Comments on: Career Advice – Start Broad, Specialize Later

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:25:30 +0000

Hi Barrie, thanks for the contribution. I’d love to take a look at the book if you’re looking for people to review it before the US release date.

By: Barrie Hopson

Barrie Hopson — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:13:38 +0000

Could not agree with you more about portfolio careers – but then I have just written a book about it with Katie Ledger. It is out in October in the UK. Still waiting to hear about the US date. Its called. “And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career”. Our quick intro into the project reads as follows:
Portfolio careers – a new work/life blend
Does work mean 9 to 5, Monday to Friday? Does it mean going to an office/workspace a long commute from your home? Does it mean hard and fast hours, line manager, General Manager, fixed holidays and entitlements?
Is work something we don’t like doing? And “life” something we do?
We spend so many hours of our lives working, shouldn’t we do things we enjoy and get some personal value out of? A job is not for life – it’s for however long it works for you. And we suggest there is another way to find health, happiness and fulfilment in your work. It’s called a
Portfolio career – working at two or more jobs for different employers.
It’s not an easy option. It’s good if you can multitask. It helps to have a strong support network. And you need to be a brilliant time manager and organiser.
We’ve been discovering that thousands and maybe millions of people have been and are developing portfolio careers without being aware that this style of working has a name.
This book describes the 10 steps you need to follow if you want to develop a portfolio career for yourself.
We have 2 examples in the book of lawyers who are doing quite different jobs simultaneously – how about a chef and cookery book writer!

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:24:26 +0000

Hi Matt – that logic makes perfect sense to me. Build teams that help prop you up in your weakest areas, but make sure you have a broad base of knowledge so you can speak the language. I totally agree. Thanks for contributing.

By: @MattWilsontv

@MattWilsontv — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:52:36 +0000

At Bryant University, I worked really hard to establish our Entrepreneurship Major as part of the business school. The major question that was asked–is it too broad? Aren’t you supposed to specialize? What the heck is entrepreneurship education anyway?

To run your own enterprise you need broad exposure to everything–you’ve got to speak all the languages–mkt, finance, IT, accounting, but you don’t have to be an expert. Most e-ship majors will find their passion/their expertise, bring that to the table in their next venture and build a team around that to fill the gaps.