Portfolio Careers

The first time I came across the concept of a portfolio career was in Charles Handy's book "The Age of Unreason", first published back in 1989. Handy defines a work portfolio as "a way of describing how the different bits of our life fit together to form a balanced whole."He includes five categories of work in a portfolio: Wage work, Fee work, Home work, Gift work and Study work. This concept has certainly played out in my life. So far I have had careers as a scientist, a strategy consultant, a strategic plannner and currently in business development. But I also have a passion for playing the cello and serve on several nonprofit boards of directors.

What do you think of portfolio careers? Is this a trend likely to increase in the future? Is there such a thing as a job for life any more?