The 4 Things I Learned Upon Leaving My Career

Are you sitting at your desk, surfing the net for other job possibilities, refreshing your Instagram and seeing pictures of others enjoying their work, or counting down the minutes until it is time to clock out? Well, you are not alone as survey results from Hays Canada, a recruitment firm of about 2,500 employers and employees, states that nearly one-half (47%) of Canadian professionals are unhappy at their current job.

I definitely fell into that group of unhappy campers drudging away in the 9-5 rat race, chasing a pay cheque and that light at the end of the tunnel, which was the weekend. I refused to believe that I would have to be unhappy at my job and stay in it because this is what I went to school for, or because of the job security and benefits that it provided. I spent 4 years in university in a program I never enjoyed and 6 years in a job I never felt comfortable in.

Let me give you some background for context. I went to school for a Bachelor of Commerce Degree, double majoring in Accounting and Computer Science at the University of Windsor. I wasn’t exactly sure what career I wanted to pursue but chose a program I figured was the safest bet in landing a job straight out of university. Through successful co-ops, I landed a job straight out of the gate at a Big 4 accounting firm.

After about a year as an auditor, the excitement of the new job started to wane and I questioned what exactly I was doing at this company and what my professional goals were. During this time I was working on obtaining by CPA designation, which is mandatory at the big 4 firms and does offer a wealth of knowledge into the accounting world. I figured I should at least stay until I was promoted to senior associate and pass my exams before I made any moves, in order to have a solid foundation and resume.

After about 3 years this dream came to fruition and I was able to walk across the graduation stage to obtain my CPA designation. Next came the hard part. Do I stay in the job and work toward a promotion for manager, senior manager or partner? Or do I start to make my move as intended to a new adventure? Luckily, the audit partner of the firm was having lunches with all the CPA graduates individually in order to find out what their intentions were with the firm. Being a transparent and often bold person, I took this opportunity to be completely honest with my boss and told her I was extremely unhappy and did not like any aspect of my job, except maybe the social aspect, but you can’t get paid to just talk to people, I was an accountant not a talk show host. She suggested that I apply for a work visa in another country as this has been something I have talked about over the past 3 years. I always thought it would be an amazing experience and easy way to gain access into a country and stay longer than the country requirements. I was fortunate enough to have been on about a dozen trips up to this point and I wanted a different experience and what better way to do that then live in a country and become immersed in their culture. So I signed the forms and 6 months later I was in New Zealand doing the same job I was so ready to walk away from no questions asked.

I ended up spending 2 years in Auckland in a job I still hated but that’s how magical a place NZ is, but that’s another blog another post.

But finally after 6 years of auditing, in Canada and New Zealand, (3 co-ops, 5 years full time in total), I was ready to make my move and applied for Wildland Firefighting in November 2018 with the help of my best friend who’s been in it for a decade. These were the most painstaking months drenched in anticipation of getting the job and releasing me of these chains that tied me to a desk and deprived me of the great outdoors that I longed for. I constantly second guessed myself as this was a complete 180 change from what I was doing and I was also leaving a life I spent 2 years building behind, was I ready? Was it the right choice, was it the right time!? I resolutely made the decision to move forward as I was tired of hearing how much my coworkers disliked their job as well as reading too many articles of other corporate employees quitting their jobs to pursue their dreams. Finally, after filling out an application, flying home to Canada to do a fitness test, phone interview and many countless hours day dreaming about my new job, I had secured a position in Canada as part of the Helitack Crew for the Government of Alberta. I still vividly remember the day I got the email offer as I was at a client’s office and had to run out to my car so I could shout my excitement at the top of my lungs. I was shaking for a couple of hours after I got the news and my heart would not stop pounding. This was it, this was the first step to quitting my job and leaving the security net I had spent 6 years building for myself. On March 13, 2019, I dressed up in a suit, handed in my resignation letter and it was one of the happiest days of my life.

These are the top 4 lessons I learned throughout my journey of career-switching:

1. Invest in relationships.

Although I may not have liked my job, there have been some amazing people I have had the privilege of working with. These were the people that would brighten my day, break me away from the mundane or offer some advice that I would never forget. This may have been easier for me as I am an outgoing person but I highly recommend honing your interpersonal skills to create that trusting relationship with a coworker to help you through tough times. If I didn’t have my awesome managers in both Canada and New Zealand, I don’t know where I would have ended up. They were not only my superiors but they were individuals that I could call friends, confide in and go to for advice.

2. Do it yourself.

As much as I had a good support staff in my job there were still plenty of times information fell through the cracks and I was left in the dark, scrambling at the last minute to try and straighten things out. I almost did not get my CPA designation on time before leaving to New Zealand as I was not aware of a key piece of information that I thought would have been taken care of by the firm. Research, ask questions, and then do more research. There is a whole web-page dedicated to the CPA designation, call centre, and email service that I should have utilized from the start. Thankfully, I found support from my bosses who helped me receive the required paperwork in time.

3. Sometimes there isn’t a right answer and you just have to jump.

On the one hand, I constantly looked to others for approval that I was making the right choice of leaving a university degree, 6 years of full-time employment, salary, job progression, job security, and benefits to go and fight wildfires in the back-country of Alberta. On the other hand, I was leaving a job I never liked and wanted to progress in and was only in it because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I would be exploring a new profession that could be the right fit to match my personality and energy and I still had the education and accounting designation as a back-up plan. I would constantly go through the pros and cons of leaving and felt like I was going in circles. However, I was tired of hearing coworkers complain they hated their jobs, were bored, stressed, or seeing clients look miserable at their jobs as well that I decided it was my time as I wasn’t getting any younger.

4. Discard all expectations.

I have now entered my second seasonal job and nothing was what it seemed when I started. First, going into the Wildland Firefighting gig I had a friend who is a part of it and ultimately got me into it. I created many perceptions and expectations of the job based on what my friend told me. But when I started working, I realized we didn’t see things the same way and there were many of these things. With my second seasonal job I went in with basically a job title and little information about what I would be doing. I quickly started to realize this when friends and family would ask me questions and the best I could come up with is “I don’t know”. I relished in this as I wanted to see for myself what the job would be like instead of seeing it through someone else’s eyes and maybe being disappointed, scared or stressed out when it wasn’t exactly like what they said.

For me leaving my job was one of the happiest and easiest things I had to do because after 6 years, I was ready to get out and onto the next adventure. Travelling extensively in the last 6 years and conversing with travelers from many walks of life who were still making it work gave me the confidence to realise that I don’t need a high-paying corporate job to find happiness and security.

So if you’re contemplating leaving your job, my question is what are you waiting for? There is no time like the present, and you may even surprise yourself that your dream job is waiting for you out there!