BUILDING “PORTFOLIO CAREERS”
Another response to uncertainty is to hedge one’s bets by diversifying income streams and picking up a variety of skills, rather than sticking to a single 9-to-5 job.
These have been dubbed “portfolio careers”.
“A portfolio career basically refers to acquiring many different skill sets because you don’t know what’s going to be the lasting skill set that’s needed, and because the world is changing so fast,” said Wavesparks’ Ms Lim.
Singapore is likely to see more such portfolio careers, said Dr Julien Salanave, a startup founder, venture capitalist and professor at ESSEC Business School, Asia-Pacific.
Entrepreneurial skills are important for such workers because they are not just gratifying one employer, but must dynamically manage multiple projects and stakeholders, he said.
Such careers are much more resilient, according to Dr Salanave. “Even if you lose one employer, you’re not losing everything you develop.”
When she was not able to land a full-time job, Ms Law Dan Qi, a food technology graduate, took up an internship at a food research company.
The 25-year-old also started a home-based drink business, 567 Spill The Tea, selling Thai-inspired drinks, matcha and banana pudding on the weekends.
Although both gigs are temporary until she secures a full-time job, having them provides some form of reassurance.
“It gives me some security in a way, like if I were to not secure a full-time position after my internship, at least I have something else going for me, that I can continue running or investing all of my energy into,” she said.
Running a business has also taught her skills such as acquiring suppliers, which adds to her portfolio of experiences, she said.
FEAR OF LAGGING BEHIND
Striking out at a young age poses challenges, including the need for capital and the self-doubt that arises when straying from convention.
Employment agent Mr Lim was fortunate to get support from his father for his capital of S$10,000. Most of it went towards obtaining his industry licence.
He works on his own from home and his main ongoing expenses are subscriptions to online tools – Canva and ChatGPT. He uses AI chatbots to perform work tasks since he has no employees.
Despite keeping costs low, he has yet to turn a profit, and has given himself one year to make his business viable. Meanwhile, he continues to interview for jobs and is open to running his agency on the side if he finds employment.
But there is already an opportunity cost from entrepreneurship – time. Mr Lim pointed out that he could have graduated from university earlier if he had not divided his attention between his studies and his first business.
Mr Tan has given himself two years to build his 3D printing business – a deadline set with his father’s impending retirement in mind. The timeline gives him space to set up the business, research and assess whether to continue.
“If things don’t go well by the time I hit 30, I think I’ll just go back to the ‘Singaporean dream’, look for a full-time job and work towards retirement,” he said.
Others on this path worry about whether the experience they are building up will matter to future employers.
Mr Dave Ho, who graduated with a degree in business analytics last December, decided to pursue livestreaming as a full-time career in May. He livestreams seven days a week, working with a wide range of brands to promote products from luxury goods to electronics.
Initially, Mr Ho felt like he was “lagging behind” his peers.
“A lot of people don’t really understand this, and people still ask me: ‘Hey, when are you going to find a corporate job?’” said the 27-year-old.
Although he has picked up skills like communication, problem-solving and rapport-building through his livestreams, he feels he would have to “reset from square one” if he were to return to a corporate job.
“I don’t think (employers) will care a lot about the live-streaming. I think the circumstances will not change,” he said.