đź’Ą Why You Should Replace Your Career Path with a Career Portfolio

Author

Janel Abrahami
November 17, 2023

Ambitious, passionate people like us are just trying to find our dream jobs- a role that is endlessly interesting, requires skills we're great at and love to use, and pays handsomely.

And then, we follow that career path to "the top."

You've seen this film before, right?

Searching for the dream job was a noble quest within the structure of what our careers were meant to be: elevators to the top floor of your field of expertise, each level bringing you a higher title, a bigger salary, and more perks until retirement in your sixties, when you earned the right to spend time on your passion projects.

Within that construct, finding your dream job was a huge advantage.

It was the difference between feeling a sense of purpose vs. boredom and despair.

But, here's where it's gotten us:

  • Living in all-or-nothing mentality: we either have our dream jobs or we don't

  • 3 in 5 American employees experience work-related anxiety or depression*

  • $400,000 average individual net worth upon retirement**

In the past, deciding on my “dream job” used to feel exciting in theory but impossible in practice- because no singular job description captured all of the things I wanted to do.

Now, I realize that’s the point: no one job is supposed to check off all the boxes.

Following one career path is outdated and stifles your potential.

If you're like me, you believe there is just so much worth learning, exploring, and doing in our work lives.

If you're like me, you want to be known for more than just what you do at your day job. You want to make a bigger, more visible impact.

If you're like me, unlimited earning potential sounds pretty damn great.

Over the past 3+ years, we've seen how rewarding it can be to expand our professional identities beyond the boundaries of our 9-5 jobs.

Personally, I've spent the time since May 2020 combining a number of different jobs into one dynamic, fulfilling career.

A career that combines a number of different interests and skills that no single job description could ever capture on its own.

Once I accepted that that was OK- that I was allowed to stretch out and not just stretch up- the pressure to find the perfect job went away, and I began to see all of the possibilities that were in MY control to get to the career that really makes me proud.

When you let go of the "career path" plan and think more creatively about what your work gets to look and feel like NOW, a world of new stimulation, visibility, and JOY opens up for you!

Start building your career portfolio.

Think about a portfolio in terms of business, finance, or art:

  • Venture capitalists invest in a portfolio of different companies to increase and diversify their money and mitigate risk.

  • Financial advisors recommend portfolios that include different ways to grow your money, like stocks and bonds.

  • Artists create portfolios of pieces that compliment each other but also highlight their different styles and skills. Excuse me, Miss Taylor Alison Swift has a music portfolio spanning three different genres, with an Album of the Year in each.

Think about how you might add in one new element to your professional identity-- your career portfolio.

When you shift your mindset from path 👉 portfolio, you find:

  • You make more money. When one job provides your entire income, everything is riding on that one job. When you diversify your career portfolio, you build a bigger financial safety net.

  • You find more purpose. Similarly, when one job is your only source of professional identity, how you feel about your work is determined by what's going on at that job in this moment in time: office politics; quarterly earnings; your manager's mood. When you diversify, you take meaning & fulfillment back into your own hands.

  • You have more social support. Ha ever had your favorite manager resign out of the blue or feel totally isolated after losing your work BFFs when you change jobs? One be-all-end-all job has huge impact on your social wellness, for better or worse. Tapping into different work communities brings more social stability, support, and fresh perspective.

Today, my own career portfolio includes:

^ That is exactly- if not more perfect- than the type of job description I was searching for at the beginning of the year.

PLUS: You’ll notice that only one of those things was decided by someone else- the L&D job offer I accepted in June.

I created opportunities for all of the other things.

One career path puts unrealistic pressure on your job to be socially, creatively, and financially fulfilling.

The old paradigm of landing a dream job and riding the elevator to the top (if you can) wasn't really working for most of us before 2020.

And it's definitely lost its luster now that we've seen what remote work, flexible hours, online personal branding, and creator tools have made possible for our career potential.

The time has never been better to rethink what a successful career "path" looks like!

Keep going- you got this,

Janel

*via US Dept. of Labor data

** via Federal Reserve data

đź’Ą Ready to take your career power back? Here are two ways I can support you:

  • Portfolio Career strategy session: Want to build a real business around your personal brand, but don't know where to start? In this 60-minute strategy session, we'll pinpoint potential business models and income opportunities based on where you're at in your personal brand journey. Brand new to personal branding but see the potential to build something amazing? That's great- we can start there, too! Reply to this email for pricing + scheduling.

  • Workshops, events + brand activations: Have an audience you want to motivate around career empowerment, the business of personal branding, and carving owning your path? Let's create an unforgettable experience together! Reply to this email with a hello + a few details.

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