There's a $15 billion reading economy out there, and all you have to do is sit back and benefit from Polywork HQ's hard-earned contribution. It’s that time again to take a quick look back on a handful of the best reads (and/or listens!) from the past month.
This month's roundup includes: The separation of work and self, the rising trend of second jobs, and what professional workers can learn from professional matchmakers about the value of personal branding.
Let’s get reading!
Want to catch up on the last Polywork reads? Check it out here.
Decoupling who we are from what we do
There’s many arguments on when the actual inflection point occurred — could it have been the rise of the gig economy, a work-altering pandemic, macroeconomic conditions, employee burnout, or a combination of all the above — that led to reconsidering our relationship with work?
Regardless, workers are increasingly questioning the role that work plays in their identity.
Here, Simone Stolzoff, journalist and consultant and the author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work, discusses the phenomenon on WNYC.
Listen or Read: Unhitching Our Identities from Our Jobs (WNYC)
Second jobs are the new side projects
A new survey from Deloitte points to a growing phenomenon — younger generations, unsatisfied with their current income and growing economic instability — are taking on second jobs.
Forty-six percent of Gen Zers and 37% of millennials reported taking on a side job in addition to their primary employment, a year-over-year increase. The main reason both groups gave for doing so was needing an additional source of income, according to HR Brew.
“A lot of these jobs, not surprisingly, are jobs that they can leverage technology and social media platforms to fulfill,” said Michele Parmelee, a global people and purpose leader at Deloitte.
Read more: Feeling the economic pinch, younger workers take second jobs (HR Brew)
A professor and a matchmaker walk into a podcast…
What can someone seeking a stronger professional personal brand learn from dating? Surprisingly, a lot, according to professional matchmaker Rachel Greenwald. Greenwald and Jill Avery, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, discuss connections between the two concepts on the HBR IdeaCast.
Jill Avery
“I think in today’s world, the reality is that personal branding is more important than ever for anyone, but it tends to rise to the top when people have a direct need for it. When I’m applying for a job, when I’m vying for a promotion, when I’m trying to land a new client, personal branding becomes front and center and people start to realize that they may need to be more intentional and strategic about how they present themselves to others,” Avery says in the podcast.
Listen or Read: A Marketing Professor and a Matchmaker Talk Personal Branding (Harvard Business Review)
