I’m Only 26 and I’ve Already Changed My Career 3 Times
I felt so lost for years but now I’m finally learning to embrace my generalist skillset.
“Being a generalist doesn’t mean you know less; it means you want to know more.” — David Epstein
When someone asks me, “what do you do for work?”, my mind immediately begins to race. Among the fluctuating imposter syndrome and ambiguity of navigating my 20's, I’m reminded of the fact that in less than 3 years post-grad, I’ve already held 3 different job titles.
My Career Journey at 26
If I told you I work in marketing now, could you guess what I got my degree in? I doubt it. Believe it or not, I have a Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science.
So what gives? Why aren’t I a software engineer or even a product manager — two common jobs among Computer Science graduates? Those were my first and second jobs, actually.
Software engineering didn’t resonate with me because I didn’t enjoy coding (I knew this for a long time but stuck with it because of my degree) and wanted to experience business and product development from a broader perspective, so that’s when I decided to make the change to product management. My product management job came in the form of a startup that my husband and I were trying to build at the time, which sadly never came to fruition. But it’s true what they say, failure brings the greatest learning experiences. I would’ve never gotten the job I have now without that prior startup experience.
In all honesty, marketing was nowhere near my line of sight, but when the opportunity came up I decided to take it. After all, life only gets more complicated from here so what better time to explore than now?
Dealing with Parental Disapproval
Let me rewind a bit because I skipped over some big events in the timeline. After quitting my software engineering job, my parents wasted no time vocalizing their concern and disapproval. Coming from an Asian immigrant family, if you know you know. I’ll admit, leaving a stable, well-paying job to make a lateral career change is incredibly risky and not something I’d recommend doing without preparation, a proper plan, and a whole lot of confidence in yourself to make it happen. Even my coworkers begged me not to leave my day job, but things were quickly turning sour and it was time for me to get the hell out of there before I lost myself completely.
This wasn’t something my parents understood or accepted. My mom kept telling me, “you can’t quit your job just because you feel like it”. Well mom, it was a lot more complicated than that but if you refuse to see me, fine. I just know that I have to do what’s best for me.
My Husband’s Support
I have to give major props to my husband, Austin, because he supported us during my career crisis, while also having to financially support his parents and siblings. He gave me the time and space I needed to figure myself out, although there were a couple times we came close to splitting up because the circumstances were just plain hard. He’s also a generalist, but is a lot better at honing his technical expertise than me. In the 6 years since graduating college, he’s changed his career 4 times and went on to complete his Masters earlier this year. Unlike me, he now works as a software engineer (lol).
Embracing the Generalist
That brings me to my current role — Marketing Manager at Generation She. I don’t have a formal marketing background but I’ve had a plethora of experiences that makes me confident that I’ll figure things out no matter what role I assume. I now see that my inherent curiosity in exploring things outside of my scope and being flexible to fill various business needs is in fact a strength, which is why I’m such a fan of startups. I have a nontraditional and nonlinear career path, but all those ups and downs have forced my professional and personal development to skyrocket in such a short amount of time.
The only thing I regret is forcing myself to fit the mold of a software engineer, long after I realized it wasn’t my journey, instead of giving myself the freedom and kindness to explore other paths.
Want a good book recommendation? Check out Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.
Author: Cynthia Phan 💛 These views and opinions are my own.
