Have you always yearned for an independent career that aligns with your passions and values?
Are you uncertain about your place in the ever-changing world of tech?
Do you want to forge a career path that withstands massive layoffs and economic uncertainty?
The last few years have unraveled many systems of work that we used to take for granted as the only way to do things.
When we pivoted to remote work, we unlocked a way of living and working where we could be productive while living as best we could amid global health and economic crises.
The world is different now, and so are you.
This guide affirms that you can design a mode of work that empowers you and reflects your entire self.
Gain insights from industry leaders and members of Swarm, the community for fractional tech professionals.
Learn how they got started, how to set yourself up for success, and why being part of a professional community is a growth multiplier.
Reframe your professional career and personal brand, identify what kind of work aligns with your values and goals, and define what success looks like for you.
Welcome to fractional.
There is a lot of negative baggage around the word “freelancer”. Anyone from consultants to gig economy workers co-opts the term.
The earliest recorded use of the term, in Thomas N. Brown’s “The Life and Times of Hugh Miller” (1809), referred to mercenary medieval warriors not sworn to any lord’s services.
From the conception of the word to its contemporary use, there is always a connotation that choosing flexibility and freedom from traditional full-time employment signifies low skills, low pay, and in its worst context, a low level of commitment to the work.
Enter, fractional leadership.
If you look up fractional work, you get positions for C-level executives. Fractional executives, while still relatively new, perform the full role of an executive in a particular domain but not full-time.
Fractional leadership shows us that high skill, high commitment, and high compensation roles can be fulfilled so that one can serve multiple organizations and companies at the same time.
Fractional work is the mode of taking on multiple roles for more than one company, engaging like a founder while protecting your flexibility like a freelancer.
The future of work is fractional. Are you ready for it?
With more than two decades of experience in workforce development, Swarm CEO and Co-Founder Dexter Ligot-Gordon sees a shift in workforce dynamics.
“Increasingly, professionals and companies need flexibility for working arrangements. For professionals, it’s a matter of aligning how they spend their time with their desire for independence,” Dexter says.
“On the other hand, companies need different skills at different times. So fractional careers and workforces create flexibility for both sides to work how and when they want, aligned with their personal and business goals in the given moment.”
Sabrina Dermody, Chief Revenue Officer at Swarm and AppliedAI at OpenAI, eyes three critical shifts that reflect both the mindset of top talent and the market forces at play in a post-COVID world.
“Tapping into a diverse pool of talent without committing to full-time positions allows organizations to scale up or down more efficiently. On the flip side, sought-after experts increasingly demand the freedom to work on multiple projects simultaneously.”
Gone are the days of excessive spending for talent as a marker of growth. “Leveraging the expertise of fractional consultants who work remotely and are compensated for the specific deliverables limits hiring risk. Likewise, fractional consultants can make considerably more than they’d make full-time with the option to spend extra on benefits that move the needle for them.”
“In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, adaptability and agility are crucial for success,” says Sabrina. “Fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and best practices from various industries are required for sustained success through what will continue to be turbulent times.”
“I never actually woke up one day and said, ‘You know what? I will work in a fractional capacity, I will work part-time for companies. It happened organically,” Sergio Pereira recounts dreaming of high-paying jobs from foreign companies because wages in Portugal were low.
“I was going through a startup accelerator program and as a technical guy, I sort of became a go-to person for non-technical founders to help with interviewing engineers, doing some integration, fixing a bug, and all sorts of things. I started helping them for free, kind of helping out my buddies, and then I started charging for it.”
“Fractional work is the mode of taking on multiple full roles for more than one tech company, engaging like a founder while protecting your flexibility like a freelancer. “
Starting your journey of becoming a fractional professional is an exciting endeavor, particularly because there is no single definitive path to doing fractional work.
Here are some of our most esteemed community members and how they started in the tech industry, took on fractional work, and found work they love doing.
“Right out of college, it wasn’t really common to do independent work,” says Angela Salud-Chua. “UX, product, and mobile app design was in its infancy so it almost behooves you to go into corporate.”
As time went on, Angela couldn’t shake the feeling that she was neglecting a crucial part of herself—the creative side that yearned for expression and fulfillment.
One of her friends commissioned her to do design work, and she realized there was a difference when she was working on something she loved.
“Eventually there comes a point where you just think to yourself, okay what do I actually like doing better between [full-time corporate work] that actually consumes more time, and yet the other one is the one that’s making you happy. So I jumped the gun and just went fully independent.”
This leap of faith led to an unconventional path, opening doors for Angela to build her agency, Toffeenut Design.
“I started my first company in 2019 as a growth design consulting business, and I worked with tech companies on contract full time. I had done a lot of freelancing, but that was my first time making the leap into [working] for myself full-time,” says Lex Roman.
Lex has worked in and with companies in Silicon Valley, supporting companies with growing their user base, converting their user base into customers, retaining them, and addressing things like churn.
After acquiring years of experience and several skills in Silicon Valley, Lex decided to apply her expertise to help small businesses build and grow their online presence through her company Super Easy Digital.
“I love being in the community. It was a really important part of me starting Super Easy. And I'm always looking not just at where I can reach my audience, but also at how I can do lead-generating activities that I enjoy. We don't often focus on, ‘What do you like doing’?”
Lex’s path is that of a seasoned and accomplished freelancer who honed her skills over years of dedication and hard work.
Driven by a desire to combine her deep knowledge of the industry and help emerging small businesses, she made a life-altering decision to take the plunge and embark on a new venture as a full-time entrepreneur.
“I started freelancing directly after university. I’ve been doing it on the side, not full-time, while I was a student. But then after graduating, I pursued my career full-time as a freelancer,” Matthias Cordes recounts how he got his start.
Unlike previous generations, Matthias and his peers have more career pathways available to them. With freelance jobs available online, he was able to identify which industries were in high demand and showcase his skills and expertise even before he graduated from university.
“I was basically searching for answers myself, like to have a framework or anything that could help me make the right decisions or find a direction for my career. And that in the end, I think it was more simple than one would suspect.”
Matthias tried different types of design work during his studies, figuring out and doubling down on the types of work that he enjoyed most.
“I made sure to not only follow the passion that I have but also make sure that this is actually something that can sustain me. And I noticed that design is something there's always a demand for. There are so many different types of businesses that need or want a website for their business. So that was what I ultimately chose.”
Equipped with a keen eye for trends and armed with a proactive mindset, Matthias tapped into a niche that has a lot of demand.
Straight out of university, he was able to create a steady flow of projects such that he could do professional design work independently full-time.
There is no one way to get started taking ownership of your career decisions and designing a professional life that is aligned with your aspirations and values.
You can take small steps towards a more fractional mode of work, and take time to figure out what you like doing and what makes you happy that sustains the kind of life you’ve always wanted.
As with all endeavors, the simple yet overrated key to success in fractional work is preparation.
Here are some insights from community members on how they got their start, paving a path to success for themselves.
Frances took time to figure out what she loves doing by delving into different creative streams.
“Before I was a web designer I did many things: I was an illustrator, I did some fine art, graphic design, some photography. I learned how to write a bit and I guess all those different skills mixed together and when you apply it, it has a better outcome.”
Being multidisciplinary turned Frances into a holistic designer. Having mastery over your craft will show in the detail, storytelling, and quality of your work.
As Frances exemplifies in her design practice and career, good work speaks volumes for itself.
“A lot of people go, ‘All right, I’m gonna make the leap and they have no safety net. Then the pressure becomes really high,” Dan points out.
Preparing a set amount of money for your safety net is sound financial advice, but it is more than that. It de-risks the pivot to working independently because there’s no pressure to sustain a living at the onset.
Your runway can also look different from other people, says Dan. “The alternative is I have to get a full-time job somewhere, do some consulting or video production and other ways to subsidize the thing that I really want to do.”
Dan’s prudent advice ensures a sense of security to learn and experiment with fractional work and also helps take away the pressure of grinding to generate a sustainable income immediately.
It is a common misconception that simply building something good guarantees instant recognition and celebration from others.
KP makes a case for building in public, a practice that unlocks your staunchest supporters by bringing them along your journey through storytelling.
“I believe in the philosophy of sharing as we go and leaving a trail of content: thoughts, ideas, frustrations, lessons learned, tips. I think that’s great for millions of people who are five, ten steps behind you, who would love to get a sense of what it is like to build a great company, podcast, or creative project.”
When you bravely share your work with the world, a ripple effect happens: people learn about your vision and follow your progress, eagerly rooting for your success.
“I believe in this concept of sharing as you go because it enables you to reflect. You're not just like doing, doing, doing. You're also getting a chance to pause, reflect, and share, which clarifies your thinking. And it attracts an amazing network and community of people around you because you're sharing and you're a giver so that next milestone that you have, the next launch you have will be 10x more successful because you have a community following and coming with you.”
“One thing I’ve found is that you just have to be really honest,” says Andrei Gonzales, who is currently the Senior Manager for Service and Experience Design for Deloitte Digital Canberra.
“Your day one is basically you telling them, ‘Hey listen, I am not an expert in your industry. I will lean on you and your subject matter experts for a little bit until I gain enough confidence to understand the intricacies.”
As a consultant, you will most of the time bring your own tools and frameworks in unfamiliar domains. Andrei advocates for asking questions and learning as you go.
“They understand that your expertise is different, and as long as you set it up right and set their expectations right, they will be more than happy to answer your questions.”
This is why it’s important to strengthen your core skills so you can meet your clients halfway and help them better understand and solve their problems.
When pivoting to fractional, being part of a community may not be at the top of your list. You may want to upskill or learn new tools, and brush up your portfolio and social media presence.
We are making the case that being in a community offers significant advantages when you are transitioning to fractional, especially at the onset when you endeavor to build a reputation as a trustworthy and high-value collaborator.
The emergence of fractional work, which includes consultancy and project-based work, allows you to have a deeper involvement with companies compared to traditional freelancing.
In the last few years, the trend of blitzscaling has undergone significant scrutiny and transformation. This strategy of rapid growth at all costs has led to overreach, with many companies expanding beyond sustainable limits.
This caused an unprecedented wave of layoffs in the tech industry along with a growing realization among workers that traditional full-time employment no longer offers the same stability or fulfillment it once did.
As a result, tech professionals are exploring freelancing, consulting, or starting their own agencies out of necessity or to pursue a more sustainable way of living.
This new wave of highly skilled fractional workers coming into online labor marketplaces is changing the landscape.
Early labor marketplaces prioritized simple, commoditized execution tasks with little differentiation as to who could perform them.
In today’s online labor landscape, next-generation platforms are tackling more complex services and bridging the gap between temporary gig work and skilled professional labor.
Leveraging internet marketplaces to quickly connect talent with employers, this so-called “talent economy” surfaces high-value and unique skill sets.
Such platforms are increasingly becoming more verticalized, focusing on specific industries to improve user experience and efficiency, as well as incorporating technology to unlock greater supply and elevate the value of labor.
The advent of AI adoption and the rise of automation highlight the importance of adaptability in today’s labor market.
With an estimated 375 million workers globally needing to switch occupational categories by 2030, there is a clear need for spaces that foster continuous skill development and provide financial security and economic mobility.
Some governments and the private sector are exploring the concept of social safety nets, an innovative approach to ensuring workers can navigate workforce transitions without sacrificing their well-being.
Some of these experiments include individual learning accounts and universal portable benefits, providing access to lifelong learning that enables a global populace with a longer projected lifespan to remain agile and productive throughout their lives.
Being part of a community that supports continuous learning, provides access to economic mobility through financial security, and leverages technology and innovation significantly benefit individuals looking to pivot to fractional tech work.
Communities like Swarm, where founders and corporate innovators find consulting teams for AI, software engineering, design, and product, provide resources, support, and access to opportunities that you need to thrive in an ever-changing labor market.
If there is one thing you should take away from this guide, it is that you are more than capable of building a robust, creative, and fulfilling professional life through fractional work.
You now have all the tools you need to get started living that life, now.
Here’s the best part: you don’t have to go through it alone.
You can be part of Swarm, a community of experts in AI, product, software, and design, who have taken the leap before and are more than eager to help set you up for success.
We can’t wait to be part of your journey.
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