Man, October 2020, what a time. Everything felt a bit… hazy, you know? The whole world was still trying to figure things out, and my own career was no different. I was feeling this weird mix of stuck and restless. Like, I’d been doing the same thing for a while, and suddenly, with all the crazy stuff happening globally, it just hit me different. That comfortable rut I was in? It started feeling like a trap. I really wanted to shake things up, but honestly, I didn’t even know where to begin. It felt like I was just floating, watching the days tick by, and my drive was just… nowhere to be found.
I remember one specific morning, pouring my coffee, staring out the window, and just having this gut feeling that I couldn’t keep going on like this. That’s when I decided, “Alright, enough is enough. Something’s gotta give.” That was the kickoff. It wasn’t some grand plan, just a simple decision to actually do something instead of just thinking about it. I figured, if I didn’t start poking around, I’d just stay right where I was, and that thought actually scared me more than trying something new and failing.
Hitting the Pavement (Figuratively, of course)
First thing I did was just try to get some clarity. I grabbed a pen and a crumpled piece of paper – classic, right? – and I just started jotting down everything that was making me feel uneasy about my current gig. Then, on another side, I wrote down stuff I actually enjoyed doing, even if it wasn’t work-related. It wasn’t about finding a new job immediately; it was about figuring out what kind of problems I actually liked solving, or what kind of impact I wanted to make. This little exercise, simple as it was, actually opened my eyes a bit. It wasn’t just about the money; it was about feeling useful and engaged again.
Once I had a clearer picture, I started casting a wider net. And by wider net, I mean I basically lurked everywhere online. LinkedIn, some industry forums I hadn’t looked at in ages, even just general news sites to see what trends were popping up. I wasn’t just looking for “jobs,” though. I was looking for industries that seemed to be growing, skills that were in demand, or even just people talking about cool projects they were working on. It was like I was a detective trying to piece together a puzzle about the future.
- I started reading way more articles and blog posts than usual, just soaking up whatever information I could find about new tech or different career paths.
- I began reaching out to old contacts, people I hadn’t spoken to in years. Just casual chats, “Hey, how’s it going? What’s new on your end?” Not asking for anything specific, just trying to understand their worlds.
- I even signed up for a few free online webinars and courses. Nothing too heavy, just introductory stuff on things like data analytics or basic coding. I just wanted to dip my toes in and see if anything sparked a real interest.
It was a lot of small, seemingly unrelated actions, but they all added up. I wasn’t waiting for a perfect opportunity to land in my lap; I was actively digging for clues, building a new mental map of possibilities. And lemme tell ya, some days it felt like a total waste of time. Like, “What am I even doing?” But I kept at it.
The Pivot Point
After a few weeks of this self-imposed exploration, something really clicked. I was chatting with an old colleague – someone I’d worked with almost a decade ago – and he was talking about how his company was getting really into automation for their internal processes. Now, I always enjoyed problem-solving and making things more efficient in my old roles, but I never really put a name to it. When he explained what they were doing, it just made sense to me. It felt like a natural extension of stuff I already liked doing, but in a totally new context. It wasn’t a job offer, just a conversation, but it was like a lightbulb went off.
That conversation became my target. I thought, “Okay, automation. How do people do that?” I dove deeper into the free courses I found, specifically looking for anything related to process improvement or automation tools. I started spending evenings and weekends just messing around with basic scripts, trying to automate some mundane tasks on my own computer. It was a grind, for sure. There were days I just stared at the screen, totally baffled why my code wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do. But every small victory, every time I got something to work, it was this massive rush. Like, “Hey, I actually built that!”
I remember one specific Saturday, I spent practically the whole day wrestling with a simple script to sort files into different folders automatically. It was tedious, frustrating, and I almost gave up a dozen times. But when it finally worked, perfectly, without a hitch, I felt this surge of accomplishment. That feeling? That’s what kept me going. It wasn’t just about learning a new skill; it was about rediscovering that feeling of creating something useful.
Building and Moving Forward
Armed with this newfound direction and a few basic skills, I started updating my résumé, but this time, I wasn’t just listing old job duties. I was highlighting my problem-solving approach, my interest in efficiency, and those little projects I’d been tinkering with. I wrote about how I identified issues and implemented simple solutions, even if they were just for myself. It wasn’t about being an expert; it was about showing I had the drive to learn and apply new things.
I started applying for roles that were even slightly related, not just direct automation jobs. Anything that mentioned process improvement, operational efficiency, or even just needing someone to “streamline workflows.” I figured, even if I wasn’t a perfect fit, I could at least get my foot in the door and talk about what I could do. I got a bunch of rejections, of course. That’s just part of the game. But each “no” just made me go back and refine my approach, tweak my résumé, or practice my newfound skills a bit more.
Then, after weeks of this back-and-forth, I got an interview for a role that wasn’t strictly “automation” but was very much about improving internal processes. I talked about my personal projects, how I’d spent my evenings learning, and my passion for making things work smoother. I walked them through my file-sorting script, even. They seemed genuinely impressed by the initiative, not just the technical skills. It wasn’t about me being a seasoned expert; it was about showing I was hungry to learn and apply myself to real problems.
I ended up landing that job. It wasn’t exactly what I thought I’d be doing back in October 2020, but it was exactly the kind of challenge I needed. It pushed me, made me learn constantly, and gave me that sense of purpose I was missing. It started with that vague feeling of being stuck and a simple decision to just do something. And looking back, it was one of the best moves I ever made.
