The unexpected career choice that changed my life

“Aren’t you happy?” That’s what everyone kept asking me when I landed my dream job right out of university. “Overjoyed!” I automatically answered every time. But was I?

By Valentina Jerusalmi, growth analyst and team lead

Hi, I’m Valentina, a growth analyst and team lead at Bending Spoons

I used to have my heart set on being a consultant at a big-name firm. Why? I’ve always been ambitious and passionate, but as a student, I struggled to give myself a clear direction. So maybe I was biased by my parents’ jobs. Or maybe by societal expectations of what bright young students should aspire to. Either way, I did everything possible to build the perfect CV. The CV to tick all the right boxes. The CV to land me the dream job at the dream company. From extracurricular initiatives at school to becoming class president, from learning perfect English to tirelessly studying, traveling abroad, and attending conferences, I did everything that would prepare me for the challenges ahead.

And it worked. After five years of focusing on a single professional goal, I received a call from a top-tier consulting firm: “We would love to work with you.” It had always been my top-choice employer.

So why wasn’t I thrilled?

Opportunity — And the daunting choice that comes with it

My unexpectedly unenthusiastic reaction might have had something to do with a job offer from another company. A job offer I had received just the evening before.

So when the call I’d been dreaming of came through the very next morning, it put me in one of the most challenging positions a new grad can find herself in: faced with a career choice.

You could even call it a crisis.

Crisis, in Ancient Greek κρίσις, literally means “separating” or “power of distinguishing.” When the crisis comes, we have the power to choose something, to set the course. It’s not only a complex moment in life but also an immense opportunity.

And it can be daunting.

Career crisis — Do the expected, or set a new course?

That was something I needed to figure out before taking my first step into my professional life. And I spent weeks agonizing over the previous five years, doubting my courage to achieve my goals and my self-awareness in knowing what I wanted. But I could not deny what I knew in my heart: The job I had spent my entire academic career focused on wasn’t the right job for me. If it were, my choice would be simple. And I would feel as overjoyed as I claimed to be.

Instead, I had only convinced myself it was what I wanted. And beyond that, I had convinced myself that my achieving it was important to others. There was the source of my unhappiness — rooted in an imaginary external pressure to stay the course.

When what I wanted was to follow a new path.

And I still needed to figure out my next step. And find the courage to take it, one way or the other.

The courage to change directions

I found both my answer and my courage in the unlikeliest and most random of places: Matthew McConaughey’s acceptance speech at the 2014 Oscars. (I know. But hear me out.) Here’s what he said:

“Every day, every week, every month, and every year of my life, my hero’s always ten years away. I’m never gonna be my hero. I’m not gonna attain that. I know I’m not, and that’s just fine with me because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.”

These words changed my life. Because they made me think about what my hero — my future self ten years down the road — would do.

And I realized: She’d prioritize her happiness and follow her ambitions down the unbeaten career path.

This clarity gave me the strength to let go of a dream that was never really mine — but was still all I had known for so long. It gave me the courage to overcome my (unfounded) fear of letting other people down. The courage to change directions and launch my career not at a big-name global consulting firm but at a Milan-based tech company with a funny name.

Bending Spoons.

And I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

Why do I love working at Bending Spoons?
Challenging work, inspiring teammates, measurable impact

Here, we work hard. We work energized by the challenges we set for ourselves — by our curiosity to find out what we’re capable of and our ambition to achieve sky-high goals. We work driven by the knowledge that our products are reaching millions of people around the world. And we work together.

Because Spooners are incredible, bright, determined, open, and considerate people who make working here inspiring. We get to wake up thrilled to go to work, to meet our friends at the office! And there’s such collaborative, supportive energy here. If at any moment you were to need help with anything, you’d find someone in the Spooniverse who’d lend a hand in a heartbeat.

And, of course, there’s the impact-focused energy we bring to every task, every challenge. Because here, it’s not about the hours we invest but the impact of our actions. It means that, as individuals, we’re expected to have an impact. We’re expected to find ways to move the needle. But this also means that we get to have an impact. We get to own our projects and ultimately be responsible for their outcomes.

It’s exciting — and the reason entrepreneurial passion thrives here, driving us ever forward to achieve the next big thing.

On a career path toward personal growth

A Bending Spoons career path is one toward personal growth. There’s no corporate ladder here, no standard milestones we’re expected to hit. Instead, the goal is to unlock our value as individuals and teammates, always contributing to the company’s mission. Perhaps it’s not right for everyone. But I love this about Bending Spoons.

And I love that I have the power to set my own path. Here I get to stop and think, “What would my role model do in this situation?” If there’s an initiative I want to try and I’m confident about it, then I can pursue it and do everything possible to make it a success. I can become my hero — or, rather, feel that I’m on the road to becoming someone I look up to and admire.

Because it’s a moving target, isn’t it? There’s always going to be a better version of ourselves. All we can do is continue reaching, exploring — and, yes, making difficult choices and even changing directions completely — in our endless quest to become our best selves.

Inspired by Valentina’s story? Curious to learn more about what it’s like working at Bending Spoons? Check out our career page. Maybe your own path toward personal growth starts there, too.