Steven John
The author, Steven John, has changed careers multiple times, and now works as a freelance writer.
- I've changed career tracks three times during my time in the working world.
- Doing these vastly different jobs has taught me six key things about what it means to change careers and try vastly different professional paths to find one that fits you.
- Though not all skills are transferable, experience can be an important benefit taken from each opportunity you have in your professional journey.
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Within a year of graduating college, I found myself on a fast track toward a mid-level management role with a major Los Angeles entertainment company.
I was going on business trips, meeting with executives from across the industry, and helping plan sizeable acquisitions of new ventures.
But it all fell apart when the head of my division was caught in an embezzlement scandal involving fraudulent invoicing and a cover company. My coworkers and I were shocked. My division was promptly shut down, and I was out of a job.
I was still in the first half of my 20s, and with a sparse résumé, there was no way I was going to find another position with the same responsibilities and pay as my old job. So I swallowed my pride and took a position as an assistant at a talent agency a few miles down the road.
After a short stint there, and then multiple years at another agency, I finally decided to change careers for a third time, working full time out of my house as a self-employed writer.
Read more: I've worked from home for 9 years - and I've saved $30,500 on lunches, gas, business attire, and coffee
It was a move that was equal parts liberating and terrifying, but I've come to see it as the best move I could have made. Only with the benefit of hindsight do I see how dissatisfied I was with both of my previous careers.
With that in mind, here are six crucial things I've learned about work thanks to my multiple career changes - things that anyone contemplating a change of scenery could use.