Idea: Portfolio working

More good writing from the Economist, this time about the notion of building a portfolio career. For anyone who hasn’t come across the idea before, having a portfolio career is about freelancing to use the best of your competencies, possibly for a range of clients, but possibly also for just one or two. It is an idea that I first came across about twenty years ago, promoted by the eminent Professor Charles Handy, who is quoted in this article: “Going portfolio means exchanging full-time employment for independence. The portfolio is a collection of different bits and pieces of work for different clients. The word “job” now means a client “.

There are advantages and disadvantages of having a portfolio career, as the Economist article outlines:

“Portfolio workers lack a lot of the things that full-time employees take for granted, ranging from secretarial assistance to office parties. They need to acquire a far wider range of competencies, such as computer skills, marketing, accounting and filling in tax returns. Moreover, unlike full-time employees, portfolio workers should not hope to find confirmation of a job well done (a crucial part of any worker’s motivation) from within their own organisation. They have to find it outside, primarily from their clients. This, it can be argued, makes them intensely customer-centric, something that might be expected to serve them well in the 21st century.”

Now I would say this, but I think that GazetMe is perfectly suited to portfolio working since it enables users to keep track of projects on which they’ve worked and, more importantly, gather feedback from contacts along the way. For anyone looking for a new job, it’s worth considering, even as an interim measure. Who knows, you may find it becomes your career.  You can read the full article here.