Should I Gain Leadership Experience Before Freelancing Programming?
From Hit Subscribe Freelancer Q&A by Erik Dietrich
December 23, 2025 · 26 min · Episode 95
About this episode
The episode discusses whether gaining leadership experience is beneficial before transitioning to freelancing in programming.
In this installment, a question submitter wonders whether it would be better to earn promotions into leadership before leaving the salaried world, or whether to leave as an individual contributor. Which is the right path? Join us to learn more. View this podcast as a video on YouTube. Links of the week: CSuite Content published a practical guide on how often executives should post on social media, including benchmarks and strategy tips for staying visible without becoming noise. Enov8 shared a clear explainer on test data in auditing, breaking down what it is, why it matters, and how teams should think about it from a compliance and risk perspective. InfluxData put together a solid glossary entry on data lakes, covering what they are, how they work, and when they make sense compared to other data architectures.
People in this episode
Host: Erik Dietrich
Topics covered
- leadership experience
- freelancing
- career development
- individual contributor
- salaried work
Keywords
- freelancing
- leadership
- career path
- individual contributor
- salaried jobs
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: CSuite Content, Enov8, InfluxData
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