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anybody been through a career change?
Sorry it's a little off topic from pole but you lovely ladies always have such good advice.
I'm currently working as a full time graphic designer for a small local company that trades online. I take the product shots and produce web banners for them. The job itself is ideal for a new starter like me (even though I graduated 3 years before I got the job!) and the workplace is pretty laid back and flexible. But I'm really unhappy 🙁 It makes me feel 3 years at university was a waste because my manager just wants things to look like ugly and brash, everything that goes against what my creative side wants to do. To him it just has to do it's job ("LOOK AT THIS PRODUCT IN CAPITALS, IT WAS £ NOW IT'S £! SALE SALE SALE!") rather than a well thought out designed web banner. Needless to say it wasn't what I expected it to be.
I'm sick of helping undeserving, lying people make more money and I want to do something that helps people. I looked into art therapy, physiotherapist, helping animals, even teaching pole(!) but I just can't make up my mind. I have little self-confidence, I actually can't say what my strengths are because I don't believe in myself. I feel it is time to change my career slightly – so something that involves creativity, as I currently everyday I dread going to work and I sit at my desk thinking 'what has happened to my life'. I get so down every few weeks as I can't find any other suitable jobs and I can't afford to study another degree again.
I know some of you have changed careers and was wondering if you could share your story and inspire me. Where did you find your courage from to change? I'm scared to take the leap of faith and I don't know what I actually want to do as I'm very indecisive and can't stick to 1 thing for long …
The sooner I sort out all this the sooner I can get back to enjoying pole, as I spend so much of my energy worrying about this it makes me anxious and nervous and I'm just so drained I can't even face poling 🙁
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34 Replies
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I feel like I could have written this post (with the exception of the undeserving, lying employers, my current employers are great. I just dislike my work). Definitely following because I, too, would love to hear other people's advice!
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Graphic design is supposed to use your creativity.
I have been in a less than fulfulling job for the last several years however in my area the job market is horrible. So I have stayed. However for a short time I was teaching pole (which I enjoyed but do not kid yourself that you can make money at it). I also performed quite a few places last year which was also enjoyable and got me into costume making and developing routines; both creative outlets for me.
I know Aerial Amy just made a HUGE career/life change and wrote about it in her blog (although for the life of me I cannot seem to find it).
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I could’ve written that post, too. I actually quit my job last year, Feb. 3rd, because of being terribly, terribly unhappy. I would literally get off the train and start sobbing on my way to the building and then nearly toppling people over to get out of it at the end of the day.
I tried to make the switch from creative coordinator/executive assistant to actual creative as I’d become the go to photog for corp pics and company events. There was a need and even the in house studio thought it a good idea. Each year I was given more and more people to support, sitting at a desk in a cube pushing paper and was told flat out that there was no alternative. I thought, ” there is always an alternative.” I hadn’t planned it . I thought about during the week btwn Xmas and New Years and decided if I were to be able to breath, to feel happy about what I am doing for the majority of my day, to feel respected for what I do and inspired to be better and to give, give , give of myself them I would have to leap and try something else. Note: I have been an EA nearly my entire working career (16 years) because I never thought I could do something fun and make a great living. I was afraid to even think about anything else but my check.
The pressure of “what to do now” although is different, it’s a weight all the same. I layed down (and hid in my house ALL YEAR. I tried to pole and everyday I read everything in the site, see folks progressing, imaging myself being super bendy and excellent on the pole but then no energy from the inside of me to make me do it. I picked up my camera, started sharing a studio and again…no joy? Little progress? I also make handbags and while I do seem to be motivated in that area I seem to have no steam. Oh, I did have some visitors. Ben came over with Jerry, little Ceasars stopped by weekly and I don’t even know why I kept baking and baking and baking…and then eating everything I made. I now have 15 extra pounds to burn and still need to figure out a path. Here’s where University would have helped had I gone. I would’ve learned how to plan and how to work it. I might’ve learned to believe in myself because of practice in school. I’m running on and in I know..I would say to you, make a plan if you can. I leapt without one and while I no longer have the pressure of being somewhere I just replaced it with a different kind of pressure which suggests my body, my mind may be addicted to pressure – having endured it for so long. I gave myself one year to let it all slide away and my year ended 2 days ago so now, pressure!
I’m finding it helps to pretend. Yes, I will fake it until I make it! You are lucky to have youth on your side and at least one degree. Yesterday I read the bio of an ad agency chief creative officer and he said he brought a broom to his desired place of employment and offered to sweep for a job. One year later he’s creative director, tripled the size of the company and the rest is history. Maybe stake out a few companies you’d really like to work for, look at their current work and make up something and present yourself. I hope things turn around and you find yourself in a happy, rewarding space;)
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my short story. Was a file clerk and dance instructor, got my degree and worked in biotech for 2 years. They closed our site, so we all got laid off. It was then I decided I didn't want to be in that field anymore, so I am now a part time office manager working towards getting my group fitness certification so I can start doing dance instruction on the side. I also do little side projects in the hops of selling htem one day.
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Thanks for your replies guys, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels this way. Having read your stories and mulling it over, I think it's down to the fact that I do not get any respect in my work (everyone thinks I just sit and 'mess about' on the computer and that it will only take 10 minutes to design something from scratch) and that I was disillusioned from uni that design was creative freedom when it fact it is not like that at all. It is all about if you can talk the talk and business minded both of which I am neither.
Corby i hope you feel these experiences will help you too, it is enlightening to see what choices others have made and where they are now
chem – thanks for highlighting amy's article, I'll try hunt it down 🙂
jelania – sorry to hear that things didn't work out with your work, no-one should have to suffer so much emotionally, there is always a way to sustain a healthy and happy work life and paying the bills etc. like you say we just need to plan it a little 🙂 I have a few paths planned, it is deciding which to choose and stick it with it and hope it pays off
aerialgypsy – that sounds like a lovely situation to be in – part time work and working towards dance!
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Raven, check out http://clientsfromhell.net/ – always good for a laugh for anyone who works in design!
I have a few artist friends, including several designers. The most successful ones I know work in corporate environments doing slick (but boring) design for high profile clients, and then have meaningful creative outlets outside of work. One of them does photography in his spare time and also customizes his car. The other belongs to an artist collective and organizes exhibitions for other performing and creative groups she belongs to. So they find their artistic fulfillment elsewhere.
Other friends have gotten really disillusioned when they found that working in the creative field was not nearly as fulfilling as they once thought. It may be asking a lot for your job to also be your primary creative outlet. It's certainly possible, but not everyone is so lucky. All the more reason to dance it out 🙂
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As someone who started early in my then dream career (riding/training horses, running a barn, teaching riding lessons) and getting so burnt out I lost my passion for horses, I tend to shy away from the “you have to love what you do mentality”. After I gave up on the horse career, I went to colle and got an engineering degree.
Now, being a full-time engineer is hardly my dream job. But it pays well and I’m able to pursue other, more enjoyable ways to pass time.
I also write books, and while it does pay and I’d love to dedicate more time to writing, I know if I had to sit down and write for 8 hours a day I’d hate it in a heartbeat. It does allow me to be creative and since I have another job that pays all my bills I have total freedom to write what I want.
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I love hearing these perspectives… seeing as how I spend a lot of time drowning in my own. I had an artistic outlet through teaching. training, and performing while I was still living in Hawaii full-time. But since I haven't been there, I have been really not liking my job as much without that creative element in my life though I had also been having issues prior to the move. I do environmental consulting work through telecommuting so everyday I sit at a desk, knowing I am messimg my body up by just sitting and not doing anything. I would love to have a more physical fitness-y job and still be able to dance/perform/teach on the side. I know that whole creative pursuit will never pay my bills, but I do really think that if I could make physical therapy school a reality, I would be in 7th heaven. The function of the human body fascinates me, and even more so, returning functionality to an injured body. For a multitude of reasons, pursuing this right now feels like trying to swi up a waterfall, but my sanity will thank me for just trying to stay positive, I guess.
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It seems the way forward is to have a job where there is less emphasis on pure design work so I can save that for 'me' time and do what I really love 🙂
Portableninja that just made my night! There's so many situations on there that sound exactly like my boss lol
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Many of us spend countless hours watching the clock tick at work, and wondering how we ended up in exactly that scenario. Spending 40+ hours/week doing something unfulfilling for someone who is unappreciative or intolerable can really kill your spirit.
Leaving a steady paycheck is always risky. There are no guarantees that your new situation will be better. If you are really that unhappy, though, it is probably time for a change. You can’t live your life afraid to better yourself because you are scared it might not work out. You just have to go for it.
Have you considered doing freelance design work in order to express your artistic side more? You could keep your paycheck while slowly building your own client list and establishing your own business.
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this thread really struck a chord in me too 🙂 this is going to be long, in the hopes that some of you can get something out of it…
i originally went to business school and studied marketing undergrad. however– real world marketing is not anything like the rewarding, fun, interesting, thought-provoking material that i loved in school. it was pushing papers, drudgery, and selling stuff that i didn't believe in. and while i had a job at the perfect company– tons of opportunity, and unlimited growth potential and great coworkers- i realized that it wasn't enough. i ahd to like what i was doing.
the kind of person that i am, i knew that in order to take the time to make the change, i needed to make the space in my life to reallyt hink things through. so i quit my job. i ended up going to grad school to get a MA in clinical psych with an emphasis on drug addiction couseling. to make ends meet while i was in school, and allow me to focus on classes during nights and weekends, i took an admin assistant position that was strictly 9-5. it was for a super high end car rental company (lambos, ferraris, bentleys!) and the position gradually expanded until i was the CEO's right hand woman, working weekends, with tons of responsibility. the things i loved about th job were working with people, client relationships, and the logistics of getting all the cars where they needed to be hwen they needed to be. and i was really, really good at it. and i loved driving all the cars 🙂
it got to a point where my value to the company wasn't commeasurate with the compensation i was receiving, and it was starting to eat into my time to study and focus on grad school, so i went looking for a new job. now i knew some of teh things i was looking for: i wanted to be in a position where i was organizing and managing process. i wanted to be working directly with people and maintaining relaionships as a part of my job. i had always been intersted in construction and design and architecture, so i found a job on craigslist with a high end construction management company. i appleid as a receptionist but upon interviewing me, they asked me to be an assistant project manager instead, which was a way different paygrade.
as i worked my way into the job, i found that it was so exciting, challenging and fulfilling that i decided to rethink my career path of going into counseling/PhD. It was a lot of working to problem solve, get to the root of issues, and every day was different. I learned a lot about working with people and communication and tons about different trades, real estate, development, and everything associated with the business.
i stayed with that company for 5 years. longer by far than i have been with any other job. and honestly i always knew that iw as the type to be easily bored. so the fact that i stayed for so long was surprising to me, too. but as years went by, i became frustrtaed with the structure of my company, upper management, and i realized that i didn't want to progress much further than being a project manager. it was a ton of stress and again, not commeasurate with the compensation. at the same time, i found my interest in pole growing.
i could go on and on about pole, andi ts impact in my life, but long story short i realized that i have a huge love of all things analytical, scientific, and biomehcanical relating to the body, through pole and the way that i always thought of tricks. i've always been the type to think about why something works and how it works, and it was a natural part of my teaching and thinking process. so, as i became more and more frustrated and bored at work, i found myself spending more and more time and energy with pole. i applied for and was accepted to a MA program focusing on how we learn to use our bodies, biomechanics, and structural kinesiology.
finally i decided to leave my job. it stopped beign fulfilling, stopped bieng interesting, and i had mentally checked out. i planned on taking the semester off, teaching travelling pole workshops and focusing on school. i thought seriously about going to school full time and just teaching. but honestly, as appealing as that was, i knew that there was a huge, huge side of me that wouldn't be fulfilled with that. i love learning and love teaching but beyond that, i am an organizer, a task master, a manager. it's in my nature. and so i knew that i couldn't leave the workforce completely and be happy. on a whim, i applied to literally three jobs that sounded amazing… and ended up taking one of them.
people may not understand why i am working when icould be teaching pole and jsut going to shchool. to some, that is an amazing opportunity and it absolutely is. but the job that i have now is incredibly fulfilling. i use all the communication skills, all the people management skills, all the project management skills. i am constantly evaluating how things owrk, what is broken, how to fix it. i am in charge of the efficiency of the entire real estate development branch of my company, which is challenging and scary and hard and overwhelming at times. I come home every night completely brain tired and need to sit on my couch and not talk some nights. i'm surrounded by people who are incrediby passionate and interested in what they are doing and everyone is invested in the success of the company.
i've been through a ton of career changes in my life and these are some of the things i have learned:
it's not just about WHAT you are doing, but what SKILLS you are using and what SKILLS you want to be using. I can be a project manager across a lot of different disciplines. You can be a graphic designer in many different industries and each will bring a different type of challenge.
the first step in making a big change is building confidence. you can't interview and not be assured of your own self worth. i've never interviewed and NOT gotten a call back because i don't question for a second that i am an asset to every company i interview with, in some way. it's jsut about figuring out how to leverage the information you know and skills you have to be useful to differnet people or organizations. you have to sit down and really think about what you are good at. what do you want to get better at. what kind of jobs or skills or positions would help you to become more valuable and more of an asset to someone else?
by changing careers several times, i actually made myslef more interesting to a potential employer. i am showing flexibility, and quickness to learn. if you can provide a narrative that makes sense of the switches, they will accept and understand why you've done what you did.
sometimes you have to step into scary unknown and free fall. if you don't make space in your life, then nothing better can come along. some people are all about lining up one job before they leave another– its really dependent on your personality type.
life is really short. time passes really quickly. you can be anything you want to be, but you have to take steps to make it so.
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I have also been through much change, careerwise, in my life. Right out of high-school I started working as a professional programmer at a development shop in my home town. I was writing code for old green-screen mainframes which was boring as hell.
This frustration with work led me to dual-path my life. I maintained jobs while also working on businesses generally focused around web-technology and marketing.
My career jumps found me going from professional programmer to restaraunt manager to Geek Squad store manager to the executive team at a rapidly growing startup and finally leading a large development team and acquisition integration at a large marketing firm in the Bay Area. This path was filled with frustrations with my workplace and even a couple layoffs. It wasn't neccessarily fulfilling but it was educational. I took many lessons away from every place I worked.
Through this whole journey I built businesses and toyed with integration of technology into process. Some of these ventures were profitable, some of them didn't even see the light of day. Over and over again I tried, and my attempts tended to develop a theme. More and more I was testing social integration into different industries. Build, test, evaluate, refine, wash, rinse, repeat.
Around 2008 Veena and I struck on this idea for a pole dance based community and education resource. In fact this was more of a catharsis than an actual attempt at profit. It allowed us to work together during our seperation due to my taking a job 2000 miles away after a layoff. Eighteen months later the responsibilities of our partnership weighed so heavily on us we needed to make a decision:
"Do I continue working my way up the corporate ladder with its increasing responsibilities and time committments and let StudioVeena.Com go away or do we take a pay cut and give StudioVeena.Com the attention and time it deserves?"
The rest is history 🙂
I worked hundred hour weeks and more for over a decade with hopes that my extracurriculars would turn into something more fulfilling for me and my family. After alot of work, alot of lessons and alot of time my efforts paid off.
If you're luck you get eighty years on this planet, once those are gone they are gone. While you might have to do things you don't enjoy to meet your basic needs use the rest of the time to pursue things that mean more to you and with any luck you will find yourself doing the more fulfilling things more and more.
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I've been planning my career change for a while now, and this all these posts resonate. It sounds like the key is having some income plan in mind while you figure out the longer term picture. I had a boss who resigned to start her own business. She talked to the company and they worked out a deal with her so that she would work part time for 6 months to ease the transition for both the company and herself. The reduced hours gave her time to boost her clientel without working herself to death and the company appriciated having time to find and train a suitable replacement.
Having a 9-5 like Amy did, going part time, or free lancing are all really good ideas. I also agree with jivete, that having a creative outlet outside work is really important and might make all the difference. I was originally planning to leave my company a lot sooner, but while I figured out what I wanted to do instead, I made changes that gave me more time for my own interests. I'm not miserable anymore, and can say I'm comfortable in my current position for another 18 months. Having an outlet made work a lot more bearable and lowered my stress enough to let me think clearly about the next step. Before making my current life changes, I was ready to jump from one crappy position to another. Now I know more what I'm looking for and have the time to find it.
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Hi Raven,
I understand fear and insecurity so well especially as I'm pursuing grad school and trying to complete all the daunting tasks it requires. I think fear happens in periods of inaction when we let our minds get the best of us. I think as soon as you start taking action like volunteering or shadowing someone in a field you're interested in, that fear sort of melts away.
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Hi Raven,
I understand fear and insecurity so well especially as I'm pursuing grad school and trying to complete all the daunting tasks it requires. I think fear happens in periods of inaction when we let our minds get the best of us. I think as soon as you start taking action like volunteering or shadowing someone in a field you're interested in, that fear sort of melts away.
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