List of Measures
Gig work challenge inventory
Caza, B. B., Reid, E. M., Ashford, S. J., & Granger, S. (2021). Working on my own: Measuring the challenges of gig work. Human Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098
Instructions: Working independently can be challenging and exhilarating. We would like to gain an understanding of your experiences of independent work. Please rate how well the following characterize your current feelings about your work. Scale: 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much so)
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Viability challenges
I often have no idea where my next dollars will come from.
It is hard for me to plan for large expenses as it is difficult to predict what my income will be in any given year.
I often can’t predict when I will get my next paycheck.
Organizational challenges
I find it difficult to stick to effective routines for handling all the backroom work associated with my job.
Sometimes I fall seriously behind on doing the necessary administrative tasks to keep my gig work going.
I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all of the different tasks I have to complete in my gig work.
Identity challenges
I wear so many hats as a gig worker that it is sometimes difficult to have a clear sense of who I am as a worker.
It is sometimes difficult to explain to others who I am as a worker.
It is difficult to develop a clear sense of who I am in the gig economy.
Emotional challenges
My life as a gig worker can get pretty intense emotionally.
Gig work is emotional.
In my life is a gig worker, my emotions are all over the place.
Relational challenges
Gig work is lonely.
I feel alone a lot of times in my gig work, separated from mentors and colleagues who might help me.
Sometimes I miss being part of a team when doing my work.
Career-path uncertainty challenges
I don’t know where my career might go in the future from what I’m doing now as a gig worker.
Where I go from here in my career is very unclear.
I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing for work this time next year.
Assess your gig work capabilities
(Caza, Ashford, Reid, McCallum, 2019)</center>
Assess whether you have the capabilities—proactivity, psychological resilience, and mental agility—that are necessary to go gig. Read over each question carefully, and check whether this statement applies to you most of the time, sometimes, or almost never.</center>
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| Question | Most of the time | Sometimes | Almost never | |
| 1 | I spend time developing knowledge and skill that may not be required now but could be critical to my future work. | |||
| 2 | I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times. | |||
| 3 | I can communicate an idea in many different ways. | |||
| 4 | I try to gain experience in a variety of areas. | |||
| 5 | It does not take me long to recover from a stressful event. | |||
| 6 | I often can see how seemingly unrelated things are connected. | |||
| 7 | I regularly reach out to my network for feedback or help or advice. | |||
| 8 | I tend to take bad news in stride. | |||
| 9 | I am stimulated by seemingly paradoxical ideas. |
Scoring instructions: Give yourself 3 points for each “most of the time,” 2 points for each “sometimes,” and 1 point for each “almost never. ” To calculate your overall readiness to go gig, sum up all your scores
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- 21 or more points: You seem to have the capabilities that will help you to go gig. As you move into the independent workforce, remain mindful of the importance of continuing to be proactive, cultivate your resilience, and find ways to be mentally agile.
- 10-20 points: You are almost ready to go gig. To better ready yourself, we suggest looking over your scores for proactivity (items 1, 4 & 7), psychological resilience (2, 5, & 8) and mental agility (3, 6, & 9). Did you score less than 6 on one or more of these? If that’s the case, you may wish to practice some of the strategies outlined in this article for increasing your capabilities along this dimension.
- 10 or fewer points: You are not quite there yet. You might want to ask yourself whether going gig is really for you. If you think it is, we suggest you commit to practicing some of the strategies outlined in this article for increasing your proactivity, psychological resilience, and mental agility.