This week marks the end of my seven-year Career in finance.
Many people think I’m an absolute idiot for leaving behind the world of finance and joining the rainbow land of Tech and unicorns. Those people may, in fact, turn out to be right.
It’s never easy changing industries.
I walked out of the forty-something story skyscraper that has been home for most of my finance career and had tears in my eyes.
I felt sick.
I felt sad.
I had no idea what the fuck I was doing, to be honest.
Can a confident blogger with a friendly smile really do anything in the tech world? I guess we will find out.
Many of you reading this article have dreamed of making a 360-degree shift in your career too. You too know what I’ve just gone through in my mind.
But I did it. I took the plunge.
I want you to have the confidence to do the same.
Here’s why I pivoted my career 360 degrees into tech:
1. Comfort vs. Discomfort
I was a comfortable son of a gun. I’d go to work, say hello to people as I walked down the corridor, and then go sip a cup of lemongrass tea.
At 12 pm I’d head to my favorite local eatery to get some green eggs and salad (and sometimes a smoothie). Life was good. My career was doing good.
I knew all the prospects that I could sign up, well.
I knew all the internal stakeholders and what motivated them.
I knew my own strengths and weaknesses.
I went to work every day with my friend called comfort and we had a blast. We watched movies together on the weekend, we had warm dinners after work, we enjoyed many TV shows on Youtube together — it was a beautiful romance.
This romance with comfort was the freaking problem.
There was this emptiness inside that I could be doing so much more and so much more to give than just being ‘that sales guy in finance.’
I had dreams of speaking to thousands of people.
I had dreams of leading a team.
I had dreams of working for in social media/digital marketing.
All those dreams went nowhere because of my friend called comfort. I knew I had to become uncomfortable again. How did I know that?
Well, I’ve spent the last five odd years reading about people who’ve had similar goals as me. They didn’t get anywhere in life without becoming incredibly uncomfortable.
Being uncomfortable is where all the growth happens. You have to think differently when you’re uncomfortable and the road ahead is not clear. Through that lack of visibility, you learn things about yourself that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
When I decided to leave finance, my other colleagues who were in the same comfort bubble I was in, began asking me lots of questions. They too wanted to make a radical change and 99% of them didn’t. They used excuses like:
“I have two Mercedes Benz to pay for.”
“I have a family.”
“I don’t have the experience.”
“I don’t know anybody else in that industry.”
I too had a car to pay for and sold it.
I too lacked experience and went out and got it through blogging.
I too knew no one in that industry and messaged people on LinkedIn who could help me learn.
I too had a challenging financial decision to make and sold more than 50% of my stuff to make this all happen — plus I moved into a tiny apartment.
And I can’t answer the family question, but I know plenty of people in my network who have a family and have taken the plunge successfully. A 360 pivot in your career requires you to be uncomfortable.
Knowing you’re comfortable right now is the first step to change.
2. All the things we value don’t come easy
I went on 50+ dates in 3 months to find the right woman.
I went on a 9-month journey that involved 50+ interviews to find the right career.
I worked for 4 years straight every day to reach millions of people.
These are the things I’m proud of in my career yet they didn’t come easy. There were nights where I hated myself. There were nights I’d cry myself to sleep. There were nights where I thought I wasn’t enough.
Overcoming these demons and getting the things I wanted is what made me value them in the first place.
Think about the things you’ve achieved. I’m guessing 98.5% at the very least didn’t come easy.
That’s why you appreciate them. Pivoting your career is something you’ll learn to appreciate too, but it’s going to be an epic battle of Hollywood proportions.
3. That overused word ‘passion’
Okay, I said it again and I know you want to vomit. Sorry.
I’ve had a passion for tech and digital marketing for a while. I’ve never done anything about it.
“I dreamt of what it would be like every day to be working with a product that was identical to the skills I was building between 5 pm and 9 pm every night”
You may dismiss this whole passion argument, but that would be wrong. Call it what you will, that burning desire to explore a hobby you’ve worked on after hours, as your main job, will give you an extra bit of drive that you can’t buy or experience anywhere else.
It’s that drive/passion/enjoyment you get that will help you pivot your career.
4. Watching where the puck is going not where it is
Every industry and every company has its highs and lows.
In Australia, the financial industry is not in a good place. It’s a cycle that the market will recover from but not in the short-term. Knowing where your industry is heading and where the opportunities lie is a good way to pivot your career.
The finance industry (like many) is being heavily changed by tech. For me, having some skills and experiences at a tech company will help me see the solutions for the finance industry better (if I ever decide to go back).
Seeing where the market is moving before it goes in that direction is fundamental. It’s not hard to see either. Looking at the trends of your industry and talking to people at the top, who influence change in a big way, can easily show you why you should pivot your career in a new direction.
Finance is changing and I wanted to skate to where the puck will end up (ice hockey analogy) instead of standing still where the puck is right now.
What stops us pivoting our careers?
Perceived lack of resources.
Uncertainty.
Timing.
People projecting their fears onto you.
This one gets an explanation. When we want to change something we tend to ask our mentors, colleagues, friends, or partners for advice. This is normal.
The challenge I found is that many people I spoke to along the journey wanted to do the same thing I was doing. Their dream was wrapped up in what I was about to do in my own career.
“The people you talk to may not have been able to make the decision to pivot their own career and so they project their fears onto you”
In a way, they don’t want you to pivot your career because that makes them wrong in their own head. You’re always going to hear things like ‘career suicide’ or ‘it might not work out’ or ‘you’re giving up a perfectly good career.’
These fears are always going to be a possibility. Let me tell you what’s worse: letting other peoples fears and problems stop you from making the decision that could save your life and put you on a trajectory towards something that will give you joy, fulfillment, perhaps success and let your family share this all with you.
That’s what you’re leaving on the table by getting trapped in other people’s fears. By all means, chat to people, just make sure you don’t let their fears stop you.
Final thought.
That’s why I left my comfortable career in finance to join a tech company. Don’t finish reading this and go “That was a nice story.”
See if this something you might be able to do. If a tall guy from Australia with a strange smile and one too many chequered shirts can do it, why couldn’t you?
Is it hard? Yes.
Is it worth the pain and suffering? Absolutely.
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Why I Left My Comfortable Job In Finance And Joined A Tech Company. was originally published in The Ascent on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
