I’ve written a lot about the so-called slash careers recently. The slash lifestyle of taking up multiple jobs is quite suitable for the fast-changing working environment.
What’s successful career planning?
Let me first introduce to you authors of two books on the topic, “Entrepreneurial You” and “Slash”.
Entrepreneurial You is written by Dorie Clark, who is a professor at Duke University and is also a marketing strategy expert and professional speaker. He has successfully built his name into a brand.
Susan Kuang, author of Slash, decided to give up the 9-to-5 job to become a blogger. She is now a writer and often gives speeches. Kuang is also a social media consultant.
Both of them do not follow the typical career paths most people are familiar with.
We have been taught when we were little that if we study hard, we can get into good university and find a good job. Then we can buy our own home and car. When our children grow up, we can retire and enjoy life.
However, even the best job could be eliminated in the future as technology changes quickly.
We should not limit ourselves to one career choice. The message from both books is that slash is a form of life planning, not just some trendy stuff.
I am teaching a class called Introduction to Entrepreneurship in university. Building your own life is a key message I want to deliver.
In recent years, more and more professionals have been opting for a slash lifestyle, including freelance photographers, engineers, designers and Key Opinion Leaders (KOL).
KOL is a particularly interesting example.
Successful KOLs typically have deep knowledge in a specific area. It could be online gaming, sneakers, music, photographs or any other thing
For example, a friend of mine teaches Yongchun online, which makes him rather unique in that he is probably the only one teaching this martial art form in English. Therefore, he has a number of fans.
Starting out as a one-man band and building it into a company is no fairy tale, as long as one picks the right area to focus on, selects projects that offer stable income and find a business model with growth potential. All these demand thorough consideration and detailed planning.
This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on June 14
Translation by Julie Zhu
[Chinese version 中文版]
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