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or the latest generation of new faces in Jakarta’s workforce, the appeal of big corporate outfits has all but completely lost its luster. According to those aged between 20 and 35, it is a question of whether to begin a startup with friends or to fly solo in a freelance career — big companies are usually a last resort.

One successful freelancer, Nicky P. Wibisono, has worked on about 103 projects for 35 different clients, some of them well-known companies. “I can say I’ve had Adidas and Samsung as clients,” Nicky said. “The number one reason I’ve kept doing freelance for the last four years instead of looking for a full-time gig is the
freedom.”

Nicky said a full-time job did not appeal to him, as it means working for a set time period, “Which is a pain because sometimes you don’t feel like commuting at 9 a.m., or sometimes you get a burst of creativity, but it’s already 10 p.m. and you’re not at the office. Being a freelancer means all you care about is delivering things on time.”

Another young local, one of Nicky’s friends who asked to remain anonymous, is working for a foreign startup based in the city. He works set hours in an office, which is enough to keep him content. “Freelancing means that you need to take care of yourself — especially in terms of insurance, finance, health and the like,” he said.

Despite not being too sure about taking the freelancing route like Nicky has, he also feels that a corporate job for a large company is something he would choose as a last resort.

“Usually people around me who work for large corporate companies say it is better to start my first job in a big company. But I chose to work for this startup instead because for big companies, they have this ‘traditional’ mind-set that exists, which means it is hard to change from an outdated system to a modern one. So I think that is outdated advice,” he said.

Others, like 33-year-old Dodick Zulaimi Sudirman, have learned from personal experience that optioning to work for big companies is not worth the time and effort.

“I had always considered myself to be a salaryman right up to when I graduated. I thought it would be much easier as long as I work for a big company. I don’t know why, but I always found it boring, so I changed my job almost every year.”

Now, Dodick has decided to become his own boss, founding now internationally known GameChanger Studio with his friend Riris Marpaung.

“Personally, I do understand the security that comes with working in a big company — my father and younger sister do and they are doing great. But for me, working and building this game studio from scratch is far more satisfying.”

Daru Wicaksono, a visual artist for GameChanger Studio, said corporate work provided security and health care most of the time. “But working in a startup means great hours for me. On Fridays I get to work remotely,” Daru said.

Another self-made boss like Dodick, the CEO of Get Diskon Peter Kurniawan, 33, says having worked for Accenture helped him manage his own startup. Currently, his company’s mobile app allows users to find discount promotions through digital membership.

“Before you turn 20 years old, be a good student. Before you turn 30 years old, follow somebody.” Peter said, quoting Jack Ma. “Being an entrepreneur has been my dream for a long time. But I believe it would be great to have professional experience for my career.”

Peter’s advice to others wanting to start their own companies was: “There is always a temptation to spend money, but my dream helped me stay focused.”

For individuals that prefer working for themselves, it seems freelance work and founding a startup have very little difference — the main point is being able to work for themselves.

“If I’m working overtime, it’s not because some jerk boss off-loaded a ton of work to me at the last minute. It’s because I chose to work overtime,” Nicky said. (acr)