Passion Pioneers

Cute, huh? I made it up. I originally thought of writing about “ portfolio careers” . A portfolio career refers more to having a number of roles that make up your total income, with some usually being part-time or casual such as board positions, freelancing, short-term contracts etc.  But it’s not quite what I mean. Other terms I threw around: - Multi-loyal employees - but this is more than just about company loyalty. - Fit-for-purpose career - but it sounded like a reliable SUV. - A promiscuous career - while provocative, feels like something you’d just stumble into. - Career chameleon - fits better with personality & communication. - Career agnostic - not the religious definition, the IT definition , where you’re interchangeable amongst different platforms. But I decided that Pick & Mix was by the far the cutest of the lot. It's how most people now experience their careers, so let's explore it & what it will mean for you. What is a Pick ...

Where you work & where you live should be within 20 minutes of each other. That’s all you need to know. Whether you drive, walk, cycle, ferry or fly to the office, 20 minutes is the sweet spot. I HEAR YOU NOW: “But there’s no jobs in my area!” “I get stuck in traffic!” “The train is an express & only takes 1.5 hours… one way.” “I have to work in the city!” These are all stories you tell yourself to justify your own suffering. Trust me - I know. I grew up in Frenchs Forest, Sydney, & worked in a cafe one suburb away. On weekdays, it was a 20 min walk to work from school. That was ok. But on the weekends, without any reliable buses, it was over 45 min walk to work… and on Sundays I’d work 7 hours. LET’S PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE A 20 min walk for a 7 hour shift is 5% of my working hours. Back & forth = 10%. A 45 min walk to work for a 7 hour shift is 11% of my working hours. Back & forth = 22%. Which means on the weeke...

"When the attitude is there, the action will follow." This is a personal saying of mine, because I truly believe more & more it's about how you work than what you know. I did a Media & Communications degree, and by the time I'd finished my 4 years at uni I had done 3 unpaid internships. By my last year, I decided I wanted to get paid for the skills I had, and applied at small creative agencies for roles. I was lucky enough to get some awesome first steps into my paid profession with Vitamin X (thanks Tania and Alex !) and Republic of Everyone (thanks Matt & Ben !). At the time, I thought it was critical to get real world experience in the workplace to lay a foundation for a MarComms career. Now I do believe work experience is important & valuable, especially with the high numbers of university graduates struggling to find full-time employment ( in 2014 this was around 40% ). You might need more than a piece of paper to land your first j...