From Career Zig Zag to Dream Job
What I learned from all the wrong turns on my CV (mind your step!).
Starting a way without compass
I was sweet 18 when I began to study. My choice was mindless and soulless: Economics. I did the studies in cooperation with a large automotive manufacturer, where I worked in business departments within semester breaks. My choice was based on crappy arguments: These kind of studies were prestigious. My parents liked it. I even made good money for that age. Now, ten years (omg!) later, I think it was just a nice and convenient shortcut — by which I avoided thinking about what I really want in life. I just took what society deemed good and successful. I took the easy way.
But at what cost?
Having completed my Bachelor’s degree, I felt drained. I am creative. I love political discussions and different perspectives. I hate materialism. All that was deprioritized by my studies. First reaction to all the resistance I felt towards my Former yet short career was to decline a job offer from the automotive company. I needed to think about what to do with life before taking any next step. I needed a break. Off to Australia for a year.
I had lots of fun in Down Under, but again: I did not create much time to think about what I really wanted in life. It scared the hell out of me. So I procrastinated.
Very last minute, I still did not decide what to do back in Germany. So I took one month on Sri Lanka before heading back home. Lived in a tree house hostel and removed the Oz backpacking-noise around me.
Redirecting: Some first good conclusions
Finally, I started reflecting. And I realized: I have to leave of private university and attend a state university. More freedom of choice, more diverse people. Also, I wanted to go to a new city, away from my hometown. Economics might still do it for a master’s (god was I wrong with that one — but changing studies would have felt like throwing away my Bachelor’s degree).
I studied a master’s in economics in Jena, a German student town. Big state university. Nice roommates. Cool! Again, I took a business job as a working student. One of the largest corporates in town. Controlling department. Wow. How could I fail so much in knowing myself? Just because I was good at maths did not mean I had to die for doing anything with numbers in my job.
Well, I learned that by hard.
I had major stomach pain all the days I went to work there. On my last day, I was so happy to leave that I finally realized I had to take a different approach to my career. Who said my job description has to fit my studies? I removed that limiting belief from my brain. So I became a journalist and a university teacher for statistics.
Wow! My jobs meet my interests
There are jobs that I love. Or not jobs per se, but I clearly saw some tasks I love now:
- Writing
- Holding presentations
- Teaching people
As a journalist, I was quite successful starting as intern at the local press, getting a position as some kind of working student. Later, based on my articles published, I landed internships at three major German newspapers and agencies of which I took two.
It was a hell lot of fun and people had a cool mindset (which I obviously found because it matched my own, haha). Teaching other students statistics was also more then fulfilling.
I ended up being offered two positions after my studies: One at a newspaper and one as a PhD candidate at my university. Well, I declined both.
Am I lost again?
In terms of doings, journalism is a total dream. In terms of working conditions, it is the clear opposite. Same goes for the PhD at my university. By the time, I also focused more and more on living sustainably and fighting climate change. I felt that, for both jobs, my contribution to sustainability would be too indirect.
So I looked for sustainability jobs in some companies that I could identify with. While I did not get any of these jobs (lack of experience), I finally had a clear picture on what I wanted for my career:
- Good working conditions (no work on weekends, solid pay)
- Value-driven job (for me, the core value is sustainability)
- Cool team (impacts my day-to-day mood a lot!)
Despite being declined for various sustainability jobs, I decided I still want to get there. So I took a step back and applied as a business development trainee at a medium-sized company in energy. All topics of the job covered the energy transition. And I landed it.
It was not the dream job that I wanted straight (but a good one!), yet it felt like a step in the right direction. And it was.
I finally figured it out: Becoming a Climate & Sustainability Manager
In that company, I was super clear in communicating my interests. Working on sustainability-related topics. Team work. Holding presentations and having a platform. Knowing what I want and talking about it resulted in people knowing what I want. So the tasks I was given really resonated with my interests.
And then, someone gave me a contact to the sustainability department in the company headquarters. I started there as a trainee at 27. Loved it. And landed a job contract for the job I really want at 28: Climate and Sustainability Manager.
Four Do’s when searching for your job
1. Face yourself!
To design your way (and not planlessly walking in any direction) you have to face yourself. Go through that inconvenient thought process and ask yourself where you wanna be heading in life. Knowing where to go means essentially knowing yourself
2. Define what a good career means to you (and only you, not society)
Is your job just a means to finance life? Or do you want to spend your time on the job totally in line with your own values? Which topics make you passionate? How many hours do you wanna work? Is weekend work okay? Are you a teamplayer or a lonely rider? Answering all these questions will draw a clearer picture on the career paths that might be for you.
3. When stuck, take a break
After my Bachelor’s degree, I was desperate. One year of doing other stuff and then focusing on where I might go next led to adjusting my career. I made no major change, but I got more in the direction where I want to go. When taking a break, you can do better then I: Focus more on self-reflection. Spend time on your own. Write. Read about your options and mind your gut feeling. After your break, take another try and do something different then before.
4. F#*k sunk costs
You can always change direction. Restarting the game does not mean everything you did before is lost. Everything you did before brought you where you are now. And you definetely made some valuable learnings on the way! You grow. You change. Why shouldn’t your career?
