The Future of Work for Creative Professionals
Listen to this episode!
In this episode:
To kick off the first episode in season #4 of Career Foresight podcast, we’re going to talk about what the “Future of Work” even means, and what the implications are for creative professionals.
In this episode you’ll learn:
What the future of work is
What I mean by the term Creative Professional, and if you may be one, even if you don’t have a traditionally “creative” role
And finally, why I believe creative professionals uniquely stand to benefit in the future of work economy
Then, I’m answering a great listener question from Dani. She asked, “Should I tell my manager I’m looking for other jobs? I’ve made up my mind that I want to make a career change, but I feel so much stress and tension because I feel like I’m being deceitful to my team. What do you recommend?” Stick around to hear my advice for Dani.
What is the future of work?
Maybe you’ve heard the term “future of work” thrown around here or there, in news headlines or on LinkedIn. Or maybe, this is your first time hearing it and you thought I just made it up. Well, I didn’t.
The future of work is a big concept that refers to all of the changes the working world is currently transitioning through.
Typical talking points about the future of work tend to include globalization, online, remote work, automation, AI and things of that nature.
With that in mind, people’s views and perceptions of the future of work can be wildly different, and it’s usually based on whether or not they feel like they have the skills to “keep up” in the future of work or if they will be left behind.
There is no doubt that this topic could be scary for some people, especially if they’ve lived long enough to see whole industries change or become obsolete, or have personally experienced layoffs and difficulties finding work.
But at the same time, there is a lot of fear-mongering and noise about the future of work that makes it seem like a dark force, rather than the opportunity it really is.
Overtime, I want to get into a lot of the topics and nuances related to the future of work, but as a place to start, I want to focus on the basics of the future of work, and where I see great potential for people to thrive, especially creative people.
So the basics of the future of work conversation include these three topics:
Types of work available and how that will change (because of automation, AI, competition, etc.)
The nature of work structures and how they will change (remote work, gig economy, entrepreneurship, side hustlers, etc.)
Financial opportunity and how that will change (how wages will change and what will be required to make a living wage)
The “types of work available” tends to be what makes individuals fearful and uncertain.
Employers and managers, on the other hand, typically feel more threatened by the changes in the nature of work structures. Meaning, people’s ability to carve out an individualized path for themselves as a freelancer or service provider. Especially when our economy is doing well and unemployment is low, retention is a major concern for a lot of businesses.
As cheesy as it may sound, people are the most important asset in a company.
The thought of losing people, especially talented and innovative people to better opportunities is a real threat for businesses.
This is part of why you see so many companies right now trying to amp up their office perks and benefits so that they can at least compete with the more flexible lifestyle many professionals are pursuing.
I think this is one of my favorite things to see changing in the working world. I’ve worked for companies that allowed me to take every other Friday off, implemented an unlimited PTO policy and let me work remotely when I moved. And now, it is so fun helping my clients find companies with the work-life balance perks they want more--or negotiate for them if they’re not offered initially.
The competitive talent landscape we have right now is helping to make workplaces that want great people have to adapt and become better places for humans to work. I love that. Taking care of your employees is good business.
These benefits and desires are especially appealing and possible for creative professionals.
And that brings me to my next point.
Who is a creative professional?
When I say “creative professionals” I’m referring to a broader group of people than you may initially think.
Despite what may initially come to mind when you hear the term creative professional, it really has very little to do with the role you have, or the industry you work in. Sure, there are “creative industries,” but there are creative professionals working in all sectors of the working world, and in jobs that may seem too traditional, technical or too something else that the creativity involved may not be obvious.
I don’t want to make a claim about whose work is creative and whose isn’t--especially because I tend to believe most work, if not all, can be made creative.
However, as I’ve been working with creative professionals more, and have been explaining my work to others, I’ve found the following two descriptions to be most beneficial in helping people understand what I mean when I say creative professional.
The first differentiator has to do with the nature of work available to many people in creative professions.
Creative professionals like marketing strategists, copywriters, designers, and software developers, seem to have an advantage when it comes to pursuing non-traditional forms of employment. Meaning, they all have the ability to build their careers within teams at companies, as freelancers working in the gig economy, or choose to establish their own venture firm or operate as a solopreneur. Those options and flexibility aren’t accessible to all professions at this time.
The second differentiator is more about the psychology of the creative professional, rather than relating to a type of role, or industry.
Essentially, their creativity leads them to being interested in lots of different things, and they usually have a broad range of skills. Now, objectively--this is awesome! But there are some negative side effects of being a creative trying to build a career. Often, they end up feeling discontent or disengaged in their work once it becomes routine, or when they hear about other opportunities that sound intriguing to them.
Now I’ll say it again to be clear, these are just the descriptions I like to use to help people understand some of the intricacies at play with creative professional’s careers compared to more straight-forward career paths other professionals have to follow.
When we talk about the future of work, the flexibility of work arrangements like remote work, side hustles, freelance, etc. is usually where the focus goes.
But from my perspective and work as a career coach, I believe that navigating those options and evaluating what arrangement is the best for each individual is the most challenging part.
That’s why so much of my work and the resources I create center around decision-making skills and foresight. I wholeheartedly believe that the future is exciting. But I also have a deep conviction that in order to be able to enjoy and thrive in both the present and future, people need to feel confident in the path they’re pursuing and know how to trust themselves to make decisions that will help them stay on that path.
Why creative professionals are uniquely poised to benefit in the future of work economy
All that being said, what I want to highlight now is why I believe creative professionals are uniquely poised to benefit in the future of work economy. I already alluded to this a bit when discussing how creative work tends to be the top type of work to outsource to freelancers or outside agencies.
From my perspective, if you have the ability to experiment with some of these types of work arrangements, like picking up a freelance gig here or there, you should try it. Why? Because managing projects and clients as a freelancer or consultant requires a different set of skills than most staff positions do.
The opportunity in the future of work economy is going to belong to the people who are able to recognize it and go after it.
It takes significant initiative, leadership, communication and project management skills to be successful as a freelancer and get to a point where you can confidently charge your value.
I remember the first proposal I ever created and sent to a potential client. It was 2015 and I sent a website redesign proposal to the church I was attending and quoted them $500 for the work. There was so much I didn’t know about freelance work or how to manage clients at that time--but it got me started.
Freelancing is also an incredible way to experiment and see if running your own business is the type of environment you would thrive in. And if you find that’s not what you want to do, it only adds to your credibility and the value you could offer your current or future employer.
Here’s why: the difference between being an employee with a specific role and being a freelancer is that freelancers have to wear multiple hats at once, and they are personally responsible for all of the work.
That type of ownership is extraordinarily valuable to employers. I talk with many business owners and leaders to learn what they look for when making hiring decisions, and over and over again, ownership comes up as a distinguishing trait. If you can show that you have the skills to manage work, deadlines and relationships you will stand out.
If you have no interest in freelance work, or your schedule wouldn’t allow for it, there are definitely other things you can do to prepare yourself to be successful in the future of work.
Share your thoughts, opinions and feedback!
Over the next several months, we’ll be diving into more of them on the show! I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this topic, and what comes to mind for you when you think of the future of work. Send me your thoughts, opinions and questions by going to jenniferspoelma.com/contact and sending me a message!
Weekly Listener Question
This week’s listener question is from Dani. She wrote, “Should I tell my manager I’m looking for other jobs? I’ve made up my mind that I want to make a career change, but I feel so much stress and tension because I feel like I’m being deceitful to my team. What do you recommend?”
Dani, thank you so much for this question. I get you! Seriously, I have been there before and know that stress and tension. This is also a situation that I happen to coach a lot of my clients through when they prepare to make a career change. You’re not alone in feeling this.
The first thing to say is that every situation is different depending on your relationships, role, tenure at your company, and what your reason for planning to leave is.
The most general advice I can give is that your career is your career. If you’re an at will employee, that means you have the right and freedom to give notice and leave at your will. Even if you are grateful for the employment, opportunity and relationship you have with your manager and team, you do not owe them a premature notice that you plan to leave.
The nature of at will employment means that your company has the same freedom to let you go without warning. So, if you have good intentions to let them know in advance you plan to transition out in the future, they could surprise you by responding with termination.
I don’t say that to get all doomsday, just to paint the realistic possibility that your desire for openness and honesty could backfire. That being said, I have two things for you to consider:
Remember that it is the company’s responsibility to be resilient and deal with change. It seems that you might be taking on stress and burden that isn’t yours to carry. Feeling deceitful tends to come because you feel guilty that you’ll be leaving them in a hard spot when you leave. But you can’t control that. I’ve been part of companies and teams who have lost leaders and people who seem completely irreplaceable--but you know what, people adapt to the new normal and make it work. I’m sure your team will miss you and feel your absence when you transition, but you’re allowed to make a decision that leads to a better future for yourself.
Sometimes when people feel the tension you’re describing it’s because they see a possibility where they could enjoy their work and be happy at their current company, but they don’t know how to make it happen. There is a practice, and skill called job-crafting, which basically means working with your employer to build a position within your company that is a truly good fit for your strengths and areas of excellence.
I don’t have time to go into the ins-and-outs of job-crafting in this episode, but I do have a free email series all about how to do it for yourself on my website! Just go to my homepage and about halfway down the page you’ll see a sign up form called “3 Ways to Transform Your Job Without Changing Jobs!” you’ll get all the info sent straight to your inbox.
If you have a career coaching question you want answered, you can go to: jenniferspoelma.com/contact and use the form there to send me your question!
