Why I Decided to Make a 180° Career Change
When I was a kid I wanted to be an archaeologist. And an astronaut, and a professional chess player, and a scientist, and a superhero, and a detective, and a writer, and a rock-star, and a hacker, and a professional athlete, and an actor. I could probably go on for quite some time, delving deeper and deeper into my memories. It is interesting how when we are young, we never dream of jobs from the “middle ground”. No child would tell you that they wanted to become a publisher, producer, manager, administrator, etc. Or a recruiter for that matter. We’d rather be a lawyer or a judge, not a notary, when we grow up. Painter, not an art director. Architect, not a structural engineer. Actor/director, not a producer. Poet, not a copywriter. Writer, not a publisher. Photographer, not a photo-editor. F1-Driver, not a mechanic. Programmer/designer, not trouble-shooter/debugger. Fashion designer, not a tailor. We initially all want prestigious “superhero jobs”, from the far end of the scale. And then we mature enough to realize, that the world is a much more complex and colorful place than we hitherto imagined.
When people use the term “career change” they usually refer to making a sidestep from their current line of work and pursuing a slightly different path — but generally still in the same direction they were already heading. For me it meant a full 180 degrees spin. Before I became a recruiter, I have been making my living as a freelance photographer, writer and interpreter with a few episodes in journalism and hosting a radio show for almost two years. Essentially I was one of those few lucky guys who can say that their hobbies or passions eventually became their full-time jobs. A dream come true? Yes — but all dreams eventually come to an end. Usually an abrupt one, perpetrated by some malicious alarm clock.
Being your own boss and hopping around different fields is awesome, but the instability of such an occupation becomes unbearable in the long term especially when the words like “financial crisis” or “cutting down on costs” start to fill up every potential customer’s mouth like cotton. And I just became a father on top of all that — which was a pivotal point in my life and a moment when I finally found out what the word “happiness” really means. But in order to maintain this state — I needed stability, even a semblance of one, and the industry I was in simply couldn’t offer me that any more. I had to buckle up and grow up for my newborn son’s sake — which I did. It took some major rearrangement of priorities and reassessment of my skills, knowledge and experience, in order to find out what business I can make a shot at. To my utter surprise, for I wasn’t expecting it the least, the recruitment industry was one of the top results of that equation. It was a bit of a shocker at first for me, but apparently not to my friends, who — after I have shared my doubts with them — thought that it would be a perfect choice for me. From then on, the pieces just started falling into place all by themselves and before I knew it I was sitting at a desk and signing a full-time contract with one of the leading talent management companies. End of story. Or rather, the beginning of one!
What’s the moral of the story? Change is good — even if you’re venturing into unfamiliar grounds. Of course there is the “uncertainty factor” — that the “new” may prove to worse than the “old” — and that is the major discouraging factor for most people. But you won’t know that for sure until you try. Believe me, I was scared like hell during my first days on the new job, after the initial adrenaline rush had dissipated and it finally dawned on me what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing at first — but an opportunity was given to me and I did not intend to waste it. Wasn’t it Branson who said something like that?
If somebody offers you an opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes — then learn how to do it later!
And that’s exactly what I did.
It’s your move now!
