I Failed To Switch My Career— Here’s What Happened

I thought I’d finally have a career I’d love — but nope!

After working in the digital marketing industry for almost four years, I finally made a conclusion that I was never good at it. I’m an introvert who hates negotiations with clients, a strategist who takes days to form that million-dollar idea, and a copywriter who makes a lot of crucial typos and grammar errors.

I started to look back at the life choices I had for the past few years and realized that I’ve been going through the motions this entire time.

After several job rejections, I accepted the first job offer without thinking twice. When I got fed up with the toxic work environment, I resigned. And again, I accepted the first job offer I got.

At first, working at a new work environment feels refreshing. But then, that “better” work environment turned out to be another toxic job I would hate. And at that time, I finally gave up, not just on the company itself, but on the industry as a whole.

“Choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”

This quote haunted me since childhood. My dad, who reached success through journalism believes in this phrase that instead of getting pressured to be as successful as him, I was even more pressured to be happy with the career path I chose.

And because I hated my job, I decided to go back to my childhood dream. The dream I always write whenever my kindergarten teachers ask me what I want to be when I grow up — a teacher.

Amidst all the chaos in my country, I became sick of everything. My job, my company, and even my country as well. That’s why I decided to try my luck abroad.

And after doing tons of researching online, I found out that teaching English is one of the easiest jobs I can ever have. Aside from the fact that it’s in demand, I’m pretty confident with my English skills because, duh, I can even write this article.

But boy was I so wrong.

Knowing how to speak English is one thing, but teaching it to other people is another.

Before applying to English-teaching jobs, I created a long-term plan. For a girl who just accepts anyone who accepts her, this is a big move. I’m not just letting anyone dictate my future. I’m making decisions for myself. And besides, I’m still young so I still have a lot of time to figure out what I want and it all starts with the following goals:

1. Pick the best country to work for

One of the no-brainer countries to work for is definitely the United States of America. My brother is living there with his family so it will be easier for me to get my visa. However, with the rise of Asian hate crimes in the US, I was scared to even try. Aside from my very Asian features, I’m a small girl in my country, which means I’m probably a dwarf that racists can easily shove around in America. Plus, why would they even need to hire an Asian girl to teach them their language, right?

So the next option would be Spain. One of the reasons why I wanted to quit is the long working hours I spend in each waking day. After learning about Spain’s three-day weekend, I am sold. I definitely believed that Saturdays and Sundays aren’t enough to live your life. Plus, Filipinos like me only need two years of legal residency to be able to apply for a Spanish citizenship. Cool, right?

Aside from Spain, I also looked into other options in Asia such as Japan and Korea. The two East Asian countries are very beautiful and they both hold great reputations for being respectful and disciplined. I also found out that the salary for English teachers are very high in those countries. But, I also found out that the suicide rates are tremendously high because of overworking and depression so, it’s a no for me. But I would still love to visit for vacations, though!

Then I started looking at nearer countries like Thailand. Aside from loving KDramas, I also love watching Thai lakorn and movies such as Hormones, Girl from Nowhere, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and more. In terms of culture, Filipinos and Thais both have warm and jolly personalities. On top of that, overtimes are frowned upon as they wanted to let their employees live their lives as well. The best part is that the cost of living is much lower than the Philippines. And I figured that in case I get homesick, I can easily book a flight back home without the hassle of securing a visa.

That’s why after a very long deliberation, I finally picked Thailand as my best bet for working. “Sawadee kaa,” I practiced in my room.

2. Get a teaching certificate online

Since I don’t have any teaching experience, I know it’s going to take a while before getting a job in the teaching industry. So, I decided to get a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate online. I read and watched all the learning materials provided by The TEFL App, which used to be free back then but after finishing the course, I saw that they now require some fee to get the certificate itself. So I applied for another one at Teacher Record.

It was actually a great decision too because The TEFL App’s methods and techniques are too outdated, in my opinion, and Teacher Record has specific instructions on how you can teach more effectively.

I was in the middle of finishing the course when suddenly I received an interview schedule at Chip Chip Edu.

3. Apply to online English teaching jobs

I don’t want to go to Thailand without knowing a thing or two in teaching so I decided to apply first as an online English teacher. I applied for a couple of English as a second language (ESL) jobs before getting my TEFL. I just wanted to do that one big step before doing my step-by-step plan. But since this came first, I wrote, “Ace the demo and interview” in my notebook, thinking this will be the pivotal day for my career to further prosper. Because if I nailed this interview, I’m going to proceed with my next goal.

4. Teach for a year then apply in Ajarn

Ajarn.com is one of the best-known TEFL sites for teaching English in Thailand. You can browse tons of teaching openings daily and the salary is higher than my current one.

If I teach for a year online, I can have better chances of getting into a great school with good benefits. I can teach more confidently if I gain the experience and from there, I can gain more money to do my retirement plan.

5. Teach in Thailand and build my own tutorial center

Several YouTube videos urged me to start my own business because according to Chinese businessmen, you can never be truly rich if you keep on being an employee forever. So I thought that creating my own tutorial center will be my best choice.

At first, I was thinking of building my own school but I had second doubts about it so I decided to make a more feasible decision.

But then, none of these could ever come true because I failed.

Failing and falling apart

I’ve failed a lot in my life but that never gave me the reason to give up. But in this moment, I realized that if digital marketing is not for me, then teaching is never going to be happen to me either.

Before entering the interview link, I practiced the demo materials. I watched vlogs on how they did it. I read testimonials on how the company treats their teachers. I was prepared, basically. To make myself more focused, I even took a leave of absence for a day so I can dedicate the whole day to be in character with my teacher self.

So I gave my best energy during the demo. I smiled, complimented the demo student, corrected her, and tried to do Total Physical Response (TPR) at times to make my teaching more effective. But even before finishing, the admin stopped me to give her own feedback.

She said that she could see the effort but then, I lacked energy and enthusiasm. I’m like, what?! I’m in my most enthusiastic self! And right after that 10-minute demo, I was already so tired that I immediately slept after that. From then on, I realized, that I’m not cut out for this job either. So, what now?

I’m not content with my performance as a digital marketer. I can’t switch my job to teaching. I can only write decent pieces when it’s about my opinions or feelings. So, what now? What’s the next big plan?

Honestly, I don’t know.

All I know is that there’s no point in finishing the TEFL certificate at Teacher Record since I won’t pursue teaching anyway, I still hate my job and I have no other career options anymore.

But to make up for failing my big “career switch” move, I decided to just write consistently here on Medium and if I gain my lost confidence in writing again, then I might give it another shot. And if I failed again, then, maybe there are other more options to try.

Let’s just keep finding that perfect one for us and all will be all right in time.