I QUIT MY JOB!!
In the midst of a recession, I quit my job. Crazy? Yes. Wrong? No way.
I’ve been working in IT at an investment bank for nearly two years, and not once have I felt satisfied here. I’ve known all along that this is not where I’m meant to be, nor what I’m meant to be doing. I simply do not fit into the Corporate American culture. It’s like no matter how many times I keep trying to cram my foot into a shoe that is two sizes too small, it’s not going to fit. This job and this company are the tiny shoe. I am the foot. And it hurts too much to keep walking.
My recent two week vacation to the Pacific Northwest provided me with some much-needed clarity. I talked to so many people who were happy pursuing their dreams, whether it be jewelry making, running a hostel/lodge, or starting their own business… and I thought hey, why can’t that be me? Then I ended up talking to someone about Interaction Design and we geeked out over it at a bar (much to our friends’ dismay), and I realized how worked up I got and how excited I was to be talking about something I cared about. Why can’t this be my life? Why am I not following my passions? How did I get stuck in this terrible cubicle-laden world where creativity is stifled and conformity and perception is everything? How come, when I meet all these admirable people chasing their dreams, I have to reluctantly talk about my horrible job and how much I hate it? It just didn’t make sense to me anymore.
Then last week was Internet Week in NYC, and I left work early on Friday to attend a presentation and networking event put on by a company I applied to work for. And as I sat through the presentations of the different directors from the company, I had the revelation I’ve been waiting years for. I finally made a decision: I’m quitting my job to pursue my passions. I’m going to work hard, succeed, and be happy.
Once I made this decision, all the overwhelming details and questions related to my career suddenly became clear. I want to do user experience research for technologies. I want to improve the design and user-friendliness of products… but more importantly, I want to focus on the theory and research behind the design process rather than the actual design itself. And with this revelation, I’ve been fueled with the drive needed to pursue my goal. I even stayed two hours after the event so I could talk to the director of the User Experience department, and she was so helpful and encouraging. Not only did this provide me with more motivation to follow through with my decision, but it also gave me some face time with the person who will ultimately decide whether or not I get to work for her (now, if only their recruiting team would start processing applications!).
While in theory I suppose I could continue working here and applying to jobs until I actually secure a new job, this has not worked for me during the past 6 months. I don’t have the time to aggressively follow up on every job I apply for when I’m stuck working 9-5 every day. Not only that, but this job sucks the life out of me and I don’t even have the ENERGY to think about jobs when I get home from work. I know that this job is the core of my unhappiness, and if I want to change things and improve my life, I need to cut it out. I need to quit.
So what now? Well, I gave my two weeks notice at work and my last day here will be the 19th. After that, I will be starting my new life as a free and happy woman. I have enough money saved that I could go about 1.5yrs living as I currently do without any income. Of course I’m not going to let that happen though; in fact, I think that if I can’t find a new job after X months (X has yet to be determined), I’ll work/teach abroad for awhile. That way I’ll at least break even rather than continuing to blow through my savings.
But in the meantime, while I’m applying to jobs I’ll also be working on bolstering my portfolio. I have plenty of knowledge, but need to start applying it more. I need to gain more experience in user-centered design before any company will hire me. Thus, I’m going to look at taking on some projects this summer that let me focus on the design process, where I can practice creating wireframes, storyboards, sitemaps, and the like for websites I intend to build. Thusfar I’ve only done this for my personal website. I’ve also been mulling over an idea for a new website that has the potential to provide value for lots of people, so I may use this as one of my design projects.
And while I’m at it, I’m going to figure out how to take the next step with my other passion, photography. I think that I’m going to start shooting events for people (parties, shows, special occasions, etc), but I’ll need to advertise and market myself, which is not exactly my specialty. Also, I’m going to RELAX this summer and explore more of NYC, hopefully by bike (if I can find one I like!).
Designing, photographing, and exploring - this has the makings of a great summer ahead! I’ll finally be able to get back on track with my life now that I’ve escaped the dead-end job. I’m going to do all the things I love and get better at them and hopefully start crafting myself a new career path. I’m going to continue to learn more about myself and cut out anything in my life that is keeping me from being the person I am meant to be. I know that all of this will take time (and money), but it’s going to be worth it.
I feel alive again, and I can’t even properly explain how amazing that feels :)
