The portfolio career - Practice Exam

C2 Proficiency · Multiple Matching · Expert Proficiency Resource Book, Pearson Education

You are going to read an article about people who follow several careers at the same time. For questions 1–10, choose from the sections (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once.

If you ever get home late from the office and collapse onto the sofa, wondering what happened to your social life, or sit in meetings dreaming about more flexible working hours, you might need an extra job or two. On the face of it, that sounds like the last way to redress your work-life balance, but you shouldn't necessarily reject the idea out of hand, according to Matt Pearsen of recruitment group APOS. Here's how it works. Scaling back time spent on a 'main' career gives freedom to develop other strings to your bow, as you spread your well-honed skills across different part-time roles. As Matt says: 'Because you're at the helm of your own bespoke career, you can structure your work around your lifestyle, taking time out when you need it.' On those terms, a compilation career suddenly sounds pretty appealing. It's certainly worked for Sarah Dillon, 30. 'Traditional careers all seemed to be about specialising yourself into a silo until you could do your job with your eyes closed,' says the translator/teacher/event manager/web designer, who swapped office life in London for a laptop in Brisbane. 'I couldn't get excited about that. There were so many things I was interested in pursuing, and they were all important.' For Sarah, taking control of her own day-to-day career direction has been both challenging and rewarding. 'I definitely work harder now, and the hours can be longer, but I have the best possible balance between paying my bills and being fulfilled. I'm glad I didn't wait until I burnt out or retired to make the change.'

This shift is no surprise to management experts. As early as 1982, management guru Charles Handy was suggesting that in the 21st century, more than fifty percent of all jobs would be conducted on a part-time, freelance or self-employed basis as people develop a more pick-and-choose attitude to work. It turns out he was spot on. So what's behind this rise? Marci Alboher, bestselling author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success describes herself as a 'slash careerist – as in lawyer/journalist/author/writing coach'. Her research reveals that, while recession-proofing and maternity planning can play a part, the most common trigger for adopting a portfolio career is personal fulfilment. 'They allow people a certain amount of stability while giving them the freedom to follow something they feel close to,' she says. 'I've met computer programmer/theatre directors, lawyer/ministers and longshoreman/filmmakers. All of these combined careers are ultimately about figuring out ways to make room for everything we want to be in our lives.'

For some, it's less of a conscious decision. Thirty-three-year-old Anita Westmorland's portfolio career built itself. The professional actor is now also a director/event manager/set stylist/interior designer. 'All these different careers came from the same root,' she explains. 'I started out acting, but it was hard to support myself. As I was working for small theatre companies with no budget for a stylist, I took the opportunity to learn new skills that would give me the chance to earn extra income elsewhere. Before long I knew how to manage lots of aspects of staging, so events management evolved as a natural fourth strand. Now all four careers pay quite well – and they're all things I love.' Your choice of second and third careers is as crucial as your first, says Anita. 'Some actor friends have gone for "steady" second careers in law or accounting,' she says. 'Slowly and surely, that's taken over, and they don't act much now, or enjoy their day jobs. I wanted to avoid that.' 'You do need to keep your eye on the ball,' agrees advertising planner/wedding photographer/honey producer Ben Bowles, 46. 'There'll be times when you're staring at a gap in one or more of your careers, calling around and hoping something comes up.'

Some are more suited to a portfolio career than others, suggests Jenny Ungless, a life coach for Monster.co.uk. 'Portfolio careers are great if you're adept at multi-tasking and communicating. And for many, a portfolio career can be the solution to balancing work and home life. Working mums can set up an office at home and work on a wide variety of jobs when the children are at school or after they've gone to sleep.' The experts agree, though, that a portfolio career isn't for everybody. 'People who are optimistic by nature seem to be better protected against the strains of a portfolio-working lifestyle,' claims Peter Totterdell, senior research fellow at the Institute of Work Psychology. He identifies 'autonomy, uncertainty and social isolation' as the big impacts on any portfolio careerist's lifestyle. 'Organisation is the key,' agrees Ungless, 'It's a challenge. But if you can keep control of your schedule, and have skills that can be transferred to a variety of jobs, a portfolio career really can offer the best of all worlds.'

The portfolio career

A new generation of workers is discovering that maintaining a 'portfolio' of different careers can pay off in terms of time, money and quality of life.

admits to finding satisfaction in an increased workload

can be regarded as farsighted in anticipating developments of this kind

has diversified without straying far from an original career path

identifies personality traits needed to cope with downsides of this way of working

has studied the reasons behind the development of the phenomenon

mentions having no regrets about giving up a single career in favour of new challenges

pinpoints the sector of the workforce most likely to benefit from this type of working

predicts fluctuations in demand for some of the skills offered in a portfolio

has coined an alternative term for someone who works in this way

realises that pursuing certain types of career strand can be counter-productive

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