Five Ways of Working

I've been noticing that people come to me -- and other career coaches -- saying "Help me find a new job."  Seems like a reasonable way for me to help people, right?

Yet, when I probe deeper, I discover that some people are really ripe for other forms of working.  I think many of us were trained to "get a job."  However, there's more than one type of livelihood.  Often, I help people to find new possibilities for the way that people can earn a living.  For some people, getting a job is confining.  For others, it spells freedom.

In this issue, I help you explore ways to create freedom -- in your career and with your money and self-worth. 

 

Get a Job

Most of us have jobs.  We work for other people.  This can be a great way to gain experience, to be part of a community, to be supported with resources.  And, more and more companies are getting hip to employees needs.  Companies in Fortune Magazine's list of the 100 Best Places to Work include Google, who offers free food, onsite car washes, oil changes, haircuts, language lessons, and much more.  This means that employees can do things like saving time and learning.  With a job, you know when you are getting a paycheck, assuming your company is staying afloat financially, and that can provide peace of mind.  I helped over 200 people to land jobs last year, at companies ranging from McKinsey to Intel to Yahoo, and in interesting roles in marketing, finance, and corporate social responsibility. 

 

Yet for some people, working for someone at a job else feels confining.  They feel reined in by corporate policies, as well as unspoken rules, like working hours.  For some people, the levels of creativity and variety leave them hungry for more.  In that case, perhaps they should consider a smaller company or one of the other options listed below. 

 

Work on Contract or Freelance

Another way of working is on contract, or on a freelance basis.  You network with people who value your skills, talents, abilities, or knowledge -- or some blend of those -- and find short-term contracts that allow you to show your stuff.  There are organizations like MSquared that act as brokers for short-term consulting projects. 

 

The upside of this type of work is that you're less likely to get bored, especially with short projects.  The challenging part of this work?  Being your own marketing department.  You usually have to gain a bit of sales savvy and go out and find your own gigs and negotiate for them.  For some people, this is uncomfortable.  Yet, if they make a commitment to network with friends and colleagues a few hours a week, they can stay in touch with the marketplace and find opportunities.  And, taking a negotiations course can really help.  Last year, I coached a number of freelancers to land bigger projects, and helped them increase their fees by demonstrating their value. 

 

Be an Entrepreneur

Yet another way of working is to create your own venture.  What an adventure!  I know this first-hand.  It can be purely exhilarating to craft a business that lets you be self-expressive and build something from scratch.  And, of course, you could buy a franchise.  You're the boss in this model.

 

The downside?  You're the boss.  Who bears the bulk of the stress?  You.  Who's dealing with investors, the press, and wearing a ton of hats, at least in the beginning?  You.  You've got to have tremendous ego strength, because you're likely to face an onslaught of challenges and self-doubts.  And, in the US, most businesses fail in the first 2-3 years.  Yikes!  But, if you can handle these issues, you just may create a successful venture. 

 

Take on a Project

 

Do the Hybrid Thing

Ah, the dabbler's approach.  Finally, there's the blended approach, putting together some of each of these options to make a living and make a life.  There's a wonderful book by Barbara Winter, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways For Creating Work That You Love, that might be for you. 

 

Personally, when I went back to graduate school for an master's degree in Somatic Psychology in 2001, I did three things:  I was a student (my experimental project), I did contract work for UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business as a career advisor, and I started building a company called Transformation Target, the predecessor to Work from Within. 

 

So, let me give you my take on options for how to work, and the good and the bad of each.  These are sort of "best case" and "worst case" scenarios, of course, but hopefully good food for thought!

Option	Pros	Cons
Job	Steady income Colleagues/community Infrastructure in place	Work on their schedule Colleagues may drive you crazy! May be bureaucratie
Contract/Freelance	Freedom of hours Creative freedom Constant new challenges	Unpredictable income Challenging clients Constantly needing to learn
Entrepreneur	Build something of your own Set your own hours Create your own culture	May have to use your own money ad forgo income Being the boss may mean you miss having peers you can gripe with Requires a ton of energy and enthusiasm
Project	Totally creative Adventurous You creating the meaning and the message	Potentially no income Very uncertain May need infrastructure -- but where to get it?
Hybrid	Balance needs to ensure at least a minimum income Get enough community Freedom	Can be hard to juggle hours May be hard to prioritize, especially if they all get busy at the same time If today's Tuesday....hard to know what to do next

 

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