Hello Peeps,
*Apologies for the length of this post, Get a brew and biscuit*
This phrase has recently been banded about a lot recently by myself and many people I know and I must say it is a fairly odd one. A previous colleague even noted it made me sound like a cow ambling over to the next paddock (and I must say anything that makes me sound like a cow or produce that imagery is not good). However this is what has been taking up my life a lot at the moment.After a lot of thought and soul searching I began to rethink my career path and how things have worked out for me since leaving university.
When I signed up for my course I was obviously a free-spirited and thinking 17 year old with no real idea of the comings and goings of working life. Because of this I set out with fanciful ideas of working in a gallery or on TV or for one of the many glossy magazines I read and viewing my self as another example of these types of go getting hard working girls we see in the television serials (You all know the ones; great job; great bf; great body; great friends. e..t.c).
Well as I neared the end of my course and had slaved away working in a well known retail chain full time for three years and had practically lived in the library surviving on rocket fuel amounts of caffeine and endless supplies of sweet treats this all changed. I wanted to make MONEY!. I wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination as I had my wages coming in and no real financial responsibilities to speak of apart from my mobile phone and travel, but the allure of earning that amazing salary package won round my sense of logic and I started looking for a job straight away. At the time I didn't care what it was I just wanted one, and it had to be in the bright lights of London town.
This is the moment where that little pixie/devil on my shoulder should of pulled me backs, sat me down and gave me a good telling off. I should of really looked at what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be in the future but at the time that was just so hard to see. And with the jobs market flooded with diverse range of graduates in a similar position to myself can you imagine which job role I fell into.... yes you guessed it SALES.
So off I trotted to start work in a small publishing house working in media sales... (A few different companies and roles down the line, and also a few bouts of illness) and have done for the last 5 years. Don't get me wrong there are some amazing aspects to working in a sales role. Those initial calls when you cold call and strike up a good relationship with the client, those moments of anticipation and then jubilation when you close the deal, and of course the level of camaraderie you get working with close knit teams who are all in the same boat... BUT, Sales is not for everyone and there are some real pitfalls to this career. I won't go into all of these as I want these post to be more positive than negative but if developing a stress cycle of insomnia, losing my hair and random panic attacks (they are little and often so don't be too overly concerned) is anything to go by I have had enough.
So I took a deep breath, had a few discussions with friends, colleagues and even Blokey (well I think he was listening any way, he definitely nodded in the right places) I decided to step once more in to the breech dear friend and take the leap and change my career. But to what may you ask., Well first of all let me tell you how I got to this conclusion: I first had to figure what am I really good at and what do I enjoy;
Communication and building relationships:
Good god if anyone who knows me knows I love talking, ... generally you can't shut me up. But there is nothing better than that feeling when you know someone wants to listen. If I had a pound for all of the different people I have spoken to over the last 5 years for work... Jesus I wouldn't be working again.
Project Management
Taking an idea and bringing it to fruition.... there is nothing like it, like watching a child grow (Ok, not quite the same but you get the idea). I have been involved with starting new events , too pushing social media campaigns and I have loved every minute.
Office Administration
I know what your thinking, no one enjoys this bit of the job do they. do they? Well I tell ya put a pile of envelopes and direct mail in front of me and I will sit there contentedly stuffing away for hours. I really do find enjoyment in even the small things I do. Even more than this I loved looking after my little team, being the go to person for their website queries or being able to hand over the right documents for a proposal or presentation. Yes I just wanted to feel needed!!
Data Analysis
This is actually another geeky one, I do apologise. But whether its analysing the responses from customer surveys, keeping track of followers or members on Twitter and Linked In... or watching the numbers tick up on e-mail campaigns I love it.
So what area of business have I decided I want to focus on going forward?.....
MARKETING!!!
Yes you guessed it, why didn't I just start here in the beginning!!
Aghast you may be thinking that this would be a scary situation fraught with unemployment and rejection after rejection, and yes it has been scary but not as unsuccessful as you may think. Over the last month or so I have continually had to remind my self that I am actually a really tenacious, driven hard worker and I have amazing skills that aren't just suited to sales but are varied and.... well pretty damn amazing.
I have realised this post is very long so I am going to sign off now but will be back in next week with an update and also further details on how I went about the really nitty gritty search for my dream job.
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