Very few of us are born knowing what we want to be when we grow up. Often we end up in a job seemingly by chance, doing what someone else - a teacher or parent - thinks we would be good at. Or we do something because we find it easy and drift from school to college, taking our best subject and then whatever job most graduates in that discipline opt for, or the first job we are offered.

Even when we make more conscious career choices, dissatisfaction can creep in after a year or two. The problem is that we are unique individuals, with a huge variety of skills, preferences and knowledge, but jobs are simply not built to fit individuals, individuals are expected to fit jobs.

It is therefore unlikely that you will find all of the things you want in one job and whilst that may not be important to start with, when you are learning, once the job becomes familiar, boredom may set in. If this happens repeatedly and you find yourself job-hopping as a result, it may be worth considering a portfolio career, which simply means earning your living in several different part-time occupations. This is not the same thing as holding down two or three badly paid jobs to make ends meet. It can mean having several highly skilled, professional posts, often mixing employment with self-employment.

If this idea appeals to you, make a list of everything you would like to get out of a job and all the skills and knowledge you would like to use at work, including skills you would like to learn from scratch or develop to a higher level.

Then take a look at your present job and see how many items on the list can be ticked.

Next, do some research to find out how y

ou could use the remaining skills or knowledge on your list. Could you set up a small business or take some courses which would enable you to work in another field? Is it possible to cut down the hours in your present job to make room for a second part-time occupation?

It can take time to establish your portfolio, but if you end up with job satisfaction 90% of the time compared with 30 or 40% now, it will be worth the effort. And with the death of the "job for life,” having several ways of earning a living will be extremely beneficial. If one source of income dries up, you have two or three others to fall back on. These can then be expanded or, since you are used to being flexible, you could view this as an opportunity to start something new again.

© Waller Jamison 2006

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