Now that you know what a slasher is not, this description below should give you a very good picture of what a slasher, i.e. one who has a portfolio career, is.
- A slasher does different kinds of work regularly.
Regular work means at least weekly but often a number of times a week. So doing something only occasionally or when you find the time does not make you a slasher. However, there are projects or gigs that you do perhaps once a month but the schedule is based on a contract, not on a whim.
- A slasher does the work on a long-term basis.
Long-term basis is at least a year. It’s not part of your portfolio career if you work on it for a couple of months and give it up. Again, there are cases when a project lasts only for a few months, but it’s because it’s stated on a contract, not because your enthusiasm faded after the initial excitement. To be clear, we’re not referring to odd jobs but an actual career when we talk of portfolio careers.
- A slasher gets compensated for work.
Compensation can be nominal or substantial. Regardless of the amount, there has to be some form of payment for work rendered. So your weekend volunteer work doesn’t count in your portfolio career (unless it takes up a significant amount of time such that it clearly defines your identity).
- A slasher earns income with different pay levels and forms.
The income a slasher earns differs not just in the amount but also in the type. It can be a monthly retainer, sales commissions, a share in the profits, dividends, hourly fees, etc.
- A slasher gets to use multiple skills and has different identities.
Someone who designs clothes on a freelance basis is not a slasher but a freelancer. But if she is also a stylist for different magazines and a teacher in an art class, that makes her a bona fide slasher.
- A slasher is doing at least two (but often multiple) jobs simultaneously.
Being a parent is actually a job but it really doesn’t count (unless you draw a salary from the family budget). Real slashers have multiple careers.
- A slasher operates under different work arrangements.
It’s not exactly accurate to call slashers self-employed, freelancers, or independent contractors. In many cases, that is their work status, except they take on multiple careers at the same time. But it is also possible to have a freelance status with one company, part-time employment status with another, and self-employed status in your own business.
- A slasher works in multiple, often unrelated, fields.
The unique thing about slashers, as opposed to strictly freelancers, is their multiple careers are diverse. You can have a day job as a lawyer and be a band member at night (and a commercial model to boot). Many times though, gigs are similar but not exactly the same. You can be a full-time college professor, a part-time tutor, and a freelance corporate trainer at the same time.
- A slasher works with or for different companies, usually in various industries.
A hard-core slasher works across sectors. You can be a programmer for an outsourcing company, a freelance Web developer for various corporate clients, and a part-time technical writer for a software company.
- A slasher often but not always finds synergies among different careers.
A consultant who writes, trains, and speaks on his expertise enjoys natural synergies as he shares his knowledge in different ways. But a boutique store owner who also teaches yoga on weekends and does freelance photography may not always find connections among her diverse pursuits. But most slashers do. In her case, she may sell yoga materials at her store, adorn her store with her original photography, promote her store to her yoga students, or use skills she developed practicing yoga in her work as a photographer.
Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash
