The pencilbox swap
Sam Wilson is a pro when it comes to career swaps. Do you have enough courage to make a swap?
With spring, comes some mental spring cleaning, right? And as your mind turns to greener pastures, you might find your grey office walls even more constrictive than normal. In fact, you might even work up the courage to find something brighter.
A few lives ago, I was an attorney. Then one day around this time of year, I was sitting unhappily in my little grey office, swearing at my computer screen, when a colleague named Andrew leaned conversationally against my door.
"You do know you hate this job, don't you Sam?" he asked.
"Yes, I am aware of that, thanks Andrew," I snapped back. "Now, @#$*^& off, so I can get some work done."
He stared at me for a bit, bemused.
"I have a little advice," he replied. "Doing a job you hate is making you a short-tempered bitch. I watch you juggling all these balls, and all I can think is... your career is the only one that bounces. So why is it the only one you are looking after?"
(A bright man, Andrew. He isn't working at the evil law firm anymore either.)
While this little interchange smacked a little at the time, it was a life-changing moment.
I quit a week later and, in the ensuing decade, I have worked as a health journalist, a copywriter, a strategist, a columnist and a web editor. My best work moment of all? That first leap: when I learnt how not to feel trapped by a job.
And so, as spring begins to yawn, we decided to ask the question: have you sold your soul to a crappy job? Or have you made some job swaps of your own? We'd love to hear your stories.
Our careers hub is packed with relevant advice. Our expert has applied his mind to the question of career redirects and we've even managed a bit of inspirational gossip by spilling the beans on some supercelebs and their first jobs. (Psst: Madonna sold doughnuts.)
Take on board the bits you like and if necessary... take the plunge.
See you on the up-bounce.
Sam Wilson is Editor-in-Chief of Women24.com. Well, for now.
- Women24