Embracing a Portfolio Career: A Path to Future-Proofing Your Work Life
In Canada’s changing job market, the concept of a portfolio career is gaining momentum. Unlike a traditional career, where individuals typically climb the ladder, a portfolio career involves juggling multiple roles, projects, or part-time jobs simultaneously. This diversified approach to work is not only a viable option, but it is increasingly seen as a strategic way to manage and future-proof your career. As a team of portfolio careerists, with over 20 years of experience, we know the advantages of an income streaming portfolio career.
Here are our top 6 reasons why we believe embracing a portfolio career can be a game-changer.
1. Flexibility and Autonomy
One of the most appealing aspects of a portfolio career is the flexibility it offers. Instead of being tied to a 9-to-5 job, we can design our work schedules to fit our lifestyles or personal needs. This flexibility allows for better work-life balance, which is important for maintaining mental and physical well-being. Additionally, having control over our workload and hours fosters a sense of autonomy and empowerment that is often lacking in traditional employment. We are self-employed portfolio careerist who enjoy the autonomy that an entrepreneurial portfolio career offers.
2. Diverse Skill Development
Working in multiple roles across different industries enables us to develop a broad skill set. This diverse skill development has made us more marketable and adaptable in an ever-changing job landscape. For example, our freelance graphic designer who also manages social media can offer a comprehensive service package that is attractive to potential clients or employers. This blend of skills not only enhances her employability but also opens more opportunities for career growth and innovation.
3. Financial Resilience
A portfolio career can provide greater financial stability compared to relying on a single source of income. By diversifying income streams, we can mitigate risks associated with job loss or economic downturns. If one source of income disappears, other projects or roles can help us bridge the gap. This financial resilience is particularly beneficial in uncertain times, offering a safety net that a traditional single-income career might not provide. If we lose a job or project, we have other income streams we can potentially dial up and rely on.
4. Continuous Learning and Personal Growth
Engaging in a variety of projects keeps us intellectually stimulated and continuously learning. This constant exposure to new challenges and industries leads to personal and professional growth that may not happen in a single job. Additionally, a portfolio career encourages us to stay updated with industry trends and advancements, ensuring we remain relevant and competitive in the job market. We know that employability is the new job security.
5. Enhanced Networking Opportunities
Working in different roles and sectors expands our professional network. These diverse connections can lead to new opportunities, collaborations, and even mentorship. A robust network provides us with support, inspiration, and guidance, helping us navigate our career or entrepreneurial path more effectively. Additionally, being known across multiple industries has established us as a versatile and resourceful workers, further enhancing our reputation and the opportunities that come our way.
6. Aligning Passion with Profession
A portfolio career has allowed us to pursue our passions alongside other professional goals. This alignment can lead to greater job satisfaction and a more enjoyable work life. For instance, our instructional designer and our project manager are also passionate about theatre production and freelance play writing. This integration of their passion for the arts and their professional learning design work leads to a more motivated and engaged professional life as their creativity aligns and soars in all the work they do.
Finally, in a world where job security and industry demands are constantly evolving, a portfolio career offers a compelling alternative to a traditional career path. The flexibility, diverse skill development, financial resilience, continuous learning, enhanced networking opportunities, and the ability to align passion with profession make it an attractive option for many people. As we move towards a more interconnected and multifaceted job market, a portfolio career is not just a trendy concept but a smart, strategic choice for people looking to thrive in a modern workforce.
How to Create a Portfolio Career - A growing career trend
Have you considered starting a portfolio career? The trend is growing across the globe and for good reasons. Why is it a growing trend and who has decided to jump in to create an income streaming career.
More workers, who are able to work from a computer, are creating portfolio careers.
I was a portfolio Careerist before it was fashionable. For me, streaming income from different jobs or entrepreneurial ventures started as a survival tactic. I wasn’t trying to be trendy as I worked several jobs to put myself through university. I was attempting to pay bills and tuition. Five years later, when I graduated with my B.Ed. into a recession, my ability to juggle jobs became my strength. I pulled together substitute teaching jobs, a banking job and a job in a daycare to make ends meet and build experience. When I finally landed an interview, the school board was impressed with my ability to juggle multiple commitments. They believed my juggle act was a skill set much needed in a teaching position. As it turned out, they were right.
Fast forward to today and I’m still a portfolio careerist streaming income from different directions. This style of work is nothing new. Creative types have been working this way for centuries. Artists, musicians and writers have led the way, but streaming income was never the work style our parents promoted. They didn’t want us to end up poor like a “starving artist” so they told us to go out and get a “real” job.
But today, “real” jobs may be harder to find as some employers have shifted to hiring more independent workers. In addition, stagnant wages have changed the way we see the career ladder climb and has made streaming income from more than one source necessary. As well, it’s no longer as appealing as it once was to work in a 9 to 5 box that allows for little flexibility. Finally, the growth in remote work and technology innovations during the pandemic has made it easier for workers to juggle more than one income stream.
The trend towards portfolio careers is nothing new. In 2008, the Boston Globe wrote an article on the growing number of Portfolio Careerists in the U.S. They interviewed Stephanie Creary, who at the time was a 31 year old speech pathologist, professional dancer, yoga instructor and Harvard Business School Researcher. She said she was a portfolio careerist because it was her strategy for dealing with multiple interests and she was glad someone finally put a name to something she had been doing for years.
One of the most intriguing aspect of the portfolio career movement is it’s no longer just attractive to creative types or people weathering recessions. Back in May of 2017, Harvard Business Review article, Michael Greenspan gives tips for executives who are thinking about making the leap from their full-time jobs to a portfolio style career. Greenspan admits “going plural” as he calls it is a challenge. Making the jump from full-time work to a portfolio career concept is not an easy feat, and requires mentorship as he explains in his article. And mentorship is beginning to happen.
A few years ago, I interviewed Brad Hussey from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada who left his full-time job with Sajak and Farki digital marketing company in Calgary to go freelance as a web designer and coder. As Brad told me, “…freelancing was up and down with inconsistent income.” He had to figure out how to create consistent streams so he went completely online and started teaching. He now has Code College, and is streaming the majority of his income online. He teaches a globally based student body how to code and start their own freelance business so they too can quit their “real” jobs. He moved his portfolio career into a solopreneur business model.
Brad isn’t the only ones that have decided to steer away from a 9 to 5 lifestyle. This trend has become attractive to people from varying occupations, industries and socioeconomic backgrounds. Al and Denise pulled up stakes, quit their teaching jobs, sold their home outside of Calgary and moved to Mexico to work. They built a house in the province of Saskatchewan in Canada where they work in the summer and move to Mexico to work in the winter. They gave up a pension, stable work, and they haven’t regretted their choice. It wasn’t easy but in their experience, it was worth it. They have what they believe is the best of both worlds because they keep their toes in sand year round and never have to shovel snow.
Speaking of snow. From my experience meeting and interviewing portfolio careerists like me who have chosen not to climb the career ladder long term, no two are alike. However, our commonalities exist in our ability to adapt, create opportunity, meet needs and be open to customizing our work life. Consequently, we are often well positioned to adapt to the current shifts we are experiencing in the changing climate of work, and whether out of necessity or choice, we can pivot.
With an ever changing and evolving world of work, it appears the portfolio careers trend may continue to grow.
If you want to learn more about portfolio career strategy, Check out our Branch Out workshop series on our website.
Historical Reads
Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/survey/household/3701
Chin, Jessica (2017, December). Less Than Half of Canada's Prime-Age Workers Kept aFull-time Job for All of 2015. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/12/01less-than-half-of-canadas-prime-age-workers-kept-a-full-time-job-for-all-of2015_a_23294345/
Vomiero, Jessica (2017, April 19). Inside Canada's Flexible Work Economy. Who's the real winner here? Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3385957/canada-flexible-gigeconomy-jobs/
Randstad's Workforce 2025 Report http://content.randstad.ca/hubfs/workforce2025/Workforce-2025-Randstad-Part1.pdf
Shulman, Michael (2017, January). Nearly Half of Canada's Workforce will be Self Employed by 2020. Retrieved from https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/nearly-half-ofcanadas-workforce-will-be-self-employed-by-2020-study-145943790.html
Jackson, Maggie (2008, January 27). Portfolio Careerists Revel in Change. Retrieved from http://archive.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2008/01/27/portfolio_careerists_revel_inchange/
Greenspan, Michael (2017, May 4). How to Launch a Successful Portfolio Career. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/how-to-launch-a-successful-portfolio-career
This is Why Contracting is a Great Idea
Why is contract work a great career strategy? Job seekers often think they have to find a full-time, permanent position and they overlook the opportunities that come with short-term contracts. In this blog article, I share the value I see in short-term contracts. Whether they are employee contracts or independent contracts, I have found high value in my career doing contract work from the beginning of my career to mid-career while raising a family and now moving into the later stages of my career. Contract work has given me the opportunity to share my skills and knowledge and support companies as they grow.
I’ve been an independent worker (contractor, consultant and freelancer) for several years, and I can tell you with certainty, contract work can be highly rewarding. Over the years, I’ve been given the opportunity to help more organizations and add value to their business by coming in on contract. It has been a great strategy during transition periods, and it has created better flexibility and balance in my work life.
Contract work grows in tough economic times when employers are uncertain about the economy. Labour market reports from the U.S., Japan and Canada, all show spikes in part-time and contract work after major recessions. Given these trends, we can most likely expect to see short-term employee contracts plus a growth in the demand for independent workers as we move into the future.
Whether we are graduating from post-secondary, are mid-career or are highly experienced individuals, during tough economic times, employers are tentative about making permanent promises. Job seekers must then adjust their expectations so we can connect with the expectations of employers and the opportunities they have.
Here are some of reasons why taking a contract is a great idea.
Get Our Foot in the Door
When I first graduated from university with a teaching degree, there was very little full-time permanent positions available for the hundreds of graduates. In order to get our foot in the door, we had to take a short-term contract. Typically, the contracts were anywhere from 4 months to one year. The benefit of contract work is that the company gets to test drive us and we get to test drive them. It’s kind of like dating and finding out whether or not you are a good fit for one another. If it’s a good match and the company needs more help down the road, contractors who are independent workers can be called back in on a regular basis so it’s possible to create a continued stream of income.
Build Experience and References
If we are a new graduate or we are entering a new occupation, new industry or even a new field within an industry, taking a short contract is an excellent way to share our talents, build some experience and get a reference to add to our resume. Job seekers are often very focused on the long game of getting a permanent, full-time position and I always have to remind them that the people in those positions are may have taken a short contract and landed that permanent role because they got experience with the organization, had a reference from inside the building or from within the industry.
Learn Different Processes and Systems
Contracting to different companies also gives us the opportunity to see how things are done differently from one company to the next. This can be highly advantageous in terms of really understanding the industry, how it functions, and how each company has a place within the economy of the industry. It starts to give us a bigger, broader picture which is extremely helpful in terms of giving us perspective on the challenges and the gaps in service. This makes for great opportunity in the future to help out by becoming a consultant, or to solve problems or fill in gaps by starting our own business.
Opportunity to Collaborate with Different People
This past year, I had three contracts and I LOVED all of them because the people were so great to work with. I really like working with others and if I can get a contract that allows me the opportunity to collaborate, it’s even better. What I especially liked about these contracts was that they were all very different and the way in which we worked together was very different in each contract. This builds collaboration skills in us that we may not otherwise use in one job with one organization. In addition, having the opportunity to work with people from other disciplines helps us grow and build rich knowledge transfer opportunities that we may not get in one job.
Opportunity to Build our Network
We have to KNOW someone to get a job. It doesn’t matter if we apply online or we have a warm lead for a job. In order to get work, we have to know someone, talk to someone and build a relationship either through meeting in a formal interview or in a networking situation. When we take a short-term contract, we have the opportunity to meet people. Contract work helps us build our network because we have the opportunity to use our talents, experience and skills to help a company, work with others and build relationships. We have the opportunity to get inside the building and add value to a business.
Provides a Broader Perspective of the Industry
Contracting to different companies also gives us the opportunity to see how things are done differently from one company to the next. Depending on our industry, we may be able to hold multiple contracts simultaneously. In other cases, it may not be possible to have multiple contracts with competing companies in the same industry. However, depending on our goals for taking a contract, it gives us the opportunity to understand how things are done. This can be highly advantageous in terms of really understanding the industry, how it functions, and how each company has a place within the economy of the industry. It starts to give us a bigger picture and a broader perspective on the challenges and the gaps in service. This makes for great opportunity in the future to become a consultant rather than an independent contractor, and it can also lead to some independent contractors taking the leap into becoming entrepreneurs and hiring people to help fill in gaps or solve problems in their industry.
Contract work can be more flexible
Flexibility has been highly important to me and my family over the last 10 years. I have found that contract work has created the work/life balance that many people dream about but have a hard time creating with a permanent, full-time position. In my design contracts, I have been able to work from home or a co-working space. With my facilitation contracts, I’ve been able to organize my facilitation days around challenging family schedules. As a result, we have rarely needed childcare which has not only saved us thousands of dollars over the years, but it has allowed me to do what I love - be present for my family. I’ve also been able to set my hours with some of my onsite workplace training contracts. This flexibility has been AMAZING, has created balance for us and has given me the opportunity to grow my career by continuing to help organizations but keep the balance that I’ve wanted.
