A portfolio career is one that allows people to combine their interests in several part-time jobs simultaneously – with the benefits of flexibility and a better work-life balance.

The number of optometry graduates and optometrists taking up portfolio careers has risen in the past decade, according to Daniel Hardiman-McCartney MCOptom, Clinical Adviser at the College. The College’s Optical Workforce Survey (2015) detected a shift towards part-time working, self-employment and locum working – 45.7 per cent of optometrists wanted more flexible working in the next five years, up from 30.3 per cent in 2010.