Dr. Barb's 3 Awesome Reasons to Create a Portfolio Career
A good book and a good nap!
Dr. Barb Barnes is a long time job juggler who has juggled multiple commitments for years. For over 40 years, she worked the graveyard shift in a program for youth while she studied for a diploma, two undergraduate degrees, a master's degree and a Ph.D. Today, she is a portfolio careerist streaming income from working multiple jobs. She is an professor at both the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, located in Calgary, Alberta, where she teaches indigenous studies. she continues to work part-time with youth and has a fourth job sitting on a mental health review panel where she is paid an honorarium.
Dr. Barb streams income, because as she candidly puts it, "I would like to pay my bills." However, when probed further, she admits she does have a more comprehensive plan for her multiple incomes. "First of all, I want to have enough money saved for retirement," she says. "I don't want to have to worry about money as I get older. If I want to take a trip, I want to be able to take it. I may not go very far, " she chuckles, "but I want to have the freedom to do what I want." She adds, "At this stage of my life, I also want to have the freedom to spend money on my collection of antique books and have enough put away for my retirement." Dr. Barb spends her free time browsing through antique stores where she is well-known for her eye for rare and old books related to Indigenous history, and she is more than willing to share her knowledge and books from her collection.
She does carve out free time to go antiquing and watch sports. However, she admits the most challenging part about her work life is her schedule. She is, for the most part, nocturnal. She still works the graveyard shift at her part-time job, but has a "normal person's" schedule during the day. She said that naps have been the key to dealing with the time change between night shift and day shift for the past 40 years. She laughs, "I certainly don't have a normal schedule, and I'm a bit difficult to get a hold of because I may be sleeping, but it works for me."
“Saving for retirement, having a heart for teaching and having ample free time to antique are three awesome reasons Dr. Barb has a portfolio career.”
Napping, taking time for hobbies and doing what she loves seems to be the key ingredients for Dr. Barb's portfolio career. She received her doctorate later in her life and, as a part-time professor, she understands how hard it is to get a full-time job in the industry. However, this hasn't discouraged her. "I did my thesis later in life so I haven't had longevity in the profession and it will be hard to get a full-time job. However, I love my work. With the jobs I've chosen, I don't have a get rich quick scheme, but I love what I do and wouldn't change it. I enjoy the experience of working with a variety of youth, both at my part-time job and at university. I enjoyed going to school to get an education and I can now present what I learned from all the years of education I have. I studied for a long, long time and I hope that my students are successful and gain the excitement for learning that I had. I want them to enjoy gaining knowledge and I want them to get excited about learning new things daily."
Dr. Barb knows the value of training young people to get an education, work hard and keep their options open. She understands that the world of work is changing and that the young people she teaches will have to be flexible and more open when it comes to their work lives. Through her example, she provides them with a different way to view how to work. Her work life stems from her love of learning and her enjoyment of working with young people. She is able to juggle her challenging schedule because she has the ability to know when a good nap and a good book is a good idea.
If you want to learn more about portfolio career strategy, subscribe to Career Corner Toolkit for FREE monthly injections of portfolio career and other career tips. To subscribe to Career Corner Toolkit or to have a free consultation, go to my home page.
Here are the Challenges of Working Multiple Part-time Jobs
Working multiple salaried part-time jobs has countless benefits as I mentioned in my previous blog post. But, there are also challenges with this style of work and, if we're not purposeful and strategic, working this way could do us more harm than good.
One challenge is organizing our schedule. Juggling more than one part-time job is sometimes like putting puzzles pieces together. Keeping our schedule straight can be a challenge, but that isn't anything that a good calendar on our phone can't solve. I use a regular, hard copy calendar that was custom created for me by a former client rather than an App on my phone. For me, nothing seems to work like old fashioned calendar.
Another challenge with having multiple incomes from salaried, part-time jobs is dealing with taxes on part-time wages. If enough tax isn't taken off monthly with each pay cheque, we can end up paying taxes at the end of the year on our combined income. In the past, I have had a chat with payroll in each organization to let them know I am working a few part-time jobs, so they can adjust taxes. I always suggest to talk to a payroll expert and tax specialist to help you with this. They are the professionals.
Another potential and serious issue is monetary increase in salary. If we are working part-time, we are more than likely not gaining height in terms of climbing the ladder of promotion and monetary value within an organization's salary structure. In a former blog post titled Climbing Trees Instead of Ladders, I highlighted that the ladder concept is not foolproof when it comes to stability. However, we can't ignore the fact that climbing the ladder is how many companies continue to structure their salary grid.
As a result, full-time positions will have a pay scale that will reflect an employee's education and experience, will be aligned with inflation and the cost of living and the employee can climb the pay scale ladder yearly until they hit the top. With working part-time, the salary structure may be based on an hourly wage or, in my case when I was teaching part-time, both full and part-time employees had the same pay scale but it took me two years to get to the next rung, double the time of a full-time worker. Whew...calculating like this, it would have taken me 20 years to hit the top and by that time, the climb would have made me ready for retirement but not eligible!
Lack of negotiation power can also be an issue with part-time work. In an organization that negotiates salaries, full-time employees will be able to negotiate based on increased responsibilities and/or performance. Depending on the job, part-timers may not have the negotiation power due to reduced responsibilities within a part-time job or because they are paid under a different structure. Long term, the inability to negotiate plus the slow climb up the ladder could produce what I like to call the "working poor syndrome" with workers working multiple jobs but not able to keep up with the rising cost of living because they can't climb the monetary ladder or negotiate for higher wages. There are several articles written on this concern regarding the gig economy and it's challenges.
Retirement and benefits also have to be factored into the equation. Depending on the organization, part-time workers may not be entitled to benefits and retirement packages. We then have to save for retirement on our own and pay for the dentist out of our pocket. Based on the book The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton, Canadians tend to spend more than we take in. Consequently, saving for retirement and benefits on part-time jobs will likely be a stretch for many Canadians. That doesn't mean it isn't possible. With extremely disciplined spending and saving, I have known workers like Dr. Barb, in a previous blog post, who have worked multiple part-time jobs strategically as a retirement strategy. However, it concerns me that working multiple part-time jobs long-term without a strong plan in place may cause more harm than good.
The final issue is related to burnout. The potential for burnout exists in any job, full-time or otherwise. However, with more than one part-time job, we are learning more than one company culture, we are interacting with more bosses and co-workers, we are forced to learn more than one system of operation, and likely will have to learn more than one software system or master various technical skills related to each job. It can be a lot to adjust to and we may feel overwhelmed. It can be challenging, but a word of encouragement would be that I believe the skills I built adjusting and responding to different work cultures and people are part of the strengths I now have, honed from years of experience working multiple jobs.
Finally, when we hash out all of the challenges associated with working multiple salaried part-time jobs, we have to strategize carefully. I have met people that have successfully worked longer term in this way, but they are good with money. In other cases, this strategy may be a temporary solution that can potentially have excellent value for the reasons I covered in my first blog. As a longer term strategy, a wise idea is always to seek potential help from money experts like Money Mentors, a not-for-profit organization in Calgary, or a financial planner who can also help adjust budgets to match income, so we work and spend wisely. Having a financial plan in place over a longer stretch of time will help to make this a purposeful way to work.
This blog features:
Money Mentors, Calgary www.moneymentors.ca +1 888-294-0076
The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton
Here are the Benefits of Working Multiple Part-time Jobs
Having difficulty breaking into an occupation? Do you need flexibility in your work life? Would you like to get started in an industry? If job seekers are strategic, streaming income from multiple salaried part-time jobs can have countless benefits. It can be beneficial to new graduates starting their careers, job seekers moving to a new city, province or country and for people who are transitioning into a new occupation or industry. Workers can leverage opportunities, build a larger network, gain valuable experience and pay bills (not a bad idea).
I have had three major career changes in my life, and I have used this strategy to break into a new occupation and industry each time. Out of high school, I trained to become a legal office administrator. I was test driving law as a potential career direction. After working in the industry, I decided this wasn't a path I wanted to pursue with a degree, and I retrained to become a teacher. After five years of studying, I graduated into a recession with stiff competition from laid off, experienced teachers. School divisions were downsizing and there were few full-time jobs. I did get interviews but no jobs offers. The response from employers, "We hired someone who had experience."
It was an extremely frustrating experience because the logic didn't add up. How was I supposed to get experience when no one would give me a job? I clearly needed a strategy. After a few days of sitting on the couch watching old reruns of Oprah, I pulled myself together and strategized. I pieced together four part-time jobs to help me financially weather the recession, while building skills and a much needed network into the teaching industry.
To accomplish this, I tapped into my contacts and through my roommate found a part-time job in a daycare to build experience working with younger children. I then talked to a teacher who informed me that the entry point into teaching was through subbing. I applied for the sub-list and worked two jobs as a substitute teacher to build my network into schools. I kept my part-time banking job (that put me through university) because I could work evenings and weekends, plus it provided me with full dental and eye care benefits. It was also my back-up career plan.
I will admit, it was a juggling act, and I sometimes answered the phone at the bank using the name of the daycare. However, it was worth it. Within 10 months, I was offered a temporary full-time teaching job that turned into a permanent full-time position six months later. In the interview, the school division was impressed with my ability to juggle multiple commitments. They apparently believed if I could juggle four jobs, I could manage a classroom of 30 grade three children.
““I will admit it was a juggling act and I sometimes answered the phone at the bank using the name of the daycare.” ”
I have also worked multiple jobs to launch a career in another country. Fast forward a few years to when my husband and I moved to Japan to teach. We did our research, talked to teachers coming back from Japan who encouraged us to work multiple part-time jobs. With this style of work, we would have the freedom to work for whomever we wanted and take more vacation time (big bonus). Upon our arrival, we pieced together part-time work, and a private business, creating six streams of income and the ability to create our own schedule and have more time to travel throughout Asia. This strategy also eventually increased our network leading to a full-time job and more lucrative part-time contracts.
I have also worked multiple jobs when I have transitioned from one occupation and industry to another. Fast forward again to when I decided to move into the career development field. I was working as an academic/career advisor/international student coordinator/ESL teacher (yes, that was one job) in a high school when I decided to move into the career development field. I quit my job so I would have time to explore other options.
While researching and talking to people in the career development industry, I worked part-time teaching English as a Second Language to adults. I wanted to add adult education experience to my skills and I needed to pay my bills. It was through my part-time work that I was "discovered" in the lunch room by Carol, a supervisor of a work placement program. She offered me the opportunity to job shadow which turned into a full-time job offer. By having a conversation in the lunch room, I had tapped into a hidden opportunity in the career development industry through my part-time teaching job. From this experience, I learned that we can't underestimate the power of just getting ourselves into the building.
Savvy portfolio careerists know that working for multiple companies part-time gives them more opportunity to share their skills, double the potential for promotion, a larger network and double the potential to learn and be mentored. It also provides the opportunity to explore various industries, learn first-hand about potential career pathways, jobs that are dying out and work that is emerging within the hidden job market.
Strategizing and working multiple part-time jobs can create opportunity and beats sitting on the couch watching Netflix and the bills stack up. However, nothing is perfect. And, because nothing is perfect, in my next post, I will hash out the challenges associated with working multiple part-time jobs.