How I took advantage of the Great Resignation to work with global businesses
By Trianne Bamba
April 1, 2022
Just like any other millennial around the world, I was a part of the “Great Reshuffle” or as they commonly call it, “The Great Resignation”. I knew I wanted to do something more exciting in my career and take on new opportunities. After I quit my first job for good during the pandemic, it led me to re-examine where, how and why I work.
I must say that the Great Resignation has not been so bad after all, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise, well at least for me. That’s why I wanted to share my story and what tool helped me to reach my first career goal: working with global businesses.
The more I try different things, the more I learn about myself
Ever since I was in highschool, I’ve always imagined myself working in a fashion and lifestyle industry in New York as an Art Director, leading creative people and teams. I’ve always had that vision in my head until I reached college. But that changed because I didn’t know where to start back then. At the time I was looking for jobs, I saw several job postings that may help me lead to that career, but most of them required at least 5 years of working experience in that field or one must be a multimedia arts major. I was a Communication and Media Studies graduate, so I thought maybe path wasn’t for me to pursue. Instead, I went on looking for jobs that are more related to my educational background.
My first job was a Junior Digital Marketing Specialist in a startup Digital Marketing agency. I specialized in Lead Generation which involves a lot of ad creation, strategy, and communicating with the customers. I do the same thing every day, almost like a routine. At some point I felt stuck and trapped. One thing about digital marketing is it’s so fast paced. You have to keep up with the trends and algorithms. If you’re a digital marketer, you know that learning never ends.
However, digital marketing was such a broad field. It includes brand management, web content, social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), web analytics, and many more. My job at that time was limited to at least one to two areas of digital marketing, and deep inside, I knew that I wanted to explore more of it. From time to time, I offer some help to my colleagues who were assigned to SEO just so I have a little knowledge about it. I also enjoy graphic designing, but since we have a team assigned to do the materials for us, I sometimes volunteer to do mine instead.
I always wanted to learn new things. I was that type of person. And the more I expose myself to different “things”, the more I learn about myself: what I like and what I don’t like to do.
Figuring out my next career move
The beginning of the pandemic was definitely a game changer for me. With all of us stuck in our homes, picking up a new hobby or simply finding something to do kept us all sane.
One afternoon, while I was going through Netflix, looking for a new series to watch, I stumbled upon The Bold Type. It’s a Netflix series based on the lives of three best friends who are in their mid-twenties, trying to excel in their careers and at the same time making bold choices in their personal lives.
Every episode made me think about my personal and professional life. There were scenes where I even told myself that “That’s the life and job that I wanted!”. And that’s where all my self-reflection began. Right then and there, I knew this wasn’t the personal and professional life that I wanted. So I quit my job and started to find my path. Fast forward to today, I am happy to be working with brands from different countries. Although I still haven’t found my dream employer yet, identifying what I really want to do is definitely a start.
It may sound easy to just pack up and leave all your knowledge, skills, and experience behind, but it takes a lot of risk and courage for you to have the freedom and choice on what you want to do in your career. I know a lot of us are going through existential crisis nowadays, but it’s times like these when we need a personal strategy the most.
I’m sharing with you what I’ve learned from taking the Personal Strategy Assessment and how it guided me with making my “what’s next?” move. Here’s some lines I got from the results that may help you reflect on too!
The Personal Strategy result includes four sections: Your existing strategy, Strengths, Limitations and your Next Steps.
Your Existing Strategy
“You are not afraid to challenge the status quo, and you exhibit courage in being willing to transcend old structures and create opportunities, instead of simply going with the flow or trying to fit yourself into some box.”
Remember, it all starts in the who and why. Who you are as a person (both personal and professional) and why you chose that specific career path for you. It shouldn’t be hard to align your interests and desires with your career. After all, you embody your own job description. It is you who fills the role by utilizing your own interests, knowledge, and past experiences as a competitive advantage.
Strengths
“You easily cross industry boundaries and combine qualifications from several areas. This makes your professional background unique, and your edge sharpened for ground-breaking projects and experiments.”
We’re all multidimensional. But a lot of us don’t know how to make use of our hidden “talents” or potential. Tap into your talents and make a list of all your strengths and advantages. No rules needed, just write them down. Look up what is currently in demand at the job market and align it with an opportunity that matches with your strengths and talent.
There are helpful ways to unlock your potential which can be learned through the Personal Strategy Course.
Limitations
“While many you encounter may be impressed by your courage and openness to emerging opportunities, others may look at your resumé and think you are “all over the place,” or that you followed an ill-conceived educational path, because your degree fits with some aspects of your professional profile but not others. Or it might be perceived as totally irrelevant.”
It’s a struggle to not know whether taking the project or pursuing something is the next stepping stone for you. It’s also a struggle when you don’t know if you’re eligible for the career path that you want with your skills. So try focusing on the idea that your resume should tell a story. Your experiences should be part of your story, your strategy.
Taking on different projects or positions doesn’t mean that you have “commitment issues”. It’s a potential to build our professional core. Potential to grow and be challenged. Potential to craft your space.
Build your story in your resume instead of proving you’re the best at everything.
Next Steps
The value of your personal capital is in innovation and drive. Stay true to yourself to sustain this competitive advantage. Because you are mindful of broader contexts and open to a variety of people, you are good at thinking outside the box when it comes to relating to the market and its needs.
As a multidimensional, you are responsible for having a focus strategy to navigate your career and the capability of possessing a competitive edge in the industry. Don’t settle for mediocrity in your professional life. Take ownership of your core.
“It’s not just about getting another job, or leaving the workforce, it’s about taking control of your work and personal life, and making a big decision – resigning – to accomplish that.”
– Anthony Klotz, Organizational psychologist and professor at Texas A&M University
Trianne Bamba, Marketing Director of BE-EDGE / Freelance Social Media Manager from the Philippines