While studying human resource, I was backfired by many people about choosing a completely diverse field. Being a professional accountant and a finance person, opting Human Resource was not easily digestible to many including myself. It was quite tough decision while living in a society where acceptability of opting two careers is deemed as weird. So far, the acceptability however prevailed and a complete educationalist was prepared along with finance and tax capabilities. Working with two careers is pretty hard and challenging but, when you work different jobs, you can identify where ideas interact-and more significantly, where they should interact. In my opinion, when you follow your curiosities, you will bring passion to your new careers, which will leave you more fulfilled. And by doing more than one job, you may end up doing all of them better.

Luckily, it’s not uncommon to meet a lawyer who would like to work in renewable energy, or an app developer who’d like to write a novel, or an editor who fantasizes about becoming a landscape designer, a civil engineer who is also a music producer or a banker who is also a writer and wondered how he/she succeeds in both streams. The truth is many people also have dreams of switching from one career to the other. Admittedly, we all have a particular passion for something which may or may not be in our line of work currently.

Thus, when you go along with your passion while still working at your current job, the feeling of fulfillment you get from either of the two affects your productivity positively. Additionally, engaging in two or more careers hones your skills and aids development.

Obviously, managing time is a crucial factor for having two careers.  As a career-driven man or woman, we sometimes get choked up with too many activities that we find time to relax or indulge in other activities. If you can barely keep up with one career, how much more juggling two jobs?

We have 24 hours in a day; that is 1,440 minutes. The way you maximize productivity every second of the day determines how successful you will be in your career. Your meeting plans, the way you handle delegated tasks, and your breaks collectively affect your productivity. Admittedly, when juggling two careers, one has to be careful to give adequate time to each; to avoid a decline in any of the two. Therefore, it is essential to organize your schedule so that you can deliver effectively.

Generally, many of us have a particular passion for something which may or may not be in our line of work currently. For instance, besides corporate job, I chose to teach students which satisfies my inner heart. It is obvious, many times, we only chose one profession to earn bread and butter for our family and other for our satisfaction and inner peace. However, it is difficult to manage both at a time. Building competence in both professions is key to succeeding.

However, one thing you should know is that you don’t necessarily have to succeed in both at the same time. For instance, a person was unsatisfied with the roles he got in office; he took up carpentry as a second career. It should be noted that the work should not be stopped. It is better to work steadily instead of losing hope to succeed in both at the same time.

Additionally, treat your two careers as a substitute for each other. Therefore, it should be your Plan A and Plan B. It will not always be rosy in both jobs, so you should be able to hold up when one path is a bit shaky or not delivering as expected. Additionally, when choosing another career path, you should ensure that it is a bit different from the already existing one. This diversity will help you when one path is suffering a decline.

For instance, if you are a real estate agent, your income is dependent on external factors, including the economy and the demand. Thus, your second career should be unrelated or should be dependent on a different economic factor. Choosing two different careers have multiple pros. It broadens your perspective, increase your experience, sources of extra stream of income, helps in Network building and a very crucial is, it assist as a back-up plan. However, there are some cons which should also be kept in mind while opting two careers. It needs time-management. One has less social time. He may experience potential fatigue, encounter expense increase and many other factors which may delay the decision. Eventually, it is pertinently important to be realistic, be patient, be kind, be specific and last and crucial, be positive while setting goals to have two careers.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 07 2023

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