This informal CPD article, ‘The Side Hustle’ was provided by Progressay, an educational teacher tool to make marking meaningful without adding to teacher workload.
Learning AT work and Learning TO work
The days of being employed by one company for your whole working life are long gone, but so too is the notion of one consistent career path. Young people are likely to end up having multiple careers, moving from one pathway to another or having a career portfolio and working multiple part time jobs simultaneously. We have entered the age of the side hustle.
In order to survive the economic downturn of recent years many companies have been forced to slim down, reducing the number of permanent and / or fulltime employees. Therefore, they will hire in expertise as and when it is needed rather than rely on in house employees. We are seeing an increased demand for consultants, short term contractors, industry experts, and independent professionals.
As a result, many people report that a portfolio career is far more lucrative and fulfilling but keeping skilled and up to date in a particular area of expertise having stepped outside of the traditional career structures provides new challenges. Maintaining CPD and networking are more important than ever.
Furthermore, getting the most out of part time roles and placements is incredibly important for both the employer and the employee. The assumption has been that the formal employer workspace would ensure rich, contextual, and current skills and knowledge are learned. However, this is not always the case. There are strong arguments to suggest that the workplace is more likely to provide an impoverished curriculum, one that favours socialisation to the workplace.
Learning to Labour?
The work-experience element is often constructed as a means of learning to labour, rather than as a meaningful form of skill and knowledge acquisition. Often a student’s time in the workplace is conceptualised as learning to interact with service users and to acquire the personal attributes of workers in these occupations/ workspaces, as opposed to developing meaningful cognitive skills and knowledge acquisition.
A recent study[1] noted that often programmes linked directly with employers were happy to make room for ‘an extra pair of hands’, [but] the placements effectively socialised the students into particular forms of behaviour expected in that specific work-place rather than supporting them to acquire occupational skills which cannot be taught in a college setting”. People are in effect learning to work, rather than learning at work. It is here that meaningful CPD plays an important role once again.
In short, gaining a set of specific professional skills, rather than a workplace specific set, is vital in our current employment / labour market. It is up to date CPD in your field that will make the difference when it comes to employability in the difficult economic times we face ahead.
We hope you found this article helpful. For more information from Progressay, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
References:
[1] Esmond & Atkins, 2022 p. 156.
