Five years ago, my mornings felt very different. I’d wake up, drive to work, and spend eight hours doing a job I didn’t enjoy. Today, that’s not the case. I’ve successfully navigated my way through a career transition, pivoting from a career in financial aid at universities to a full-time job as a writer.
I don’t have a degree in writing, nor did I go back to school to get more writing experience. Instead, I mostly attribute this transition to my “side hustles” and outside projects.
If anyone were to follow a similar path, I’d warn them that it isn’t easy, and they should expect frustrations. But, I’d also say the reward is worth the effort. While no two experiences are uniform, these are 10 pieces of advice I’ve learned from my transition.
It’s a whole lot of work
This may seem obvious, but I can’t understate it enough. Transitioning into a new career field is no small undertaking, and it requires a lot of commitment.
For me, I spent over five years progressively immersing myself in content writing and strategy. It started with blogging, then branched into self-publishing articles, getting free certificates, and freelance writing. But, I needed to do this to build an entry-level portfolio.
This commitment may scare people away (or make school seem like a more appealing option), but it’s necessary to demonstrate a genuine interest in changing fields. Once you have more relevant work under your belt, potential employers are more likely to view you as a legitimate candidate rather than someone applying for a job on a whim.
The first step is harder than it ought to be
When I wanted to start publishing content online, I thought about it a lot. I had many ideas floating around and I aspired to build massive websites. So, I researched how to build web pages and spent hours watching YouTube videos.
The truth of the matter: My early content wasn’t that important. I spent a lot of time trying to make it perfect, but these articles were the first steps in my journey. That’s not to say they were useless, but gaining momentum is often more beneficial than being perfect. The more I wrote, the more I learned, which helped me improve my writing style. Eventually, I even went back to revise those “perfect” early articles — which is fine. You’re allowed to make mistakes and improve during this process.
Explaining the transition is difficult
The process of making a career transition can feel like you’re living a double life. While discussing your side hustles, you need to provide people with a clear, succinct explanation of your goal and why you want to make a transition. However, you need to be selective about who you tell.
I had a very hard time abandoning my day job. While working that 9–5, I had to act interested in advancement and continue building skills. I knew that discussing my goal to change careers wouldn’t benefit my full-time job. So, while I was on the clock, I mostly disengaged from my side hustles and acted as if I saw a bright future in financial aid.
Outside of my 9–5, I would only explain my goal to people I cared about or embrace networking opportunities. It can be exhausting to repeat these conversations over and over, but it is important to talk about the transition. That way you’ll have some preparation when getting the inevitable “tell me about yourself” question at an interview.
It’s hard to commit 100%
Before you land a full-time job in your new field, it’s really difficult to abandon your old 9–5 profession. While I was working in financial aid, I knew that the field was not for me. However, I didn’t know if I’d be able to transition into a writing role.
While I certainly wasn’t the most ambitious financial aid employee, I didn’t want to forgo all professional development opportunities. If the transition didn’t work out, I wanted to be able to have marketable skills and be recognized as a good employee. Logically, this meant I had to maintain a level of commitment to my 9–5 job, but my heart was committed to building skills in my 5–9 gig.
There are very few resources out there
When you’re looking for career advancement, you might try to network and talk with other people in the field. You’ll want to leverage connections — perhaps work colleagues or university alumni — and try to get your foot in the door.
When you’re changing careers, where do you turn?
It’s possible you don’t have connections in your new field, and you may not have a big network to leverage. Still, you need to put yourself out there. You might need to send uncomfortable messages to strangers on LinkedIn, and you’ll likely talk to “senior” employees who are younger than you. All of this feels weird, but there is no blueprint to follow, and making any connection will help you in some capacity.
You’re going to have to give something up
If you research career transitions online, you’ll find a lot of people who quit their jobs and took leaps of faith, or “gambled on themselves.” This is one approach, but I never felt confident enough to give up my income in my pursuit of a different career.
Since I wasn’t willing to give up my income, I had to give up time — hence why I called these side hustles my 5–9. While I didn’t always work four hours after my main job, I did put in a lot of time (including weekend hours). Still, I wouldn’t discourage other people from trying this approach. I enjoyed the bulk of the work I did during my “5–9,” and it allowed me to build my portfolio without significant risk.
If you stick with it, you’re on the right path
After a couple of months, I experienced some growth in audience engagement, but it wasn’t what I expected. Still, I wrote. Then, I started applying for jobs, but I was hearing crickets. Still, I wrote. Then, a pandemic came and significantly reduced the number of opportunities. Still, I wrote.
The path to a career transition will have many challenges, some unexpected, and it requires a lot of resilience to continue. The setbacks can be tough, but if you keep persevering because you love working on your side projects, take that as a good sign. It means you have passion for those projects — something you’re likely lacking in your 9–5.
Opportunities will come from unfamiliar places
I stuck with my side projects for years, and I was slowly gaining more recognition. My goal was to make a full-time career in writing or content creation, but early opportunities were far different from the jobs I was used to. Remember, my early career experiences were at universities. These jobs were very traditional with fixed hours, time off, and benefits.
When my writing started getting recognized, it was simply other content creators/ journalists citing my articles or asking questions about my work. This seems like it’s nothing, but it gave me the confidence to apply for freelance gigs or offer to contribute to publications.
I now have a full-time writing job, but I needed to embrace opportunities that were different than my traditional idea of a “job.” I accepted as many of these gigs as I could because they helped me inch closer to my end goal.
Your old experiences still hold value
Once you land a new job, even if it’s an entry-level job, your prior experiences will benefit you. Compared to a recent graduate without full-time professional experience, you will certainly have a better understanding of work expectations.
Regardless of your prior field, you likely learned time management skills, how to communicate like a professional, when to speak up, or how to handle workplace personalities. During the interview process, it might be frustrating when those “soft skills” are trivialized, but eventually, they will serve as assets. Once you’re in your new job, don’t be surprised if these skills set you apart from other new hires, and it might even accelerate your path to advancement.
In the end, it was worth it
Recently, I was talking with a colleague about my career transition — it was the motivation behind this article. During that five-minute exchange, I was quite impressed with myself, and I seldom think about how grateful I am following my transition.
The process felt like it took years (because it did), but I feel like a stronger person because I persevered. I am more confident in my work, I don’t dread talking about my job with other people, and I look forward to career advancement and development opportunities.
A part of me will always envy people who went to college with a specific career in mind. Those folks jumped right into their profession and spent years building their skills while I felt like a fish out of water. But, I’m no longer floundering. I take pride in my work, and I feel grateful that my journey eventually led me to a fulfilling profession.
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