With diverse careers at different ages, Benjii and Frank share the fact they have "portfolio careers". The term describes the trend of working more than one job at a time, either because of necessity or desire.
Career consultant at Careers NZ Dunedin Mike Dooley says there are two types of portfolio-career workers. Firstly, those who do it from necessity - this may include people who have traditionally fit part-time work around family responsibilities - and people in the arts who combine paid work with creative endeavours.
"Then there are those who actively choose to have a better balance in their lives," says Mike.
"They will often do a job that earns them enough to get by on and a job that fulfils their passion. There are many people involved in portfolio work for entirely non-financial reasons. These are the people who choose to work multiple part-time jobs because they have multiple talents or interests, or a strong philanthropic drive. Society could not function without their unpaid work."
But he stresses that working multiple jobs means needing to deal with issues such as secondary taxation and being well-organised to meet the demands of increasing workloads.
Benjii started his record company because he wanted to help friends who were trying to release their music. With a degree in journalism, a background in publicity and a love of music, he figured he was the right person to help friends in the band God Bows to Math promote their first CD.
He says talk of the death of the record industry is premature; more than ever emerging musicians and bands need support to market themselves in a crowded and noisy world. For Benjii, that's meant devising ever-creative and diverse ways to promote Muzai's mainly alternative artists who now include Wilberforces, Sunken Seas and GPOGP.
He's found himself involved in organising all-ages gigs and syncing marketing arrangements which, in turn, has helped him in his day job by opening his eyes to new ways of publicising artists and events.
Benjii agrees with Mike that those in the arts are familiar with combining paid employment with often lesser-paid but more creative endeavours. However, both say the younger generation seem to crave more variety in their work - and that can be difficult to achieve through one full-time job. Mixing employment and self-employment can satisfy a need for variety as well as minimise the risk of going it alone in business. A sideline could also serve to keep the wolf from the door in an age where redundancy and restructuring mean employment uncertainty. "The 'jobs for life' concept is dead," says Mike.
Frank Hogan graduated from the University of Auckland in the early 1970s, when the focus was on finding a life-long career path. He thoroughly enjoys the challenges he faces as a criminal defence lawyer even though, at times, that has involved dealing with "gnarly situations".
A father of three and grandfather of three, he remains a believer in the capacity of humans to improve their lot in life. But he acknowledges a long fascination with the idea of running his own business, totally removed from law. That's been fuelled by life experiences from taking six to 12 months off every seven years to try something completely different: working on South Island high-country stations, practising law in Tonga and a road trip round South America.
On a cruise above the Arctic Circle, he hit upon a way to combine his life-long interests with self-employment: he would turn his passion for muesli into a business venture. As a young law student, he made muesli to save money and kick-start his day with a fast but healthy breakfast. It became a habit throughout the years, making it for the family and friends. All were enthusiastic about his muesli, which was further developed by travelling to places where he would learn of new ingredients or methods.
With no formal business training or mentoring, Frank has found his own way but says he had a definite focus on what he wanted to achieve and how to do it. He didn't want to sell into supermarkets, preferring a marketing and sales method which would provide more direct contact with customers.
Finding a commercial kitchen where he could produce up to 2000kg of muesli every three to four months was one of the biggest tasks he faced. He found the Foodbowl in Mangere, an open-access facility operated by New Zealand Food Innovation Auckland, where he could produce a commercial run of product at minimal cost. Word of mouth has helped him find other businesses that help with tasks like chopping cherries and importing various ingredients.
"For some people, I'm sure taking on a secondary job is borne out of dissatisfaction with their career or the constraints of their employment, but not for me. I wanted to do something creative in the form of a business.
"I think that's a desire within many of us, to a greater or lesser degree; the desire to do something novel and innovative which satisfies that part of our nature - whether it's a hobby or some other sort of creative endeavour beyond our first calling. Those sorts of outlets are very important."
Underemployed ...
There's a dark side to the concept of portfolio work.
Bryn Thorne-George, website content developer at Careers NZ Wellington, says increasing numbers of New Zealanders are doing portfolio work because they are underemployed.
The International Labour Organisation defines underemployed as those who work part-time, but want more hours and are available to work.
Bryn says underemployment is much higher than it was before the recession and has led people to work multiple part-time jobs because of necessity.
"Many of the underemployed are graduates who cannot find full-time work," he says.
"There has been a pronounced drop in the average earnings for graduates, some of which can be explained by lower rates of employment, but some of which is also due to graduates needing to pick up multiple part-time jobs."
Statistics New Zealand says the country is ranked 21st among 26 countries in the OECD in terms of underemployment, with our rate at 4.2 per cent. Underemployment is higher for women than men, and for young people.
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