Why I Turned Down A Great Job For An Uncertain Internship

I’m 24, and I will graduate in 2017 with a Masters degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from a French Business School. And I just turned down a well-paid job, in a startup meeting a pretty decent growth, that has a great multicultural team in great locations (Paris and Amsterdam). I would have been one of the first employees in this startup, that surely has a bright future ahead.

Then what was wrong? Why didn’t I take the job? Oh… maybe the job itself wasn’t what I was looking for? Definitely not the case — I did a 10-month internship in this startup as an Online Marketing Specialist, Growth Marketer, Growthhacker (or whatever you want to call it) and it was exactly the job they offered to me, and exactly the job I want to do today. Thanks to this internship, I think I can say I am now pretty skilled, in terms of Online Marketing, for a student. What I’ve especially loved in this job was having to be creative and being able to test any new thing I would have learnt or come up with the night before.

SO WHAT WAS WRONG?!

Nothing. I mean nothing was wrong about the job, the startup, the salary… If anything was « wrong », it was the timing. It wasn’t the right time for me to settle in Paris — it’s as simple as that.

“The right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing.” Joshua Harris

I left all this for…

Nothing.

At least nothing yet.

I’ve always been a startup type of student. I’ve worked in 4 different startups as an intern, a freelancer or simply for side projects, and both on local or international scales. It has always been a great experience, but I’ve mainly stayed in Europe. Yet I know there’s so much more to discover and to learn. Today, my objective is to find an ultimate 6-month internship in San Francisco or New York City! I want to see what’s happening in there. I want to see what the startup environment is like there. I want to meet people. I want to learn from them, exchange with them, and bring value to this incredible community. I believe at 24 you shouldn’t be staying in your home country. Travel, meet people from different cultures or diverse social backgrounds.

I need to get out of my comfort zone, take risks, climb a mountain… In a few decades I will have plenty of time to rest with my family and friends in my big comfy house!

So now I just hope this risk I took was worth it, and that I will find an amazing opportunity in SF or NYC!