3 Lessons from a Career Change
Leave a Comment / Blog / By Mike Raso
A recurrent question: what are you going to do when you grow up? I hope this article is going to inspire somebody who is looking for a career change.
I think I am not the only guy that during his 20’s was very confused about what to do or which career to pursue.
This confusion started when I still was in high school in Italy. It was still there when I was a young professional in Manchester. To make things worse, in those years, I felt the pressure about my professional choices from both family, school, and environment. These circumstances only helped to deepen my confusion around careers. They also increased curiosity around people who already know what to do in their youth!
Later on, I met on my journey a lot of people in the same situation to be fair. If you are into it, don’t worry, I’ll reveal my lesson learned the hard way in a moment.
What are you going to do when you grow up?
As I said before, this question followed me in more than one moment back in the days.
After high school. After the Bachelor in Business Administration. Again, after another university degree in Rome. After my first and second job. And even when I went back to uni in Newcastle for my Postgraduate in 2018.
Although I may sound a hopeless case, I later realized how the various experiences I had in my life, both in terms of studying and working in different countries, slowly contributed to making me aware. Aware of what I am interested in, what I am good at, and at the same time, the best and the quickest way to unfold a professional path.
Therefore, looking back at the past decade, I can now appreciate which lessons were crucial to gain my professional identity within business and marketing:
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Work experiences over studying
Let’s face it. Unless you are in that sweet percentage of those people who already know what to do since very young, you need to make some experiences. You need lessons to understand better yourself, your interests, and the industry you chose, with relative ramifications.
In this regard, my personal experience taught me that work experiences represent an asset when it comes to developing a career, much more than studying a degree for years!
Not the case, I developed an interest in my current job after I worked for a multinational company. I had the opportunity to understand the modern workplace and the different functions of the business. Having the opportunity to embody different positions, I slowly started to build awareness around what I “enjoy to do.” The knowledge that I hardly think it is possible to develop through studies, at least when it comes to business and marketing, in my opinion. So If you are still studying, I would strongly suggest applying everything you learn in some way. (I’ll probably write an entire article around learn by doing.)
In the end, on the base of this wake-up call, the interest and passion for digital grew a lot. So, I decided to get back to uni for a postgraduate, with no doubt about what I wanted to do about my future career.
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Most of the time, staying comfortable (stuck) is the highest risk.
Here’s my second lesson from a career change:
Staying in the comfort zone doesn’t pay off in the long term.
Maybe you are working at something where you feel familiar, and you don’t want to lose that status or feeling. At the same time, you know you are not building valuable skills. Maybe you are not progressing in your career. Or you know that your path is not even taking the form of your interests, passion, and human potential.
If you felt in that situation for a while, it’s not going to be better. Especially if you are very young and with not many responsibilities, not changing your position is the real risk, as regrets and guilt will follow you in your dreams (nightmares) later on.
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Passion and curiosity over money are crucial for a career change
Maybe you know deep inside yourself that what you are doing in your daily professional life does not represent your identity anymore. At the same time, you don’t want to give up that habit of making good money through some skills you mastered by the time.
This unwillingness to let go may be understandable from a rational point of view. But probably it does not align with your potential or divine call anymore.
In my opinion, a good wage and a feeling of security represent an excellent strategy in the short term. Not in the long run, if you know you can give, have, and be more.
Why Digital Marketing for a career change
The three lessons enounced, which I learned through struggles and periods of reflection, allowed me to act and change my career direction for better. I moved from a sales job where I felt stuck after years, to be a digital marketer.
This choice for me has revealed to be right for many reasons and aspects, including my well-being. What’s the reason?
I believe that following my intuition, I am now more aligned to my natural predispositions, interests, passions and especially values. In this regard, if there is one thing I realised during my journey is that values should always be the starting point in each decision. Therefore, if you don’t know yours, I would invite you to discover them here.
Furthermore, I recently discovered how much this industry has to offer to those who want to immerse themselves in the fantastic world of online marketing. If you are willing to develop a mix of both analytical and creative skills, this may be your choice too. (Here I spoke in detail about the mindset of a modern marketer.)
So my question is: are you ready to make your career change, or are you still thinking about it? Let me know one day or another.
Peace.