A year after.

Nabrda
Nabrda
Sep 2, 2018 · 9 min read

Time flies, and as it’s happening we are able to get perspective. This piece will be about my perspective on dealing with life after AIESEC. I guess it might be useful as well for those who changed their job after a few years and were struggling with finding themselves in the new reality.

Life after AIESEC sounds a little bit dramatic, but honestly, it was and sometimes still is. During my early twenties, I’ve been called a leader, manager, president, role-model and many others.. you might think that it’s odd for such a young person. During my early twenties, I was able to be country head of NGO with 1500 members or held position Europe Regional Manager and managing 45 national offices. In my early twenties, I travelled the world. I’ve crossed borders of more than 60 countries and looked beyond those borders to seek diversity and beauty of each culture. In my early twenties, I’ve been surrounded by a bunch of crazy people who were able to dedicate their lives to a cause of making a world a better place, for everyone.

It never was about position or title. It never was about a number of selfies that I will post from all those trips. It never was about prestige.

Those 6 years of my life were all about taking responsibility for something more than myself. Those years were about making a positive impact through my everyday actions. During those years I’ve discovered my purpose, my definition of leadership and I defined what kind of leader I want to be for my family, my community, my people and the world.

But those 6 years come to an end exactly a year ago.

If you weren’t in AIESEC and you read that you might think — “and what? we all are changing jobs” — and I agree, however.. you see I don’t think that I’ve ever called anything I’ve done in those years “a job”, it was my passion, I would even say a mission. Waking up every day with a purpose feels so good.

So my dear AIESECer or someone that it’s going through the major change I’m happy that you ended up here. Let me tell you something — there will be plenty of moments that you will feel that “being okay” it’s far, far away from your state of mind but I promise you, you will get there.

There is no rush

I know that probably you might think that you are on a mission of finding a dream job. And that is kinda true, but it doesn’t mean that you need to start this new job in a week, right? I know there is plenty of people around you that seem like they have it all figured out, they even got their job already, or they have many offers to choose from. You are supporting them but somehow deep down you feel scared — “what if I won’t be able to find my place, what if my job won’t be as “cool” as a job of other people”. It’s not a race even though you might feel this pressure, and if you feel anxious or scared it’s perfectly normal.

When I was leaving Rotterdam last year I knew that I want to come back to Poland and reimagine polish education. I had that straight. But still because of rush, pressure and expectations of actually I don’t know who I found myself applying for jobs in London, Dublin, Amsterdam or even New York. I was acting against my own purpose because I was afraid. I was lucky enough to spend a whole month in Colombia where I’ve reconnected with myself and I got a wake-up call. During the last interview round to company that many millennials want to work for, I’ve realised that what I am doing doesn’t make any sense. I was driven by fear and I needed to stop it.

Since then I’ve started to apply to jobs in Poland. That was a place that was meant for me, a place where I wanted to be. In a moment when I own my truth things started to fall into place. I’ve got a job in a digital studio in Warsaw and I’ve dedicated myself to my side hustle Teach for Poland.

Take your time to breath, to have a break. To actually reflect what is this dream job that I’m chasing for? What do you really want not only from your next job but from your life? Don’t be afraid to take as much time as you need and don’t compare yourself to others. Each of us has a different story to tell.

There is no need to rush. What is meant for you always arrives at a right time.

Remember who you are

You’ve learned so much in last years. You’ve discovered so many things about yourself.

Please take a time to reflect on your experience. Give yourself a time to sum it up properly. We tend to rush and many of us jump from one experience to another without proper closure, without giving yourself a chance to realise who you actually have become in those years. Trust me it will make a difference.

While stepping up to new reality having clarity about your values, strengths and weaknesses is a key. It will help you ground yourself, find your place, your contribution. The self-awareness that you have got in those last years will help you stay true to yourself in moments when you will feel like fitting in. Don’t get me wrong, adjusting to new company culture and it’s people it’s really important but what is more important is to stay who you are, only then you will be able to give your very best.

In the first few months in my new work, I was lost. I’ve found myself surrounded by people who I’ve never met before. Mostly men, with a technical background who shared a history together. They were shaping this organisation for a very long time. I felt like I don’t belong not because of them (obviously) but because of my background. Connecting to what is happening around me in daily life in the office was quite hard. I closed myself up. Was spending most of the day in front of my computer, not talking with people because I made an assumption that who I am won’t be accepted there. So I’ve become this sad and little bit frustrated person. I forgot who am I.

Being an AIESECer in AIESEC is easy, but being AIESECer somewhere else might feel odd sometimes. Probably you will feel misunderstood, your perspective might be very different from your coworkers, your style of work will be different, the way how you communicate and cooperate with people. Explaining to others what actually you were doing in those past years will be like talking in another language, but.. it doesn’t mean you should let that part of you go. Actually, it’s completely the opposite. It’s kinda what we were meant to do, to bring what AIESEC thought us to the world. So please, give yourself a time and own who you are.

Be humble and…
don’t diminish what you achieved

Yes, you have done many incredible things and you know many things as well. You are leaving organisation full of hopes that whatever you will do next will be epic, exciting, challenging and align with your purpose. You want to be in a place that will let you shine, that will help you develop your potential even more, and moreover place where you will be able to use all of your experience in practice.

Firstly, honey.. (with an accent of Jonathan from Queer Eye) — many people won’t be able to relate to your AIESEC Experience. It’s not your neither their fault. There will be plenty of jobs that you won’t be qualified enough, and even more where you are overqualified. So, yes you will be in the middle point thinking what should you do — take a job where there is a risk you will get bored in a few months or fight to get a more senior role?

There is no right answer. What you need to do it’s to stay humble in search of your dream job and at the same time learn how to translate your experience to others. Unfortunately, I failed here. On every recruitment interview, I struggle how to speak about what I’ve done. I guess I felt a bit intimidated.. should I say that I was Country Head or Regional Director in my early twenties? I was afraid that people won’t treat me seriously, and the truth is that I wasn’t taking myself seriously at first.

Yes, AIESEC is a youth-led organisation but it’s not “just student organisation” and I’ve heard that many times from recruiters. They will think that it’s “just student organisation” if you will let them think that way.

Grab your parent or a friend that wasn’t in AIESEC and try to tell your story, ask them after what was their impression, what they’ve understood, what they feel about you and your experience.

You don’t need to show off your experience to be able to tell others what you have been up too, what matters to you. Find your way of expression.

You can stay humble while knowing your worth.

Be patient

Ok, you got a job. Now true reality check begins.

You are ready, you are excited, you want to give your 150% as you are used to, you want to achieve, deliver, be there for your new company.

After a few weeks, you might realise that things work a little bit different here. That you have your own place is organisation and that is kinda it.

People don’t talk about the purpose that much, about values.. You are used to talking about big things, like strategy, organisational development, mission, vision and now you are not part of those discussions and it’s hard.

You want to do more, and be more and give more. You might even feel not appreciated, as you see your experience might be useful in so many different areas. But honey.. (yes, I love Queer Eye) it’s not your responsibility. If there are moments that you supposed to stay humble, those are those moments.

It is what it is. But my advice here is.. be patient.

The biggest struggle I was dealing with is a fact that I look at the organization from bird eyes view. Thank you AIESEC 😛 I seek connections between people and strategy, between different elements of the organization. I like to connect the dots, to ask why, look for a purpose of any action. When you have a junior position, with a certain scope it’s hard to feel organisation in a way you were used to, but again.. it doesn’t mean that you supposed to stop doing it.

You just need to wait for a right moment to share your perspective. Sometimes will be heard, sometimes not. And it’s completely okay.

Your role in the company should help you understand your contribution but shouldn’t give you permission to be indifferent to what matters to your new workplace.

One lesson that I’ve learned last year is that everything in our life happens for a reason. People that we meet are here for a reason, work that you will get have a meaning. Emotions and feelings your life brings to you have a reason too. Sometimes we need to wait a little bit to get that, but I’m telling you, you will.

Who am I one year after? I’m Nabrda.. (it’s weird how much more this nickname expresses me than my name). I still talk a lot about purpose, I still care about people (probably more than I should), I still cry a lot (even now while writing this), I still travel to learn about different aspects of diversity, I still reflect a lot about human nature. At the core, I still am an AIESECer.

You will miss AIESEC, you know that. You will miss people, you already do..
You will miss responsibility that you had. You will miss this rush that you felt just right before the opening conference. You will miss airport layovers which many times were space for you to rest and breath. Remind yourself this thing that was really frustrating in AIESEC.. you will miss that too. It’s okay to miss all of those things, I miss them too.

First the good news — people will stay, even miles away there will be always for you, and many times they will keep you grounded and drink this bottle of wine with you through Skype.

The second one — you can come back to AIESEC 😛 … NO JUST KIDDING! Let it go and leave space for others.

Third one — AIESEC shouldn’t be the best what happened in your life, it should be the amplifier of many great things that are yet to come.

.. and you know there is one thing that you shouldn’t miss.. making a world a better place. The best news is, you can do it outside of AIESEC too.

Enjoy the ride!

Nabrda

Written by

Nabrda

Born in Poland, world citizen by nature. Visited +60 countries. Passionate about education. Entrepreneur. Wine lover. Instagram @nabrda.

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