Freelancers have always cobbled together careers from working a variety of jobs. If you’re a self-employed writer, you might be a book reviewer for the local alt-weekly, editor of a quarterly association magazine, provide copywriting services for a local advertising agency and ghostwrite speeches for a corporate client. One person=four hats.
In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a new name for people who juggle multiple careers to make ends meet. They’re called “slashers,” and right now they’re getting a lot of buzz. During tough times when people lose jobs and can’t find on-staff positions to replace them, more are creating careers from a mashup of work.
For a recent story on SecondAct, Entrepreneur Media’s website for people over 40, I wrote about six mid-life ‘slashers,’ including an online bookseller who hosts pub trivia quizzes, a window washer who’s also a stiltwalker and owner of a variety entertainment company, and a number of small-business owners who freelance, blog and write ebooks on the side.
Read the entire SecondAct post here: My ‘Slasher’ life: One Person, Many Jobs.
The response to the post was so good we’re turning it into an occasional series. If you’re a ‘slasher’ or know someone who is, tell your story by leaving a comment on the SecondAct post, or here.