Making the most of your Career

This is a collaborative post

I’ve been thinking a lot about this last few weeks about my career and how things have changed so much in the last two decades and where I am in my life. Building a career can be such a difficult decision. You head through school and speak to the career advisers where you’re pushed into choosing a lifelong goal. Tailoring your education to be a part of this dream yet knowing that this potentially may not happen. It took me a long time to realise where I wanted to be and now, at the grand age of 37 I am in a position where I can finally say that I have actually chosen a career path that I want to be on.

During school and college, my main focus was psychology but in truth, I hated it. I doubted myself and I didn’t see an end point. Moving into the travel industry was the best choice I made and when I packed up and headed overseas at the age of 21, I knew that this was were I was supposed to be. Changing job roles from an overseas adviser to flying for an incredible airline at Thomas Cook fulfilled my life for a further 11 years. During this time, I kept developing and pushing my skills. I continued in my education to gain a degree in Criminology and Psychology, proving to myself that I could balance work and study as well as proving to myself that Psychology really wasn’t my friend. I found out just how much I loved Criminology and the youth justice system and kept my eye on future opportunities in that field.

When life gets in the way, you are faced with the prospect of the unknown and when I had to make a decision to leave the cabin crew life due to the issues that I was having with my back, I was lead to a crossroad of which way to turn. Travel was in my heart but my head was pushing me to use my degree. However if I kept in travel, I could continue with further education and gain a few more diplomas to add to my score sheet.

Moving across to the company where I am now has ultimately been the best decision I made. I put the work in to prove myself and within 2 years I have changed team to work as a business travel account manager and have recently been promoted as as team leader. This change of role has really pushed my decision in looking into even more education and I have been looking at further degrees and courses on travel management so I can really sink my teeth into the role and push myself forward even more. There are so many courses available online that you can access whilst continuing in full time work to give you the extra skills that you need to be successful in your role.

I watched a few videos the other night on YouTube of celebrities before they were famous and it really struck a cord. Just look how an inconspicuous job could lead you to the heights of your success!