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What Type of #Gigster Are You?

3 Min Read
Sue   |   June 3, 2019
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The future of work is right here, right now. Technology is changing the nature of work every single day. Whilst your personal preference may be to have an ‘employee’ type of role, as a gigster, or a person who uses technology to help them get gigs, there are some indicative Gigster Types that will match your values, strengths and context (the variables specific to an individuals circumstances, location or industry).

To understand this a little more, think about your highest and most important values. One of my highest has always been to have flexible working arrangements. Then think about the areas where you have natural and learned strengths. I have to say that I am really good at some tasks I actually don’t like, so I have definitely learned others that I do like.

Finally, think about the context you are currently living in – are there specific personal matters affecting your work life, does your current home address exclude you from some options or is the work in your area of expertise on the increase or decrease overall? Personally, I am aware that over time, it can become more difficult to attract certain types of gigs unless I am constantly updating my skills, knowledge and networks.

By the way, I am the first person to admit that the skills to do a job are different to the skills to find a job. So if you need some help sourcing work opportunities, remember that there are many different strategies for securing aligned gigs. My preference is for attracting those opportunities with a great online presence (self-generated and platform generated) and a consistent offline reputation (in person at various events).

That said, every person is unique and in my opinion, multi-dimensional. I would like to encourage you to be your own kind of peculiar! I can happily report that I have experienced most of the 12 different Gigster Types throughout my working life.

 

Employee Gigsters

The 12 different types of Gigster can be bucketed into 3 categories: Employees, Experts and Entrepreneurs. Each type has a different rating scale for the types of people they would like to work with (different or similar), the policies that exist in the workplace (different or similar), the level of variety in a role (low or high) and the level of autonomy in a role (low or high). The number 1 is on the lower end of the scale, the number 3 is either middle of the road or neutral and the number 5 is on the high end of the scale.

Here is the chart for the Employee Gigster Range.

Gigster chart

Working Warrior – this type of gigster really appreciates working in a collective environment and has a range of goals that are quite often outside of the workplace and yet the workplace provides a complementary opportunity for the gigster to achieve their goals. They have a good ability to commit to their work tasks and they like the structure and discipline of attending a regular workplace.

 

Principled Pragmatic – this type of gigster may like or even dislike their current role, but they understand the bigger picture and realise that their current work role is helping them achieve progress towards their bigger goal. They have the ability to overlook minor irritations and just get on with their daily tasks.

 

Tenacious Temporary – this type of gigster is likely to be highly motivated by their lifestyle goals. They may have prioritised particular values, like working to live rather than living to work and they may either do this on a short term basis between bigger gigs or on an ongoing basis due to personal circumstances (local experience, visa restrictions, caring responsibilities etc). I believe a lot of Weployees are Tenacious Temporary Gigster Types!

 

Intuitive Entrepreneur – this type of gigster sees opportunity all around them and has the confidence to constantly source new and better ways of doing what has always been done. They are not afraid to challenge the status quo, either processes or people, but they do take on an extra level of responsibility for making a difference in the workplace.

#Experts and #Entrepreneurs have their own four types and these will be discussed in later blog posts here on Weploy. Please remember though - these are indicative Gigster Types. It is certainly possible to be a combination of different types of gigster! There are also some really useful gigster competencies and super powers you can develop to really enhance your gigster lifestyle.

If you would like to learn more about the indicative Employee Gigster Types or learn more about the gigster lifestyle, signup to the Weploy blog or purchase ‘Gigsters – Any Age or Ability Employees, Experts and Entrepreneurs’ by following the links at https://120ways.com/books/gigsters-any-age-or-ability-employees-experts-and-entrepreneurs/ - paperback is AUD$24.99 and digital edition is AUD$7.99.

 

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