magpa-aral dyan sa Manila vs. Baguio. Plus, I might get hired pa sa work na kailangan night shift ang pasok. Better that the kid goes home to my parents than not meet anyone at home.
If I accept jobs in Manila, it won't be practical to travel back to Baguio every weekend. Mga long weekends lang pupwede - if ever di ako ipag-OT. Unfortunately, when you're working in IT for private firms big or small, overtimes and even working on holidays are always a must. Sa government lang ang maluwag ang oras tapos Monday to Friday sila. Majority of private companies in my field want 48-hour work week.
I won't really forgive myself if my kid goes into the "dark" side. I saw enough kids who had fallen into the "dark" because their parents are not around and have chosen the greener pastures. Parental guidance is essential talaga.
3) Iiwan ang parents. But this is the least of my worries, but it will be after a few years. Kasi in a few years nasa 70s na sila.
4) Time. Now I have to spend little time on finding new income streams other than freelancing - na baka sakali kumita. I will not stop on this. Yun lang I get to have lesser time exploring this.
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I'd really prefer to stay as a freelancer sana and work my way towards that new skills with better rates and/or managing an offline business. Sadly present circumstances does not allow me to. So far that Manila or overseas routes appeals to me financially and career-wise. Staying here in Baguio for a regular employment - I do not see how I will be able to afford housing or car unless I opt to work for managerial roles - na wala naman akong experience to begin with and where such openings are very rare.
