Portfolio Careers and New Technologies

And what do you do?

Do you dread that question? And how do you answer? ‘I’m a plumber’, ‘I’m an accountant’, ‘I’m a teacher’ – simple explanations. But what if you don’t want to be defined by just one label?
It’s increasingly common for people to say things like:

‘I have three jobs. I’m a lawyer for several small companies, a professional cook and a food writer.’

‘I work in a restaurant four nights a week, run a small shop three days a week and bake products for my husband’s shop one day a week.’

‘I am a lighting designer, professional photographer and Reiki practitioner’.

These are real examples of people who have portfolio careers. The term essentially refers to a person doing two or more different jobs for different employers.

What they have in common is that they’ve all had difficulty in finding a single job or even a career that used all of their skills and allowed them to tap into all of their passions. They’ve all found, as indeed have the other people we’ve interviewed for our book, that there is an alternative to the 20th-century dream of finding ‘the one job that is right for you’. For many people that dream has become a nightmare as every job is now temporary.

We’ve discovered that maybe a million plus people have been and are developing portfolio careers without being aware that this style of working is becoming more popular or indeed has a name. It is a growing career pattern. In our book one of our interviewees holds down 8 jobs.

For many, the attraction is that you largely have your independence even if you’re working for a number of different organisations. Plus you have relative freedom from corporate agendas and politics. You can use your unique combination of strengths. You can follow multiple passions. It’s often easier to say ‘no’ to a request or demand. You constantly develop and learn new skills.
There can also be more leisure time. You might even want to add an existing hobby or passion to your portfolio. Michelle is a city events organiser who discovered Pilates after having bad back problems and decided to train to teach it. She says she enjoys the blend of two very different jobs, allowing her to express who she really is. She also earns more than she would by doing her city job full time.

Why is this suddenly becoming a real option for people?
One reason is the recession. People who opt for this work style like it because it gives them variety. Also, they don’t have all their career ‘eggs’ in one basket. If one job gets boring, they can focus more on the other ones or indeed even ditch the boring one. If they lose one job, they have other revenue streams to rely on. We have data that is suggesting that many organisations are turning to employ temporary or project workers. The CBI, not the most adventurous professional body, in a recent report talks about the future work force for many sectors consisting of a small focussed core supported by an army of project workers. This is ready made for the portfolio worker.

The second reason is the growth of the new technologies. Even a decade ago it would have been difficult for people to keep a number of jobs if each one involved going to ‘a place of work’ at set hours. The new technologies have changed all of this. 60% of all new businesses set up last year were in the home. That simply could not have happened 10 years. The web is only 5000 days old and imagine what the next 5000 days will bring.

We are living through nothing short of a revolution. The genuinely democratic, interactive, affordable, mobile, Web is here and growing rapidly. Changing what is possible and opening up opportunities for everyone.

And it’s not just about the technology. Yes, it’s there in the background as an enabler, but its powerful effect can be life changing. It revolutionises the way we earn, learn and turn round our careers. The authors of Groundswell suggest it’s a whole new way of interacting and communicating:

‘The groundswell is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from companies.’

For example, Katie works for a number of large companies but usually is engaged to work by a few specific individuals, not a central purchasing hub. She can work on a project within a global company because she has the technology to do so. Anyone with a decent broadband connection and a half-decent computer can do the same. The people inside the large company want a job done well, to their specifications, on time and on budget. They get their desired project – Katie gets paid and gets to work with some talented people. It’s a win–win situation.

Barrie shares presentations online with people who can’t attend in person. He now updates his book on the 50+ population via a blog, whereas in the past he would have to hope that enough books of the first edition were sold to enable a reprint and an updated second edition. We’re doing the same with this book.

Large parts of the world can now communicate with each other virtually, free of charge, by using e-mail, blogs, Twitter, Instant Messaging, via text and video. We have instant access to the world’s libraries. We can search for information on any product, service, company or individual in fractions of a second. And most importantly, online, you get to play with the big boys and girls. You have a chance to offer a better, more valuable niche service than many of the established players. You get to define your brand.

So, technology makes a portfolio career more accessible but in addition to that all the evidence we have suggests that people with this technological expertise are in high demand. That means a strong negotiating position. More and more of the technology deliverers we know are negotiating freelance contracts that of course are favourable to them and to the employer.

So - where to start?
It helps if you are an excellent time manager and organiser, able to work well under pressure, comfortable with little separation between your work and the rest of your life, a risk taker, self directed, high energy, assertive, comfortable being your own boss, not hung up on financial security, a networker and marketer, someone who can work to deadlines and who learns from their mistakes. You need to be a self-starter and preferably not a perfectionist. Breathless? Welcome to the world of portfolio careers.

The book and our website promote portfolio careers as a very real option today with many pluses for organisations, as well as for individuals. We’ve written this because we’re excited about helping people to realise ‘there is another way’ to earn money, derive meaning and hey, even to sprinkle a little magic into our working lives. You can and should be the architect of your own future.
And how do we answer the dreaded question, ‘And what do you do?’ Simple. We say, ‘I have a portfolio career’, then step back and wait for the questions that follow...

If you have a portfolio career or want to know more about it look at www.portfoliocareers.net.

Dr Barrie Hopson and Katie Ledger are authors of ‘And What Do You Do? 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career’, just published by A&C Black.