The pros and cons of building a portfolio career

Whether it is through several lateral movements or over-commitmentthe life of gig workers trying to make a living is not new. But in a time when the meaning of work is at hand, more people may be tempted by a career that brings together various threads under their control.

All of Mackenzie’s gigs require similar skills: communication, writing and strategy, but the end product for each offer is very different.

“I think when you’re in a full-time job, or when you’re in a full-time business, as a full-time founder, you pour all your energy and love and time and effort into one point, one thing. Mackenzie told Business Insider. “I’m a generalist. I really like variety and I really wanted to do a lot of different things that would tap into my different strengths and interests.”

Janel Abrahami, who also has a portfolio career, does not see workers returning to how work was before the pandemic.

“Now that people, in some cases, have been forced to discover different ways of working or have proactively chosen to do so, it has been shown that we can earn much more, be much more satisfied and create a greater impact. for ourselves, giving up a full-time job,” said Abrahami, who lives in New Jersey.

Mackenzie, who lives in Australia, said in a TikTok video that “the people who are going to thrive in this new economy are not the 9-to-5 people. It’s not the people who move up in the corporation. scale.”

Instead, she said, they will be those with “multiple revenue streams, clients, projects, products and services” at once, which involves their “unique skill set and experience.”

Falling demand for full-time workers and slowing wage growth could push more people to carve out a variety of gigs for themselves.

Many employees described to Business Insider how they expanded their revenue streams beyond the corporate grind. Some people may take a freelance job or work more than one job to start their portfolio career. Whether self-employed or employed by a company, people can earn money from a number of sources, such as creating content on social media, creating user-generated content, and writing gigs.

“When you decentralize everything from the 9 to 5 and build a portfolio career, you protect yourself from the emotional and financial shock if and when business has to change to the 9 to 5,” Abrahami said in a TikTok video.

How to start your portfolio career

Those looking to try a portfolio career should be careful if they are still working a day job. Abrahami said people should first read their employee handbook to review non-compete agreements and clear clauses.

“Once everything is clear and you know that adding more jobs on top of your 9 to 5 is kosher, I strongly advise anyone interested in expanding their career to include more jobs in a portfolio is to start one thing. at some point,” she said. “The easiest place to start is to think about what you already do and are already an expert at and it comes naturally to you.”

Abrahami said consulting, coaching, courses and creating a paid community are ways to get started and monetize what you already know.

“I think the interesting thing about a portfolio career is that there’s an infinite number of ways it can be structured, and I think it really depends on the individual, what they’re hoping to achieve, how much stability they want, what their appetite for risk it is,” Mackenzie said.

Building a portfolio of different types of gigs could take time.

“It’s very unlikely that you’ll start your portfolio career and add another job to your portfolio as a freelancer or consultant and then get another gig two days after you announced it,” Abrahami said. “It goes through a process and it often takes a lot longer than you would expect, so you have to have a comfortable financial track to get you through it.”

If you’re planning to build a portfolio career without a full-time job, networking might be helpful before you quit.

“Building your network is something that takes a lot of time,” Mackenzie said, adding, “really expanding your network and making really good connections and building relationships in their sphere or their space is something you can do over time what you have a full activity. – time work.”

The pros and cons of a portfolio career

Mackenzie and Abrahami believe that a portfolio career is not for everyone.

“The person who would thrive in a portfolio career is naturally proactive, excited to raise their hand for opportunities and introduce themselves, is creatively inspired and energized by having several things going on at once, and is someone who it’s really difficult for him. or boring to describe in one job title,” said Abrahami.

Mackenzie finds the flexibility, freedom to work, and earning potential as a professional in a portfolio career.

“When you’re working for yourself in a portfolio career structure, you’re constantly selling and constantly negotiating deals and projects and so on,” Mackenzie said. “Your earning power is truly infinite, especially if you start producing your knowledge and creating scalable income that way.”

Another professional may be able to focus on your strengths. Abrahami said her favorite part of building a portfolio career is “finally” being able to use her strengths, such as public speaking, because she gets to decide what jobs come next. Abrahami is a career coach and career education strategist for universities, MBA programs and professional associations. It also creates social media content, works with brands, has a newsletter and offers public speaking opportunities.

“In my full-time, corporate jobs, yes, I’ve had roles where they played to my strengths, but I’ve often been caught up in opportunities for growth, and there’s never been a role where I’ve said, ‘I’m a natural for that,'” Abrahami said.

However, a portfolio career has its drawbacks, such as being overwhelmed by too many happenings.

“Portfolio careers give us a lot more flexibility if we choose that, but it’s also a double-edged sword because if you add so many jobs and part-time gigs and freelance opportunities to your portfolio career, you can just as easily get overwhelmed and work a lot harder and a lot more than you would in a 9 to 5,” Abrahami said.

Mackenzie believes that having less financial stability and job security compared to a full-time role is a risk for a portfolio career, and that loneliness could be another con.

“Typically, people work alone, or they’re part of teams and projects,” Mackenzie said. “I think one of the things that I see people in this space struggle with is this lack of camaraderie and community. And it just means that you have to intentionally create that for yourself, whether you join established communities or go to a coworking space. space-bar.”

Have you made the switch to a portfolio career? Contact this reporter at [email protected] to share what this career change was like.