Portfolio Career: A Shift In The Definition of Employment
The present-day working class is drifting away, slowly yet
steadily, from the monotony of a single career track; the emergence of
‘portfolio career’, or the ‘slasher’ career, is now attracting attention more
than ever before. As a slasher, you juggle across various streams of income—your
professional commitments are spread across photography, music, investment banking,
and authorship—all at the same time. An acquaintance of mine, whom I know from
my college days, has a 9-5 software developer job on the weekdays and works as
a freelance wedding photographer on the weekends. While meeting him for a
casual cuppa last Sunday, I asked him to provide his two cents on this line of
managing multiple professions in parallel. He said, “PM, personal satisfaction
arises out of the tasks or chores that you do willingly. I can’t imagine myself
working day-in, day-out, as a software engineer. It makes me feel as if I’m
missing out on photography—which is more than a hobby to me. I can do it any time of the day without caving into boredom or stress. So, a day came when I
thought of turning photography into a part-time job. And weekends were the best time for
me to realize it.”
I posit that maintaining a spectrum of part-time jobs is the
result of a constant itch, one that arises when the heart is pumped-up to generate income from your hobbies but your office job deters you. Those who enjoy diversity would happily delve
into creating a slasher career—part-time chef/salsa instructor/adjunct
professor! A lot of resources on the internet can help you get started with a
portfolio career. 10 STEPS TO CREATING A PORTFOLIO CAREER by Barrie Hopson and
Katie Ledger is a must-read (read what Forbes has to say). Harvard Business
Review provides tips on how to launch a portfolio career here.
It’s worth knowing that the concept of occupational variety has
been in existence for decades; it wasn’t publicized exclusively in the past. Howard Hughes is the first name that comes
to my mind as the paragon of managing diverse trades. The icon was a film
director, business magnate, and what not! Richard Branson is the modern-day
ideal for portfolio career worshippers. If you’re interested in dabbling in this
trend, the next few sentences are no less than pearls of wisdom:
Don’t ruin your
personal life in the name of balancing differing lines of trade: Okay, I
know the sheer joy of writing from the Bahamas on a Monday and then giving a
speech in some college on the next day. But at the cost of your work-life
balance, it’s inimical, not only for you but for your close ones as well.
Build your
multi-dimensional career on the foundations of a steady income source: Made
up your mind to tackle five part-time professions at once? Go ahead, do it. But
one of these five moves should help you traverse the rainy day, the unseen times of
financial distress.
Make bankable
choices: Let’s not forget that a pluralistic work commitment is ultimately for
the sake of making money. Your competencies are decisive in choosing the right
constituents for your portfolio. If you enjoy singing but are far from what
people consider as decent, then a singing gig in the name of minting money is
blatantly stupid. Pursue the options you’re good at.
It’s going to be a
roller-coaster ride: If you’ve spent years being the obedient employee, one
who feels elated seeing his bank account being credited at the end of the
month, then be prepared for the forthcoming change! Akin to freelancing, your
assignments are going to be irregular when juggling through different
workloads. One gig of yours may be brimming with tasks nearing deadline, while
the other would be like the tranquil sea. This is also the reason behind having
a regular day job—one that you can count upon to help you sail through the bad days.
In case you desire to explore more about the potential and
possibilities of a portfolio career, the following links shall armor you with
the necessary know-how to proceed further:
If you are determined to ditch your full-time job for
multiple part-time offers, network extensively! These relationships control the kind of work you score, and the extent to which your hands remain full. Lastly,
consider the financial implications if things go out of hand, and foresee the
worst situations that could occur. After all, a great soldier never goes into a
war without analyzing the battlefield!
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