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How you can make a portfolio career work

“You should write a column about portfolio careers,” my breakfast companion Ed said.

Why?

“Because I think they are becoming more common, and the idea is especially appealing to baby boomers,” he said.

As we discussed it, I decided Ed was right. (Of course, we’re both boomers and portfolio careerists, so we have similar views on this.)

Broadly speaking, a portfolio career consists of doing several different jobs part time, all of which add up to full-time work.

For example, I am an executive coach, a writer, a facilitator, owner of a business, a public speaker and a salesman.

Some people work at a variety of jobs because they must, piecing together several sources of income to make ends meet.

However, the best kinds of portfolio careers are shaped from your passions. You fill several roles because they are appealing to you. Literally, you refuse to be limited to a single type of career because you want to use a variety of skills which bring you great pleasure.

It’s much easier to make this work if customers will pay you handsomely for at least one of your skills, or if you have accumulated enough funds to worry more about pleasure than payment for your activities.

I have always felt the Bay Area had a disproportionately high percentage of portfolio careerists because stock options and boom business cycles offered financial security to more residents here than elsewhere.

It also helps if you are provided insurance and benefits through a spouse or partner, so that regular or full-time employment is not completely necessary.

I believe trying a portfolio career is a great rehearsal for an active retirement. If you plan to work past 65 to remain active and engaged and to supplement retirement income, you may be able to utilize one or more pieces of your portfolio.

What does it take to create a portfolio career?

• You must understand your skills, and see new ways they can be used.

This is a good starting point, because you’ll need a new perspective on how your strengths can be utilized.

If you’ve been effective at project management, perhaps your skills can be put to good use as a professional organizer. If you have worked in human resources or training, you might become a coach or a facilitator for team-building sessions.

• A good network helps.

Portfolio work often involves consulting, projects or contracting. Those kinds of engagements are often awarded based on recommendations.

If you are exploring several kinds of work, tap your network for feedback on how you are viewed, and for tips on where your skills may be needed.

• You must be able to handle risk, or at least uncertainty.

If job security and having most details of your life planned are high on your priority list, then a portfolio career probably will not work for you.

• You should be flexible.

Managing a portfolio of jobs or assignments will challenge your multitasking capability. You may find yourself needing to adapt to multiple customers at the same time, with plenty of schedule and deadline changes.

Finally, a portfolio career can be an effective path to reinventing yourself. You may be able to keep doing your old job part time, while building a customer base in a whole new type of work.