Some years back, I gave up looking for a job.

That doesn't mean I'm sitting on the couch playing World of Warcraft. (Well, not every day.) I'm a busy freelancer, and have been for a decade plus. But in that time I have gone along to a few job interviews - because you never know what's out there.

I now realise: there's nothing. By which I mean: the potential rewards of returning to full-time salaried employment are outweighed by the effort of finding it.

Here are seven reasons why.

1. Because companies don't respond

You'd think in the Internet age, when sending a sentence needs no paper, stamp, or trip to the postbox, it'd be easier to get responses out of people. But personal responses to job applications just don't happen these days. At best, expect an acknowledgement with "If you haven't heard from us in 30 days..."

I have a lot of sympathy with the youngest and oldest jobhunters. Without feedback, young people looking for their first job can't get an idea of what the market wants. And older people faced with layoffs ("old" here in some cases meaning 50) have a hell of a time even securing an interview.

I'm someone whose marketing campaigns for himself get 19% response to cold lists, yet know I'm kidding myself if I think any non-form-filled application even gets read by a human. I wonder how many great candidates these companies are missing out on? But they don't.

And that's the first reason I gave up looking for work.

2. Because recruiters suck

Sorry. They just do. Recruiters are the least professional, worst trained, most inside-the-box people anywhere in business. No arrangement outside marriage needs a closer personal relationship... yet no industry fails more consistently to provide one.

How many times have you received a "Hi! I saw your resume..." email that's quite obviously a thousands-deep email blast to any resume they deigned to scrape off the web? And - my personal pet hate, which prompted this post - the phone call from someone you've never heard of who dives into a job description without even checking basic questions, like whether you're looking for work?

I know few recruiters personally, and don't want to know any more. They're intrusive, presumptive, and ignorant. And the tiny percentage that isn't... isn't statistically significant. Recruiters suck. They're another reason I gave up looking for work.

3. Because I'm a working stiff, not a "thought leader"

I had a high-paying job back in the corporate world, and naturally wanted the same level of income when I went freelance. So I did all the things freelancers do. Proper office, used "We" and "Our" on my website a lot, gave myself important-sounding titles like Strategy Director. Tried to look big.

It worked, sort of. But a few years in, I realised the truth. I wasn't a high-falutin' consultant or fast-talking sales expert. (Despite being one of the few creative professionals with an MBA.) Freelancers are blue-collar guys. You set up as a lone wolf, and your customers expect a hard day's work for a fair day's pay. There's nothing wrong with that.

(I could go on further about how freelancers should behave, but that's another post.)

Think about it. How many "thought leaders" does your company really have? How many people are really "ninjas" or "gurus" or "spearheading paradigm-shifting breakthroughs" in your cube farms - and how many need to be?

Just as the unit of warfare remains the grunt with boots on the ground, the unit of business remains the functional employee doing a few tasks competently. And most HR Directors would grumble even those people are hard enough to find.

So once I realised it, I started to celebrate it. Today, I market my little business for what it is: one guy, no employees, some unusual skills and proven experience. And customers bite a lot faster.

4. Because interviews are a drag

If I turn up for a job interview, I'm interested in what the work is and how I can get it done. I don't give a toss about "Where I see myself in five years" or "Listing five situations where I showed leadership", and you shouldn't, either.

In today's organisation - and some of the smallest companies have some of the most arbitrary and nonsensical interview policies around - that makes me as strange as a City banker turning up in plumber's overalls.

The formal interview is about the worst hiring idea ever dreamed up, for no better reason than you're asking questions of the least objective person in the room. It's personal qualities that get you through life, not qualifications. And there are far better ways to gauge personal qualities than across an interview desk.

5. Because normal jobs need normal people

Outside a few creative sectors like advertising and software, few companies want employees outside societal norms. They're just too scary. Welch, Buffett, Gates, Jobs, even Zuckerberg: you wouldn't have hired these people.

HR professionals know how hard it is to cheerlead an unusual candidate through the hiring process. (In contrast to recruiters, human resources professionals within companies are some of the most nuanced, patient, and understanding people I've ever met.) The best employee - unlike the best freelance resource - tends to be someone who fits nicely into a box, who ticks items on a checklist but none outside it.

People with an unusual background - like me - don't fit in any box. And that's also why I've stopped looking for work.

6. Because high-paying jobs mean high hassle

Reason 6 is a market reality rather than a human bias. A great many high-paid jobs only pay well because the job involves managing people. The higher your pay grade, the more of your salary represents your employer's investment in your ability to get the most out of other human beings.

Doing so is the stuff of stress, divorce, heart attacks and high blood pressure. And those are just the easy options. People who can manage people are the rarest and smartest people you'll ever employ. Hiring people, managing them, allocating reward fairly... these are the hardest things in the world. Perhaps one in a thousand people has the necessary skillset to do them competently. And that's being optimistic.

So even if someone's "hard skills" are a million miles from your market but their "soft skills" are in the top 1%, you should hire them immediately. They'll make your company sing.

The trouble is, once you've tasted high-level freelancing - £400 a day and up, choose who you work with, set your own schedules without straphanging on the Tube - why would anyone want the hassles that go with a "proper" job in the upper percentiles of pay? I don't. I'd rather do what I'm actually good at, for the same money.

And that's another reason I've given up looking for a job.

7. Because I'm no good at it!

This last isn't self-deprecating. Some people just aren't cut out for employeedom and have never grokked the secret codes and behaviours of being a hireable individual. (It's no coincidence I've never been hired as the result of an interview.)

Evidence suggests I'm a good guy - some of my clients have been with me for years and I remain on excellent terms with those who've moved on - but the daily commute and 9-to-6, even without a suit and tie, just doesn't feel natural. Until my 30s I solved it by working overseas and on contract (ten years and three of the world's top 10 advertising agencies) but once I had that decade of experience I was out.

That's the last reason I stopped looking for a job. And of the seven, it's probably the one that matters most. Sorry, corporates, but for an increasing number of experienced workers - now in the hundreds of millions - working for you just isn't an attractive option. You might want us. You might need us. But we're not looking.

While I'm not looking for a job, my one-man creative outfit Chris does Content is in the market for interesting clients and projects across the UK, EU, and beyond. If the above strikes a resonant chord, you've probably got freelance inclinations yourself - in which case why not join the mailing list for my upcoming book on making six figures as a freelancer: 100 Days, 100 Grand?