Instead, building a career portfolio could be better for your overall career strategy, helping you develop skills for any role rather than a specific one. By achieving this, you won’t be tied to industry or career type, opening a world of opportunities.
Gary Clark, Academy Director at ski course business: Basecamp, says: “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 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 yourself past your boundaries, you’re likely to learn skills and abilities you wouldn’t have accessed before but can benefit you. From travelling and doing a ski course to learning how to cook in a professional kitchen, there are plenty of experiences that can put you under healthy pressure.
Getting out of your comfort zone and embracing new opportunities, even training in something you didn’t consider as a possible career, can teach you a lot about yourself, your skills, and even help you develop more confidence.
Gary Clark says: “There’s 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, then taking a course or spending some time travelling is an excellent opportunity.”
Try freelance
Unlike a traditional career path, which might consider industry-relevant careers as a building block to success, a career portfolio is much better suited to whatever life you want to lead. If you’re wanting to travel, or someone with a family, you can build a career portfolio around yourself rather than adjust your life for your career.
Trying freelance roles can give you experience in your desired role while having the opportunity to explore multiple companies and positions, putting your skills to use with a variety of clients who can all offer a unique experience.
Build transferable skills
A successful career involves flexibility. Building transferable skills is one way to future-proof your career, as you can adjust to every opportunity and challenge with your adaptability. Transferable skills can be learnt in many ways, including through your hobbies or working across multiple industries.
Instead of limiting yourself to the skills relevant to your specific role, by gaining these skills (including time management, organisation, and communication), you can become a more valuable employee, better adjust to workplace challenges, and learn skills for roles related to your job.
It is important, for every future application, that you explain how these skills would be beneficial for the industry you’re looking to apply for – to get the most out of these skills during the application stage.
As more flexible work arrangements have become the norm, getting into your 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 your role.