Is a Portfolio Career Right for You?

The main benefit of portfolio careers is, since you're working multiple different jobs, you have the opportunity to use all your skills and the chance to pursue all your passions. Working what may have become a monotonous, single-position job can end up being a bore no matter how much you love what you do. With a portfolio career, you experience constant change and something new and exciting almost every day.

Portfolio careerists might be, for example, a lighting designer who also works as a Reiki master and photographer, or a lawyer who happens to be a food journalist as well.

After a few years as a 'portfolio careerist,' people tend to accumulate a laundry list of experiences in dozens of industries. From a personal point of view, this is an excellent way to expose yourself to all walks of life and develop as a person. The portfolio career lifestyle by its nature tends to make you a well-rounded person who will excel in any situation.

One of the most common portfolio career situations involves combining a professional career with teaching and writing -- you see this all the time with consultants and other professionals. In addition to professional work, you might also teach your expertise at a local college and write books on the subject. All together, the teaching and income from writing provide variety and a financial 'safety net' in the event you experience a professional dry spell.

Portfolio careers aren't for everyone. Particularly the more "exotic" varieties, where you're working in wildly diverse industries at the same time, require excellent networking and personal marketing skills. You must be able to promote yourself and connect with people easily. In fact, the primary challenge of a diverse portfolio career is the need for constant self-promotion and marketing.

You will also need to be capable of dealing with risk and change. Portfolio careers are inherently unstable (some would say that's their biggest draw) and the only thing which stays constant is change. They can demand a fast pace of work, particularly if deadlines overlap.

There's never a comfortable routine to fall into, and you can go through financial hard times easily which you need to manage carefully.

For those in the UK the book mentioned above is also available and I cannot recommend it highly enough:

And What Do You Do?

Depending on the job situation, it can be relatively easy to try a portfolio career and move to a traditional career if you don't like it, so you might want to give it a go if it sounds attractive.

If you'd like to know whether you have the personality for a portfolio career, consider that the best portfolio careerists tend to prize flexibility, accept their own mistakes and move on, and tend to be extremely self-disciplined and self-directed. You should also have more than your fair share of 'chutzpah,' a touch of audacity when it comes to finding a place to work and getting yourself out there.

People who value stability and financial security, who are perfectionists, who aren't lively or energetic, and who don't like deadlines are probably best off sticking with a more conventional position. Portfolio careers are most certainly not handed to you. Finding multiple places to work will mean mining hidden markets and less obvious sources of money. This can often mean approaching smaller companies which need part-time expertise, or vocational schools that need instructors.

Some of the jobs you'll work will pay very well, others will pay distinctly poorly. On the other hand, those low-paying jobs will provide you with other benefits (including intangible ones, like giving back to the community). Your income stream will tend to fluctuate, often drastically. You will find that many portfolio careerists use a regular background income from books or ongoing part-time contracts to smooth this out.