When researching a potential career path, it can feel as if there are just two options—do what you love or do what pays well. But don’t be fooled. There is actually a third option, one that we often overlook or disregarded due to its difficulty: doing something that might not align with your current passions but will pay off in other ways down the road.
In this guide, you’ll learn about the temporary trade-offs and the long-term benefits of taking on a potentially less satisfying career path for now.
I’m going to show you how the first few years in a new industry or role can feel daunting (or even downright miserable) if you’re not well-prepared, but how, in the long run, making this transition can actually pay off by giving you greater career satisfaction and freedom down the road.
I’ll also show you how to avoid repeating my own mistake of trying to force a square peg into a round hole when considering a drastic career change , and why it’s important to go for the “slightly uncomfortable” option when this happens.
What I didn’t realize during my transition from a youth sports reporter to a corporate business writer was that, although I felt a lot of happiness in my new job and was more successful in my career, I wasn’t necessarily more fulfilled as an individual. Credit: Flickr/Adam Tinworth As I analyzed it months later, it became clear that what made my career transition so difficult wasn’t just the change itself—it was how unprepared I was for the disconnect between how the industry treated writers and how I viewed myself as a writer.
It was only after I decided to try a job as a business writer that I discovered the true source of my unhappiness: the fact that I wasn’t really a “business writer” at all.
When I first started in the corporate world, it was so easy for me to slip into thinking of myself as a business writer because that’s what other people saw me as. But when the time came to decide on my five-year plan, it didn’t take long for me to realize this view of self went against everything I knew about myself as a writer. In the end, my identity crisis was the result of a unique and unfortunate confluence of events. I’ll explain how this came to be, but first I want to talk about what made me so unhappy in my corporate job.
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When I first started in the corporate world, it was so easy for me to slip into thinking of myself as a business writer because that’s what other people saw me as.
But when the time came to decide on my five-year plan, it didn’t take long for me to realize this view of self went against everything I knew about myself as a writer.
In the end, my identity crisis was the result of a unique and unfortunate confluence of events. I’ll explain how this came to be, but first I want to talk about what made me so unhappy in my corporate job.
The Truth About “Business Writer”
I know you probably think that being a “business writer” sounds pretty glamorous—and hey, who wouldn’t? You get to write all day in a nice office environment with free coffee and fresh fruit. You have a newfound respect for your boss and your colleagues (after all, they are professionals!)—and hey, you even get paid to work! What could go wrong? Plenty.
Here’s what I discovered during my career transition: Being a “business writer” (sometimes referred to as a corporate communications, public relations or office manager) is often misunderstood by most business people and treated as their second-tier writer. And even if you have a college degree, many employers won’t consider you for this position.
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What I decided to do was turn down the opportunities that came through my old professional network and instead pay my dues—and learn new skills—as an editorial assistant. Yes, being an editorial assistant might not sound very glamorous—or even very exciting. But it was the best career choice I could have made without making drastic changes to my resume.
Getting a Job As An Editorial Assistant
I began my new position as an editorial assistant on a magazine that published articles on health, parenting and other topics about two years after I graduated from college. While this job was not exactly glamorous—it involved searching for and reading through articles for errors, copying down and organizing interviews and quotes, and feeding the hungry monster of our computerized system—it taught me a lot about myself. Most importantly, it helped me understand how important editing skills are at any professional level.
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From an editor’s standpoint, I saw that the writing team was made up of editors (who focused on rewriting the articles to make them better) and writers (who focused on coming up with new articles). I realized that if I wanted to be a writer and not just a business writer, it would be important for me to understand both sides of the process. Plus, being an editorial assistant also gave me an inside look at how difficult it is for individual writers to succeed—even in today’s digital age.
I realized that if I wanted to be a writer and not just a business writer, it would be important for me to understand both sides of the process.
So, I decided to try an entry-level position as a magazine editorial assistant that focused on writing and editing skills. I had always known that I wanted to be a “good” writer (whatever that meant—maybe even Hemingway!?) but this was the first time in my career where these two completely different sides of the writing industry were calling me in two very different ways. On one hand, there was this world of “business writers” where the focus seemed to be on quantity over quality or results. On the other, there was this world of “good” writing, where I was able to see the difference between decent and great.
The biggest problem with being a magazine editorial assistant is that it doesn’t exactly lead to a career in which you can hope to become a business writer—or even a writer at all. With this line of work, even if you are talented, you probably won’t be able to make much more than $30k per year. I knew this because I read it online and it made me realize that my next job would probably have to be something different if I wanted to make more money and move up in the corporate world.
Conclusion: An Identity Crisis
In the end, my identity crisis was the result of a unique and unfortunate confluence of events. I’ll explain how this came to be, but first I want to talk about what made me so unhappy in my corporate job.
The Truth About “Business Writer”
I know you probably think that being a “business writer” sounds pretty glamorous—and hey, who wouldn’t? You get to write all day in a nice office environment with free coffee and fresh fruit. You have a newfound respect for your boss and your colleagues (after all, they are professionals!)—and hey, you even get paid to work! What could go wrong? Plenty.