NHS portfolio career
What is a portfolio career?
Built around a collection of skills and interests, though the only consistent theme is one of career self-management. With a portfolio career you no longer have one job or one employer, but multiple jobs and/or employers within one or more professions.
Benefits of a portfolio career
- Better work/life balance
- Variety and use of multiple skill sets
- Autonomy so that they - rather than the NHS - control their fate
- Freedom from Trust/organisation agendas and politics
- Follow multiple passions for personal growth and fulfilment
- The pace and constant change
- As a second career after retiring early from full-time employment, seeking new challenges and greater fulfilment.
What to consider when developing a portfolio career
Think about the HEE SCAN Career Planning Model:
- Self-Awareness: supports you in considering what is important to you in your career
- Career Exploration: lets you consider resources and strategies needed to inform the decisions you are making,
- Arriving: at your decision allows you to weigh up the options
- Next Steps: this helps you plan the actions you need to take to submit a good application to specialty or other post-foundation options.
Find out more about the SCAN Career Planning Model
Transferable skills you will gain include:
- Communication skills
- Empathy
- Problem-solving
- Coping with pressure
- Professional integrity
- Team working
- Decision-making.
You will also develop skills for career progression, including skills in:
- Teaching and education
- Medical journalism
- Research and innovation
- NHS leadership and management
- Advancing clinical practice
- First contact practitioner.