What I’ve learned from making two career changes
There’s a reason people get stuck in unhappy careers - and it may not be what you think. In many cases, there’s a missing piece we need to uncover. By Jacqui Ooi.
The first time I made a career change, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I’d spent my 20s working in the heady world of women’s magazines, considered by many to be a ‘dream career’. It was certainly a fun career, but I always knew there was more I wanted to explore.
In fact, for a number of years I’d been dreaming of a career in the humanitarian field. I had a long-held interest in social issues and admired the women I saw working in that space. I was also drawn to the adventure of working in far-flung corners of the globe.
It wasn’t an obvious career shift to everyone around me, but to me, it made sense. I was craving work that felt more meaningful, I wanted to be involved in the big issues of the world and I could use my decade of experience as a journalist to sidestep into a communications role at a humanitarian organisation.
That’s what I ended up doing in my 30s when I landed a role at a global children’s charity. Making the transition wasn’t all smooth sailing, but knowing what I wanted to do and having a clear end-goal in mind was the motivation I needed to push through the challenges and continue forward.
I loved working at that organisation for nearly eight years, but I also learned that some aspects of not-for-profit work weren’t as rosy as I thought and my desire to ‘help people’ wasn’t completely satisfied simply by working for a charity.
My second (messier!) career change
The second time I made a career change couldn’t have been more different. I had once again started to feel that niggle of needing a change, which eventually grew to a roar – but this time, I had no idea what I wanted to do next. In my attempt to find something different, I moved into a role that wasn’t a good fit for me – and the longer I stayed, the worse I started to feel.
By the time I quit, I was in full-blown burnout but I still didn’t know what else I could do. Although I was quite firm on what I didn’t want in my career anymore, this time I didn’t have a long-held dream propelling me forward. I just knew that the direction I was heading in didn’t feel right and the thought of continuing on that path for the rest of my working life was suffocating.
At the time, it felt like there was something wrong with me for not being able to figure this out. But I now know this is a common experience and it’s why many people get stuck in unhappy careers – not because of financial reasons or other perceived external barriers, but because we don’t know what it is we want to do.
Getting unstuck
In my case, I did what people typically do and tried to figure it out on my own. I spent hours thinking and researching and way too much time in my own head, not knowing how to find the answers.
It wasn’t until I began taking physical steps to explore my interests – volunteering with an organisation focused on empowering women and booking a slot at a local recording studio to try my hand at podcasting – that the clarity started to come. I didn’t know it at the time but those simple actions were the first critical step to uncovering a whole new career path.
At that point, I never imagined that helping women navigate their own career change journeys was the path I was looking for. But that’s what happens when you stop thinking and start doing. You learn so much more from actually testing your ideas, rather than trying to ‘think’ your way to a new career. With each small step, new possibilities emerge and what you want for yourself becomes clearer.
“I didn’t know it at the time but those simple actions were the first critical step to uncovering a whole new career path.”
A clear vision and purpose
Since I found that new direction, there has been a lot of hard work to build this into a new career. After finding success with my podcast interviewing women about their career change stories, I started my own research to understand how best to support women in this space. Then I began offering mentoring sessions and career change workshops to put that research into practice, later developing this into a comprehensive online course.
As it became clear this was something that genuinely energised me, and helped the women I was working with, I enrolled in postgraduate study (one year part-time) to become qualified as a career practitioner, which opened up new opportunities. I now have work as a career coach at a university and with a career transition firm, which I’m able to do flexibly alongside working with my own clients.
It's been a journey but I LOVE what I do for work now and even on the hard days, my sense of purpose and a clear vision of what I’m aiming for continues to propel me forward. I’m driven to help people craft fulfilling and well-aligned careers because I truly believe a good career fit is central to our overall happiness and wellbeing.
So if you’re feeling stuck in your career right now, which I know is a horrible place to be, I can assure you there is a way out. It requires a process of really getting to know yourself and what you need for work to feel good and meaningful, then taking practical steps to test your career ideas ‘in action’.
My best tip? Don’t get stuck as I did, trying to figure it out on your own and believing you can think your way to a new career. The evidence shows, and my own experience confirms, you gain clarity on what you want and confidence to move forward by doing. And having the right support makes the whole process far less stressful.
Jacqui Ooi is the founder of What She Did Next and creator of the Career Change Kickstarter course, teaching proven strategies to help women navigate change and build careers they love.
