Career Insights
When I decided to switch careers, I promised to give 100% of dedication for making amends with a pathway I really enjoyed, instead of insisting on something that would only make my parents proud.
After three years of hard work, one PC blown after a storm, and a leave of absence to attend to a tragic family situation abroad, I was honored to be named the valedictorian. Like many other fallacies, I thought this award, paired with a decent English fluency, would be enough to open doors for someone who didn’t have referrals, family, or networking peers to ease the climb for success in Canada.
With time, I understood I was carefully driven to this conclusion by people whose primary duties were keeping the Canadian immigration pipeline flowing. In other words, I was just another cog in the machine.
Back then, like any fresh immigrant, I was naive and overconfident.
I became the grey-haired junior designer in a job market filled with late teens who had little-to-none aspirations at this stage.
The career-change paradox hit me like a truck — ''too senior to be a junior, while being too junior to be a senior.''
Naturally, I started wondering what could have been if I hadn't given up dentistry and ventured into a different country and a new career. After all, most of my friends from that chapter had already reached cruising altitude in life, thriving with their fancy offices and exotic-colored scrubs.
Even then, I didn't regret my choice. After all I've been through, I'm certain if didn’t make the move, I'd probably have missed the most enriching experience in my life.
Through adversity, I became adaptable, and through the uncertainty, I found wisdom, which is influenced by how you tackle life's curve balls.
Owning my journey has reshaped my mindset, creating a resilient leader, an empathetic team player, accountable, ready to face whatever challenge comes up. Also, being around for quite some time has empowered me with several problem-solving tactics and perspectives, applicable to a wide range of professional endeavours.
Nobody teaches soft skills. Unlike traditional knowledge, one cannot pass it on to others. People forge them, layer by layer, like damascus steel. The more an individual is exposed to life experiences, the more complex it becomes. That's the beauty of the process.
Hard skills, on the other hand, are essentially muscle memory. As a cherished Art Professor of mine used to say:
"We all have a thousand bad drawings inside. The quicker you take them out, the sooner you'll become an artist."
I learned to reconcile my past career ventures by embracing the soft skills I mastered along the way.
I'm always looking for the right opportunity. One that values character, life experience, and hunger to grow, beyond a hard skills list followed by wacky adjectives to scare off novice job seekers.
Until then, I'll keep learning, improving, finding my voice through meaningful interactions, like this one. And since you came all the way to the end, I'll leave you with the ultimate lesson.
If I could pick one to remember, this would be it.