Thinking of working in multiple careers? Here’s why you should take the leap

You may have across an investment banker who takes to the DJ console on Friday nights. You may have even gone for a check-up to a doctor who has his original art hung up on the wall behind him. While many take to their passions as a side-profession, or more commonly a hobby, they don’t realise that they are losing out on the innumerable gains of working both jobs.

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You read that right.

Working in two or more different careers that are polar opposites to each another in every facet can help you develop your professionals skills in numerous ways. While your day-job will naturally serve as your primary occupation, working other professions that offer the luxury of flexible work hours and days is always an additional gain. Here’s how:

Monetary balance

The truth is that very few can actually make good money out of their childhood passions. For instance, while writing, dancing, or painting are extremely satisfying field to pursue, it probably won’t get you the same monetary gains that are guaranteed from working in a finance-based corporate firm. Movies and TV shows have drilled in us the seemingly easy choice of giving up your high-pressure corporate-job for the secret hobby you’ve always cultivated. But in the real world, that won’t help pay the bills. But why settle for one, when you can have both?

In this way, you can not only work through your higher-paying job, which can serve as your financial backbone, you will also get the opportunity to work on your passion without the pressure of making enough money to pay the rent.

Providing a valuable network

By placing a toe in different industries, you have the power to link them together. For instance, say you are a sales manager by day and a manager of amateur bands at night. And say you happen to have a client who is the head of a well-known music company scouting for young talent. You can thus prove to be a valuable network for both parties, and introduce the client to the band you are currently representing. If the deal works out, you would have not only provided a helping hand to the young band with potential but also proved to be a great asset to the company in question, which will most definitely follow-up with you on more cases in the future. It’s a win-win for all.

Innovative confluences

Sometimes, by working two jobs, and at the height of your creativity, you may just stumble upon a game-changing concept that could help either career. As Steve Jobs once said, “It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.” And he was right. In some way or another, all industries and fields are inter-linked, and thus an erratic discovery in one, can do marvels for the other.

Gaining experience

Finally, the most important takeback from working two jobs of different professions is the experience you garner from both. Taking our above stated example into consideration, while working a sales job will help you develop your skills in management, communication, and execution, managing a group of amateur musicians hoping to make it big in a competitive market will gain you valued experience in strategy, networking, organising, and relationship-building.

While factors like time management, itinerary building, and prioritising are of course in play here, they should not deter you from an experience that can prove to be both enriching and highly fulfilling.