Career Change

as shared with AllBright’s Reignite Programme

I first shared my up-skilling story at an online ‘INSPIRE’ event for the 50 learners on the 2023 Google x AllBright Reignite programme (where I was later to become Course Mentor). The group was working their way through the same Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Google professional certificate that I had completed in late 2022.

At the event I spoke with Ella Vize, then Head of Academy at AllBright. This article captures what I shared.

Tell us about yourself and your up-skilling journey.

My professional background is within creative, marketing and project management; working for corporates, charities, and with entrepreneurs and creative founders. I’d been part of companies’ marketing functions before – both in client services and managing creative teams – so after a career hiatus and lots of soul-searching I had decided that I wanted to go back into marketing. This seemed like a good route without having to completely start again. But this time I wanted to be a practitioner. Once I’d made my decision and started taking action, one thing after another opened up.

Woman plans her route on a climbing wall.

You had a break in your career prior to undertaking the Google certificate course, can you tell us a bit about your personal experience and career break.

My career break wasn’t exactly by choice. I didn’t decide to go travelling or anything like that. ‘Life’ happened. In mid-2021, just as it seemed we were coming out of the Pandemic, with things opening up and life getting back to normal: both my parents caught Covid. My mum wasn’t as bad but my dad became very very ill. There were multiple complications which meant he had five separate periods in hospital. At the time he was also my Mum’s main helper as she had struggled increasingly with her mobility over the preceding few years. It was definitely a crisis: I shelved any plans I had for my career and turned to looking after my parents. In the end it took about a year for them to get back on track and rehabilitate which I was closely involved in. Now they have a good set up and are doing well.

I realised afterwards that these kind of experiences aren’t divorced from our professional lives. Whether it’s caring for our elderly parents, raising children, or navigating personal challenges; we’re made, as people, ‘in the trenches’ of daily life. It forms character, it forms the ability to fully take responsibility and it forms leadership. Even that phrase we have: ‘taking time out of work to…. [fill in the blank]’ is an inaccuracy. We are far more integrated than that. So the experience you gain in your ‘off’ seasons contributes to your ‘on’ seasons in terms of professional work, and vice versa. It’s all experience – work is work, whether it’s professional (and paid), or not.

How did you come to find the Google certificate course?

I first came across Google Professional Certificates at a jobs fair. At first glance it looked great but I wasn’t sure there was anything for me specifically. After making my decision to return to marketing I looked again at the courses on offer and to my amazement they’d added Digital Marketing and E-Commerce. It was a no-brainer – exactly what I was looking for at the right time. I had the chance to revisit first principles and to up-skill in things I’d never done before. The Google Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing and E-Commerce enabled me to do both – I completed the course in November 2022.

During the course I learnt so much. The self-paced format meant I could fit it around my schedule and do more whenever I had the chance. I was hungry to get on with it. I was learning a huge amount and reinforcing some really important professional foundations. There were parts where I had more innate knowledge and ability, and parts that were completely new. There were things I loved and breezed through, and areas that were more challenging. Ironically mastering the more difficult sections has served me particularly well. For example the metrics and analytics module was the most intense to get through but now I have it I use this almost on a daily basis and it’s really enjoyable.

I loved hearing the stories of Google professionals – I was so encouraged by the different paths they had taken. So many career trajectories are non-linear and it was both fascinating and encouraging for me to realise that many of those featured, who had found their way into Digital Marketing had done so via a really unusual and interesting route. No one story was typical. I also really enjoyed the energy and encouragement of the trainers. In addition to what I was learning and practising, at that point in my life I really needed a ‘Hype Man’ or ‘Hype Woman’ and they certainly delivered. I started to feel more excited about the future and about the possibilities this would create. It has helped me rebuild my career and get my confidence back.

Indoor female climber decides which route to take similar to upskilling or making a career change.

What has your career journey been like pre and post completing your Google certificate course?

Before upskilling I was definitely faltering a bit in my career. Even before the Pandemic (which was something in itself to navigate) I’d already lost a bit of direction. I’d had some big successes but I’d also had some major professional setbacks. And I’d tried a couple of avenues since which weren’t getting any ‘traction’. So my confidence had been battered. I was burnt out and beginning to wonder if this was it?

Also, I still hadn’t found a way to reconcile the two different parts of my skillset – being analytical on the one hand and creative on the other. Most of all I needed to acknowledge my creative side which I’d mostly put on the back burner in favour of more ‘sensible’ jobs. The Pandemic presented the opportunity to explore my creativity. And up-skilling in digital marketing has brought everything together. It has united my analytical and creative skillsets which has been one of the biggest game changers.

The course has been integral to my career journey since. I quickly got on with setting up a freelance business which has been a great way to test out my new-found skills. I designed my own website – which has opened up opportunities to do it for other people. I launched as a freelance Digital Marketer and Writer at the beginning of 2023. I started earning immediately; I found clients through my network and have continued working and gaining further experience. It’s been great to have this set of skills which enable me to help solve people’s problems. I’ve had some really interesting clients and projects and been able to incorporate other skills such as my coaching, project management and consultancy. Nothing is wasted.

Has completing the course boosted your confidence in your career and or skills & knowledge?

Yes. It absolutely has. I’ve gained a really holistic sense of confidence. It’s a confidence in my skills and knowledge which only continues to grow the more I do the work. It’s a confidence in my ability to learn and bounce back – there’s a proven sense of resilience there.

A game changer for me was adopting a growth mindset. Rather than feeling stuck I began seeking out more learning opportunities. I realised that one of the most important abilities I had was the ability to learn. This makes me excited for the future and how my career would develop from here – never stop learning.

I also began to shake off some of the negative messaging I’d taken on from the experiences and setbacks I’d had. Rather than believing I was a failure – I was able to reframe this: perhaps things had failed for good reason, and I could use them as a signpost towards new opportunities. I was able to repurpose negative feedback I’d received in a way that meant I could determine what I took on board: only accepting things that would actually be helpful for my growth, and leaving the rest.

Along the way too I learnt that it was important for me not to give myself away and rely on others for validation and approval. Instead I needed this from myself, and from people I really trusted – who I knew had my back. It felt like an important shift in terms of how I built a sense of confidence. I’ve gained a great deal of self-belief and self-confidence in being able to navigate challenging situations, find a way through and come out the other side. I now know I can trust myself to handle whatever comes my way.

That’s the question Alice asked the Cheshire Cat in Wonderland. And it’s the same question I’ve been asking myself over the last few months. Where should I go? The Cat’s reply to Alice was, “It depends on where you want to end up”. And it’s the same answer I’m getting – which has in fact become my true question; Where do I want to end up?.

A drawing of the Cheshire Cat in a tree from Alice in Wonderland

I’ve always dreamed of doing work I love full time. By work I love I mean something that makes the best use of my favourite skills, that feels valuable, that I lose myself in, and that has meaning and purpose. Don’t we all? I’ve had jobs that have allowed me to do some of the things I love, and I’ve worked on projects that I’ve really enjoyed. But mostly, my day to day work has felt increasingly like drudgery, an endless list of tasks that need to be carried out as quickly and as efficiently as possible, a type of work that ultimately drains me and is mismatched with the core of who I am. It wasn’t that I was bad at it, in fact I was good enough, but it became clear that I would never be brilliant at it.

This is not the first time I’ve been here. Quite a few years ago I took the step of applying to do an art foundation. I’d already done a degree, but I longed to discover more about my creative side. It was a decision based on the logic that if I didn’t do it now, I’d still be wanting to do it in ten years’ time. I walked in off the street, got an interview at the college the following week and was offered a place on the spot with no portfolio to speak of. I absolutely loved it and finished with a distinction, but at times I experienced an almost crippling fear – fear of failing but also fear of being brilliant. What would happen to my world if I could actually shine at something?

Do any of us actually ‘get there’ and find that life? I think many people can and do. I certainly want to. To that end I’ve embarked on a quest to change my career and find work I love. It’s been a journey in itself even to begin, to regain a sense of value and empowerment. This blog is part of that beginning. In fact it’s one of my action points from the first of four career change workshops I’m attending at the Escape School (run by the brilliant Escape the City). There are so many people who grow up with expectations put on them that amount to jumping through a series of hoops – school, university, corporate job etc etc… a treadmill. So many of us live with unrealised dreams, and potential that we have progressively denied and squashed. As Seth Godin wrote in Tribes: We need you to lead us, ““Life’s too short” is repeated often enough to be a cliché, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless, it’s painful. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”

There comes a point when you can no longer deny who you are, and you owe it to yourself to at least try to realise that person, and to allow yourself the full expression of your unique set of gifts and abilities. Anaïs Nin puts it so aptly, ‘And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom’. Here’s to blossoming.

Alex Noel

Writer and Digital Marketer

Where Should I Go?

as shared with AllBright’s Reignite Programme

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