What is a Portfolio Career? “Follow your passion” has a new meaning

“Work has changed” is an understatement at this point. The last decade completely revised what society considers to be a “job.” Content creator, influencer and digital creator are no longer anomalies. Uber and TaskRabbit popularised gig work in a way that would have been unimaginable at the turn of the century. Now platforms like Fiverr, Upwork and PeoplePerHour brought freelancing to the masses. Individuals use these platforms to provide an array of services. Freelancers can be paid per task, per hour or per milestone.

These platforms elevate the most sought after freelancers with the highest star ratings. A nice idea in principle. Some can make a stable income by reaching the height of their niche, but many are commodifying themselves for profit at the expense of a steady income.

The pandemic forced many to reevaluate their work. With distributed global workforces and tools for collaboration accelerating a digital transformation that was already underway. “Follow your passion” takes on a new meaning, as creativity becomes more important in a world where technology is accelerating quicker than it ever has. A new career path came into view that allowed professionals the freedom to work on creative endeavours when they choose prompted by the passion economy.

Following in the footsteps of the gig platforms mentioned above, Podia the all-in-one digital storefront allows individuals to sell courses online. Similarly, Substack makes it simple for writers to start an email newsletter and make money from subscriptions. The top-earning writer on Substack earns more than $500,000 a year from reader subscriptions and the top creator on Podia makes more than $100,000 a month. We find ourselves at the precipice of the commoditisation of the consumer, whereby individuals “follow their passions”, build an audience and in so doing turn themselves into a business. Unlike gig work, where many are performing repeatable tasks, these individuals are much closer to entrepreneurs turning themselves into a business.

The Rise of the Portfolio Career

I know what you’re thinking. Easier said than done. But this is becoming an increasingly viable option for new entrants in the workplace. Many graduates are choosing to create their own careers by focusing on a few skills, interests and developing them. There is a rise in using the passion economy to adopt a portfolio career. We’ve gone from wanting jobs for life, to jobs for a few years, to jobs for a few weeks. Individuals are using their talents to create a career that better suits them than a traditional 9–5. However, some find themselves with multiple jobs by default, forced to top up their artistic portfolio (in a field where pay can be poor) with steadier work.

Careershifters points to three different types of portfolio careers:

1. Anchored: around one primary, reliable source of income; the ‘anchor’ of their career and then juggle one or more ‘satellite careers’
2. Seasonal ‘different strands of their career might come into play at different times of the year’
3. Part-timing ‘a mix of part-time employed work can still give you the variety and flexibility of a portfolio career’

As a child, I was encouraged to specialise in a field and become an expert in that area. I was always reluctant to do so, as my interests were wide-ranging. It can be difficult to whittle down interests into one specialisation. In contrast, the portfolio career rewards wide achievers over high achievers, which points to a new generation of professionals willing to learn, unlearn and evolve.

The Pros and Cons of the Portfolio Career

There are many advantages to adopting a portfolio career. There is a flexibility and autonomy to focus on what you are interested in. If you are by nature entrepreneurial and driven to independently learn then this could be a good fit. We all know that sometimes jobs are not as advertised or do not necessarily allow for evolution and change. Diversifying income streams can also be more secure than a traditional job. As we saw this year, full-time employment can be a lot like being a freelance with only one client.

This type of work is definitely not for everyone. Context switching every few hours is definitely not everyone’s bag. It can also take a lot of energy at the beginning when always looking for the next opportunity or the next client. Similarly, ‘work creep’ can quite easily slip in, as it becomes even more important to have very clear boundaries around when to work.

Taking the Leap

Before reinventing how you work there are a few things to consider. What is your financial risk threshold? Do you have enough connections to steadily maintain opportunities? What skills are you looking to leverage in the first instance? Are you going to take a phased approach or go all in from the start?

Since lockdown began the number of new companies formed in the U.K. and U.S. was up 40% versus a year earlier, and most of those new companies were portfolio professionals. According to the ONS, there are over 5 million self-employed people in the UK working in a wide-variety of industries. This figure will only grow over time as more platforms for creative endeavours are created and as the pandemic has changed what we look to get out of our work.

If you want to test the possibilities of a portfolio career, a great place to start is on NewCo. NewCo is a place to work on each others’ startup ideas. It’s built for diverse teams from all over the world. Coming this summer to Android and iOS.