Let’s talk about transitions, portfolio careers and what you should be considering if you are thinking about transitioning to a portfolio career. Let’s also talk about being a multipotentialite.
Over the past few months, some clients have been asking me about the possibility of considering a ‘portfolio career’ based on their multiple different interests. You have probably all heard that the nature of work is changing, or about the ‘gig’ economy? The pandemic has accelerated the age of digitisation and changing the way we work even more. Having ‘multiple careers’ means having multiple sources of income.
Full-time jobs are likely to become the exception rather than the rule. There have been estimates that only 50% of the workforce will actually have ‘proper’ full-time jobs by the beginning of the 21st century. One way to prepare for this is to have a portfolio career.
It was normal to expect that you would start with one company and stay there for at least 20 years, however, the new trend is to have a number of different jobs in your week. What do these jobs look like? There are no set rules but they may include a side hustle or short-term projects or gigs that continue on for years.
Let’s get deeper into what a portfolio career is.
A portfolio career is based on the concept that you work for more than one employer and not just have one full time job. It could comprise a mix of part-time, freelance and self-employment work. What this could look like, is time spent in different contracts and include some key note speaking, coaching, writing, teaching and maybe some voluntary work as well.
As the name suggests, you have a portfolio of different things that you do and they usually comprise of things you are interested in and enjoy and may not be sustainable on a full time basis. The thing is one of them may end up taking over and become a main gig, you just never know. In the meantime you get to work in areas you love and have flexibility to design your week to make it work for you. At one point in my career I was coaching (self employed), teaching yoga and pilates (I had my set classes/hours), lectured at university and taught at RTO (again I put up my hands for days and hours I wanted) and I was setting up an interiors styling page (as a hobby which turned out to be a fun side hustle). It doesn’t even have to have as many areas as I’ve done. It was so much fun for me and rewarding, but it requires knowing yourself really well, your values, your energy management and financial requirements.
One of the biggest wins of having a portfolio career is having that variety in your work as it allows you to work across multiple areas of interest. For a multipotentialite, it is so much fun. Flexibility is another one – you can choose who you want to work for and when you want to work. A portfolio is usually an attractive option but maybe it just isn’t the right timing. The questions which I have asked my clients to consider around having a portfolio career are around 5 key areas:
1. Where are you at in your life? E.g. Do you have kids at school? Are you saving for a house or investment property? Are you planning for a gap year or to work overseas? This also ties in with financial commitments you have (see point 3)
2. How well do you know yourself and what is most important to you? What are your key values? Do you like variety in your work? Is flexibility important to you? Would you prefer to work alone or as part of a team? There are many co-working spaces available now which allows not only flexibility but also the opportunity to develop networks with like-minded people if you do not want to work from home all the time. What are your capabilities/ strengths? Are you a subject matter expert in 1-2 areas?
3. What financial commitments do you have? Make sure you understand your current financial position or seek support in this area from your accountant or financial planner to understand your financial position. The main consideration in having a portfolio career is the financial risk due to the lack of a consistent income (especially when you first switch over to it). This can be problematic for those who need to demonstrate a regular income to the banks when saving for a home loan (even though the financial rewards for a portfolio career could be much more than having a 9-5, the banks may not view it this way).
4. What job security do you crave? What is your risk profile? Are you risk averse? Do you need security? From my own experience, I had roughly 20-25 hours or 3 days of consistent work each week and then had the remaining hours I could play with. This was ideal for me during that time and this ratio can change over time or different periods to suit your situation.
5. What are your attributes? From my own experience and in exploring this option with my clients, the key attributes which help make a portfolio career successful include being adaptable, energetic, resilient, self-motivated, flexible and having a curious and learning mindset.
If you are looking to learn more about having a portfolio career for yourself and whether it might be right for you, drop me a line here. I also have a new podcast episode all about side hustles and portfolio careers with guest Brian Klindworth which you can access here.
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