From IT to Writing: A Journey of Career Change
Love what you do, do what you love. Does it have the same meaning or is it the ultimate paradox. An intelligent word play, I would suggest. But reading it on a motivational post was the last straw on this IT camel’s back, and prompted me to pursue my passion, writing.
Giving up a job in IT was not very easy. I had lot of convincing to do and most of it with myself. How do you give up a well paying, planned career and dump a company where you are being groomed to be the IT manager? Also, being untrained in writing didn’t help much. How would I fair against the guys who have studied this language for three years and might be exponentially better than me? A whirlwind of questions and no answers in sight.
No epiphany as such, but it gradually piled on. Working in IT, 3 months down the line, I realised, I was not enjoying it. Though coding is still very close to my heart, I couldn’t do it for a living. On the other hand, writing was my only savior, now and always. For ditching my career in IT, I had to convince my family too. Though I’ve always had the space to make my decisions, changing career tracks was a big decision and I took my time .
I started freelancing by taking up jobs from the internet, trying to figure out if I had what it takes to create content that sells. Undeterred by a negative start, I kept on going till I finally had some greens in my account. Fully assured about my writing skills now, I bid adieu to my IT job, and started hunting for something in writing.
At Spacebar, I feel like I’m finally home. After a long tiring journey, I’ve found the place I was always looking for. Writing for me has always been a form of expression which got subdued during my IT days. But now I’ve got my voice back and it feels great. Writing for Indian clients as well as foreign clients is very interesting, seeing the cultural and market differences and the varied needs. Creating content that so many people read and enjoy is a humbling experience. Wil.i.am’s lyrics best describe how I feel right now,
‘See I’ve been travelling, been traveling forever
But now that I’ve found a home
Feels like I’m in heaven’
The plan ahead is simple; continue writing till the point of saturation and then move on to a new journey. It might be digital marketing, because it’s a threesome of things closest to my heart content, marketing and IT. Or may be backpacking, touring and exploration would take up most of my time. Till then it’s a scribe’s life for me.
