I haven’t written a blog in a while as I was going through a challenging period in my career. I had hit rock bottom. I no longer enjoyed my role as a Marketing Manager, had fallen out with my manager, lost my confidence and felt that there was no way out. Going into work became more and more difficult each day, so I decided that it was time for me to leave.
Before leaving my role, I had been applying for a lot of jobs, with a few turning into interviews but many turning into rejections. I didn’t want to quit my job before securing a new one, but I was burnt out from work and the endless cycle of applying for a new job. I had reached breaking point with not only my role, but also my manager. It became impossible to work with her and I knew that progression under her leadership was non-existent.
Nearly 7 years ago, I started my PR & Marketing journey at my university’s press office and then went on to complete a rotational graduate scheme at one of the world’s biggest tech firms. Fresh out of university, I was filled with ambition and hope about my career. I was ready to work hard to put in the time to fulfil my goal of reaching the top. Although I wasn’t totally sure what reaching the top looked like, I knew that I wanted to have a senior position with a “good” salary.
I enjoyed marketing and was given some really amazing opportunities, which many of my peers didn’t get at the time. Fast forward seven years; the marketing landscape has changed. The role of marketing isn’t just to help sales drive more business, but to generate revenue and increase company growth. It has pivoted from being innovative and consumer-led to data underpinning all decision making. Having tried both digital and brand marketing, I didn’t enjoy the analytical or creative side and I knew that it was time to look for a new role outside of marketing.
Starting a new career path isn’t easy and I wasn’t sure to make a switch very quickly. To help with my confusion and lack of direction, I made a ‘hype’ doc of all my achievements, looked at the positive/negative feedback I received during performance reviews and reflected on the skills I had accumulated over the year. This helped me to look at non-marketing roles that could have been a good fit with the experience that I had.
It wasn’t an easy process, but I continued to persevere knowing that I would eventually secure a job which wasn’t in the marketing field. Applying for jobs during a recession isn’t for the faint hearted. I cried a lot and doubted myself during the process. It also didn’t help that my ‘dream’ job wasn’t so dreamy anymore and that I had left due to the severe impact it was having on my mental health.
It’s safe to say that my career feels like a rollercoaster. I’ve been challenged and have had to look at my career through a different lens. What was once important to 22 year-old Steph is no longer relevant to 29 year-old Steph. Although I haven’t figured it all out, I’m not going to lose hope and will pace myself when it comes to fulfilling my career goals. I’m no longer in a hurry to achieve certain goals by 30. What is for me will not pass me. One of my favourite quotes by Joyce Meyer is “I’m not where I want to be, but I’m glad that I’m not where I used to be”. This resonates with me more than ever as I look to carve out the next phase in my career.
See you all in my next post!
