Building your future, including your future career, involves planning and practice, from finding something you enjoy to building the right skills. But with 29 percent of people completely changing fields from their first job out of education, today the traditional career path is often left untraveled.
Building a career portfolio could be a better overall career strategy, helping you develop skills for any role rather than a specific one. Achieving this means you aren’t tied to a given industry or career type, opening a world of opportunities.
People often underestimate the benefit of skills and experiences outside of their traditional industry and job role. Building a career portfolio can be much more beneficial to your future than rigidly following a career path, which could limit you and cause problems if there are work shortages or redundancies in your job area.
Get out of your comfort zone
By pushing past the boundaries of your current job role, you’re likely to learn skills and abilities you wouldn’t have accessed otherwise but which can benefit you. From traveling and taking a ski course to learning how to cook in a professional kitchen, plenty of experiences can put you under healthy pressure.Getting out of your comfort zone and embracing new opportunities, even training in something you hadn’t considered as a possible career, can teach you a lot about yourself and your skills and even help you develop more confidence.
There are plenty of ways to step out of your comfort zone, from learning a new skill to teaching something you’re good at. If you’re looking for a fast-track way to learn more about yourself, build your confidence, and meet new people, taking a course or spending some time traveling can provide excellent opportunities.
Try freelance
Unlike a traditional career path, in which industry-relevant jobs are typically considered building blocks to success, a career portfolio offers much more flexibility around other facets of your life. If you’re wanting to travel or spend more time with family, you can build a career portfolio around your life situation rather than adjusting your life for your career.Trying freelance roles can give you experience in your desired area while offering the opportunity to explore multiple companies and positions, putting your skills to use with a variety of clients who can all offer unique perspectives.
Build transferable skills
A successful career involves flexibility. Building transferable skills is one way to future-proof your career, as adaptability will allow you to adjust to every opportunity and challenge. You can learn transferable skills in many ways, including through your hobbies or working across multiple industries.Instead of limiting yourself to skills relevant to your current role, by gaining transferable skills (including time management, organization, and communication), you can become a more valuable employee, better adjust to workplace challenges, and prepare yourself for other potential roles.
In future job applications, to get the most out of these skills during the application stage, it will be important to explain how these skills would be beneficial for the industry or role you’re applying for. More flexible work arrangements have become the norm, and the process of preparing for and getting these positions also needs to be flexible. Instead of the traditional, often restricting, career path, building yourself a career portfolio can help you develop the right skills and abilities to be comfortable in whatever your next role might be.
