How to Create a Portfolio Career - A growing career trend
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