Portfolio Career and Professional Fulfillment
Flexible Working Patterns in the 21st Century
Aug 3, 2009
The workplace landscape in the 21st Century has changed considerably due to many social and economic and most notably, technological innovations. These changes have also been reflected in the way many people make career decisions. More and more people are seeking alternative career patterns to fulfill their personal and professional goals and lifestyles.
One of these flexible working patterns is the portfolio career, which has been around since the 1990s. What is an interesting and increasing trend is the number of people who have a portfolio career. This career option is most attractive to people who have spent many years in their specialist fields and now feel they can utilise their skills base and undertake one or two smaller roles on a part time basis or even try something completely new.
Portfolio Career is a Lifestyle Choice
Many people believe the term “portfolio career” originates from the early 1990s when Charles Handy stated that future careers will be made of smaller roles as opposed to one big role. Interestingly, a portfolio career is also referred to as “giganomics” where professionals rely on a number of “gigs” to make a living, according to Flextimers.com
A portfolio career predominately has more to do with lifestyle and it is an opportunity for an individual to make informed choices in terms of skill utilisation. It is also a career option which enables the combining one or more part time roles, be it freelancing, contractual hours or consultancy. When the time commitments are combined, it is the equivalent of a full time job. These roles may be complementary or diverse depending on the personal requirements and needs of an individual.
With a portfolio career, an individual will have more than one employer and be managing a number of working commitments simultaneously, so it suits someone who is meticulous when it comes to time management. An immediate advantage is one of greater career control for the individual when it comes to managing individual career expectations.
A portfolio career is not for an individual seeking consistency or security as well as direction, as there are a number of risks involved when creating a portfolio career, namely finding the appropriate roles with the appropriate remuneration levels which can take time and energy.
Benefits of a Portfolio Career
A portfolio career enables an individual to assess his/her skills base and professional capabilities and match these expectations with career opportunities. As a result, there are a number of benefits of a portfolio career and some are highlighted below:
- Utilisation of variety of skills
- Income stream from a number of sources
- Variety of work and opportunities
- Greater inner fulfillment
- Greater accountability and responsibility for the individual
- Choice in terms of projects and remuneration
- Opportunity to work with different people in different fields simultaneously (this is dependent on a person’s choice of projects)
- Provides a great opportunity to “test out” a role before making a major long term commitment
- Greater flexibility for both the individual and organisation especially to small, medium enterprises (SME)
- Opportunity to combine different skills unique to the individual
- Many opportunities to engage in personal and professional development as result of being exposed to different roles
- Opportunity to try something completely unrelated to an individual’s previous experience and this could entail charity or volunteer work
- Ability to combine professional and personal commitments flexibly
- New challenges
- Greater autonomy
- Free from corporate agendas and politics
Additionally, a portfolio career requires an individual to be:
- Innovative
- Persevering
- Entrepreneurial especially when seeking career opportunities
- Resourceful
- Possessing excellent time management skills
- Patient
Greater Inner Fullfilment
Charles Handy may have been one of the early pioneers of portfolio careers and this preference of working may have been seen by many as a “nice” to have career option in the early 1990s. In reality however, Charles Handy made some very valid points which are very apt for the 21st century career. As a result of many changes in the workplace over the last couple of decades, it is now more feasible than ever for an individual to engage in flexible working patterns.
A portfolio career is a great example of this flexible working career option. Not only does this offer greater autonomy when it comes to managing career expectations, but it also offers the opportunity to utilise skills more effectively. Portfolio careers are no longer the preserve of a select group of people, but in actual fact, this type of working is currently being enjoyed by countless millions across the globe.
All the indicators and benefits are there to suggest that a portfolio career can offer greater professional and personal fulfillment to those people seeking a way of working which suits their personal and professional needs. However, portfolio careers do not suit everyone and certainly not suitable for those people who find time management a challenge. Additionally the onus is solely on the individual to carve out and seek opportunities to meet his/her requirements.
References
Charles Handy. The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future. NY: Random House Business Books. August 1995.
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