Don’t Go Jobless: Why You Should Diversify Your Skills and Professions

Life is unpredictable — you can lose everything tomorrow

The world is changing rapidly, and some jobs may not exist a few years from now. According to CNBC, 25% of jobs in the current jobs market are at risk due to automation. Certain professions are more in demand, while others are less. What do you do if your jobs disappear tomorrow?

You don’t need to focus on only one skill — on the contrary, each of us is capable of mastering many skills. By having expertise in several fields, you’re increasing your chances of finding employment if the job market changes. Similarly, you’ll be able to find a new job if a financial crisis hits.

Instead of learning one skill, excel in many different ones. Today, I’d like to make a case for the skills and professional diversification.

Table of Contents:

1. What is diversification?

2. Job market risk: Automation.

3. Unstable economy and lack of employment.

4. Skills and fields you should consider.

5. Diversification in action.

6. Side hustles and projects to keep in mind.

What Is Diversification?

Investopedia defines “diversification” as: “a risk management strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio,” referring to an investment strategy. This concept can be applied to many areas, such as education and employment.

When diversifying your investments, you invest in many different financial instruments instead of keeping all your eggs in one basket. It means you won’t just put your savings into 401k and Roth IRA, but you will also make contributions to mutual funds and segregated funds. You will buy stocks and bonds, and all of those investments would preferably be at different banks and have various risk levels. If one of those investments don’t work out and you lose money, you will still have all the other ones.

Career diversification works the exact same way. While pursuing one particular career, you’re setting up a goal to gain skills in other professional fields. As a result, if you lose your job and have a hard time finding a new one in your field, you will have other opportunities.

Job Market Risk: Automation

Automation is, debatably, one of the major reasons why the nation is losing employment. The way we do business is changing every year. All we need to do is look at the historical trends.

We don’t have switchboard operators because of the invention of a fully functioning phone. Where did all the horse carriage operators go when we invented cars? Unless you work at a historical landmark, you don’t get to have that job anymore. Why aren’t there as many farmers and farm laborers? We replaced them with heavy machinery and other technological marvels.

The future will bring numerous changes. Cashiers started to lose their jobs several years ago — they are being replaced with self-checkouts. The first self-driving train was launched in London in 2018, and the ATO (automatic train operation) is developing rapidly around the world. If you are a taxi and ride share driver, you might want to consider learning new skills because self-driving car companies like Waymo and Cruise may cause that job to go extinct in the next decade.

Automation is gifting us convenience and technological progress. But if your job is at risk, it’s imperative to keep your options open.

Unstable Economy and Lack of Employment

The economic crisis of 2008 has shown us it’s smart to have multiple skills under your belt, as opposed to mastering only one. The coronavirus epidemic of 2020 caused 22.4% of the labor force to go unemployed as of today — according to CNN. It’s scary, awful and heartbreaking, but these things are bound to happen once in a while. If the economy is stable today, it may not be the same way tomorrow.

When the crisis hits, many of us have to go and look for new jobs. Sometimes those jobs may not be in the same work field we’re used to. A banker may have to work as a car driver; a teacher may have to resort to customer service, and a smith might end up working as a sales associate.

The history showed us we can have excellent jobs today and easily lose them tomorrow. Everyone should have a plan “B.”

If the economy is stable today, it may not be the same way tomorrow.

Skills and Fields You Should Consider

According to Moneycrashers.com, these are the top 10 career fields of the future:

1. Medicine.

2. Technology.

3. Finance.

4. Education.

5. Technical sector.

6. Business services.

7. Sales.

8. Consulting.

9. Engineering.

10. Middle management.

It may not be feasible to consider doctor as a back-up profession, as you’ll need 10 years of education and practice even to be allowed around patients. Becoming an engineer overnight is also an unrealistic goal. However, there are numerous jobs in these fields you can master relatively fast.

You don’t need to become a computer engineer to get into the tech field. How about coding? Or app development? Becoming a teacher will also take some time, but you can always create a few online classes and sell them on educational platforms. Finance requires special education and experience, yet you can become a financial specialist or a financial customer service agent at a call center. Consulting is an option for everyone who’s successful in their career, no matter what that career is.

You have options. It’s possible to advance in other professions while considering your current career as your plan “A.” All you need is to start learning new skills.

Diversification in Action

Let’s review a real-life example. Robert is an engineer with a job in vehicle development. While Robert is feeling secure about his career, he understands he should have back-up plans in case this job is gone. Robert is ready to move to a car-related job since he’s familiar with it. He will also be happy to take on other engineering jobs. However, Robert would also like to consider professions in other fields.

Robert loves art, and he is pretty skillful in graphics design. He decided to allocate 5 hours of every week to learn logo design, and 5 hours to master web design. In a few years, if Robert has to look for a new profession, he can easily work as a designer. His plan “B” is being a creator.

On top of that, Robert has a great voice, and he used to sing at a school choir. While it doesn’t seem like a marketable skill, Robert believes he can have a small vocal career. He’s considering purchasing some recording equipment, mastering a few computer programs, and selling his voice recordings online. He may also offer his services on demand, as many people may want to order certain voice recordings for their businesses.

If Robert loses his job in the foreseeable future, he will be able to temporarily or permanently switch careers and keep himself financially secure during the economic crisis. We should all be like Robert.

Side Hustles and Projects to Keep in Mind

Excelling in a brand new career may seem like a daunting task when you have a full-time job. That is true: you may not have sufficient time to develop skills perfectly overnight. But after a while, you will be able to monetize on your new skills.

Offering your skills on the side is a great way to gain experience and learn new ways to make money. Start a side hustle. Start a small business. Start a project. You will get an idea of how to market yourself, sell your skills and where the demand is.

Using the example above, Robert can create a small web design business and charge hourly for website design services. He can also list his voice recording services on sites like Fiverr and receive orders from companies. This is a beautiful way to test yourself and make extra income on the side.

You can never be prepared for everything. No matter how much you try, life is unpredictable. But it doesn’t matter that you should never try and simply give up.

It’s better to have a plan “B” than counting on the government to take care of you or to expect the Universe to gift you a solution. Don’t be like people who only think about today — think about tomorrow. It will allow you to be financially secure and emotionally healthy.

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