Most folks spend their entire careers working hard, investing in a 401k and pension plan looking forward to the concept of retirement or semi-retirement. Is there even such a thing anymore? With more and more folks working into their 70’s the idea of someone “retiring” is nearly non-existent! The Baby Boomer generation was taught that getting a safe job offering great benefits was a guarantee of lifetime employment until you decide to spend time with the grand kids. The next generation had a similar plan although retirement was not something they focused on and well it was a little more like “carpe diem” because you never knew if the company or pension plan for that matter would be around long enough to collect! Here’s where we come to the term, “semi-employment”. When you might not be ready to pack your bags and live on a beach, but you sure would like some downtime in between projects, semi-employment might be the new thing for you!
Here are a few ways being semi-employed can define your new work-life balance.
- Pick & Choose: When you are in a situation and have amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience you are a virtual talent bank for ripe opportunities. You may not think your skills are transferrable or that you are able to move from one opportunity to the next, but knowing that you are worth more than you are likely getting from one employer should be enough motivation to get you to start thinking about the people and places you would like to work. When you are semi-employed, you can pick and choose the projects, people and companies you want to work for. Does it really get any better than that?
- Work When You Want: Feel like taking the summer off? Planning a trip around the world? Want to spend more time with the family and friends? Working when you want and how you want offers you the flexibility most people only dream of. It’s possible to not only pick and choose your assignments, but also when and how you want to work as well? You are not a slave to your job any longer, that concept went out in the 90’s. Technology has made it possible to be anywhere and everywhere at the click of your space or tab bar. You can work from a hotel, the beach or an office-you get to choose when you are semi-employed and love it.
- Making it Fun: When was the last time you actually enjoyed what you were doing at work and could not wait to get into the office to jump into a project? I’m sure there have been times over the course of your career where you actually had that adrenalin rush and were more excited about the work than the paycheck. When you are semi-employed you strive to pick and choose projects that are rewarding, challenging and well, fun. You don’t have to settle for the mundane you are the master of how and where you want to spend your time. There is no greater freedom of expression than to be in a position where all you need to focus on is how to have a good time and not worrying about office politics.
- Earn Your Keep: You may feel like you need to prove yourself at your current job to even be considered for a bonus or a pay increae. When you make your own way you are compensated based on your results and your experience going into the job and not the other way around. You don’t have to prove yourself to be rewarded. You are able to leverage your talents, experience and knowledge and earn what you feel you deserve based on the work you perform. Nothing feels better knowing you are in the driver’s seat as it relates to your earned income and that you are not beholden to someone else to feel pity on you and give you a 3% pay raise.
- It’s All About The Work: When you focus your mindset on being semi-employed you are focused on your client’s and moving towards results. You are project driven and you are not concerned about politics or making sure you are liked. Being semi-employed ensures you are focused on the number one reason you do what you do and that is all about the work. When it becomes about something else, you know the job is not for you.
So if you have doubts about how you should spend the rest of your career whether you should keep looking for a new job or stick with the one you have, remember you have options. When you change your point of view on how you perceive “going to work” and treating each and every employee as a “client” you are in it for the service and rewards of doing a great job. Think of how productive the world would be if we could all work around the concept of semi-employment? We’d certainly be a more productive and well-balanced group of people with less work-related stress that’s for sure!
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