I know I might be biased but I think we need to talk more about pursuing portfolio careers, especially as doctors or other healthcare professionals. They are a great way to help individuals create a career which “ticks all of their boxes” instead of trying to find one career which does that (unlikely). Let me explain more about them in this post as they are still a bit of a mystery! 

It’s essentially where you have a variety of different jobs or working roles based on your different skills & interests. It means instead of having a single employer you have different jobs (+/- employers) which provide you with multiple streams of income. These working roles can be very different. For example, as a portfolio career doctor you could have a combination of medical & non-medical roles!

There are a few different ways I think portfolio careers can really help individuals with their work-life relationship based on how it’s helped me.

1. Variety gives greater opportunity to “tick all your boxes”. 

Firstly, the variety of working roles has allowed me to achieve personal growth, fulfilment & explore skill sets in ways that my medical career wasn’t able to on its own. I don’t think it’s fair to expect one job to “tick” all our boxes & I have come to accept that I probably won’t ever find a single job that will… a portfolio career fixed this! 

It allows me to now do different forms of work which stimulate me & fulfil me in different ways. For example, as a business owner I get to use my creativity which was something I lacked in my medical career. Conversely, working as a doctor provides me with validation which is something that I really struggle to get when I’m working on my own businesses (as an entrepreneur you are your own boss & there isn’t anyone to really tell you that you’re doing things right, wrong or any different aside from a happy customer). 

2. More control with greater possibilities.

Secondly, it’s given me back control over my career rather than feeling at the mercy of my employer. For example, there are lots of positives to working as a doctor but there are also negatives (especially if your employer is the NHS)…. we lose our autonomy & we are following a well defined path with a pretty set trajectory. I’ve gained back so much control since pursuing a portfolio career & who knows what the future holds?!

3. Avoids an (impending) identity crisis. 

Lastly (& most importantly), it’s helped me with my identity… I don’t want the work I do as a Doctor to be the only thing that defines me. I want to embrace other things I do and this is more than possible with a portfolio career. The fact that you have multiple working roles means by definition that you can’t let one role define you. This in turn then encourages you to let other things become your identity whether they are or aren’t work related. 

I’ve personally found that working as a portfolio career doctor where I am forced to pick up & drop working roles more fluidly means I am now much more accustomed to finding different forms of work & accepting change. I can anticipate how this will help me a lot, especially as I get older. It’s really common for individuals as they enter retirement to suddenly feel a loss of purpose as they lose their working title…. A title they might have had for decades! I personally feel that having a portfolio career will make it less likely that I feel this loss of purpose as my identity isn’t so attached to a single working role (but we will have to wait quite a few years for me to be able to confirm this for you). 

What are the negatives of a portfolio career?

As with all career paths, there are pros and cons to a portfolio career. These largely depend on how it is you plan to create your portfolio career. For example, a portfolio career consisting of 2 employed working roles will have different pros/cons to a portfolio career consisting of self-employed work as a free-lancer. 

 I’ll save this discussion about the negatives of a portfolio career for another post next week. 

Did you know I offer 1:1 coaching to help others make changes in their lives? This can be related to careers, starting a business or forming healthier habits. Please just send me an email directly to elle@gabrielletodd.com if this is something you feel you would benefit from & would like to learn more about.