Career Reinvention Spotlight Series
Inspiring Success Stories & Expert Advice for a Bold Leap
Making a career change can feel daunting, but countless people have taken the leap and found success on the other side. Whether driven by a desire for more meaningful work, a need for fresh challenges, or simply the courage to follow a long-standing passion, these individuals have redefined their professional paths. In this series, we’ll explore inspiring stories of people who embraced the unknown, overcome their fears, and transitioned into new careers. Their journeys show that, with the right mindset and determination you can secure the work that truly fulfills you.
Emma Shimmens - Teacher to People Ops, via Digital Marketing
Emma is People Ops Generalist at Yembo and Chief People Officer at Career Fox. Once more, this was not what Emma had in mind when she began her career as a science teacher! Emma had always loved education, but quickly learned that teaching was not a good fit as she found it too bureaucratic and too driven towards regulatory compliance. She was very unhappy in her role and resigned with no job to go to.
Emma’s partner worked in digital marketing and she was attracted to the flexibility of the role. Despite this being long before Covid, he was already hybrid working and Emma felt that this was a “better way of living”. To apply for digital marketing jobs after having mainly teaching experience, Emma honed in on her most transferable skills and redesigned her resume so that it was skills-based, rather than a chronological history of her work experience to date. Emma highlighted the transferable skills that were most relevant to the roles she was applying for, for example showcasing that her science-based degree demonstrated an understanding of statistics, data analysis, and numerical literacy. Her teaching experience, on the other hand, was a testament to her presentation and interpersonal skills.
“To apply for digital marketing jobs after having mainly teaching experience, Emma honed in on her most transferable skills and redesigned her resume so that it was skills-based, rather than a chronological history of her work experience to date.”
Emma worked at a digital marketing agency in London for a few years and then secured her first remote role for a small edtech company as a Marketing and Community Ambassador. From there Emma moved to be an Admissions Representative for an online training provider. During her time there, she worked her way up to become the head of the Growth team, while simultaneously expressing her interest in People Ops, after being intrigued and impressed by the work of the VP of People Ops. Personally, Emma is fascinated by people and wants to understand their strengths, passions and motivations. “People Ops seemed like an opportunity to intersect that curiosity within business”. Through her leadership role, she was already involved in recruitment, performance reviews, and employee engagement surveys, and her interest and potential were recognized by the VP of People Ops who then offered Emma a position on the People Ops team.
Having thoroughly enjoyed her varied work in this organization, the company was restructured and Emma took voluntary redundancy rather than an alternative role outside of People Ops. Emma had begun work at a startup but before long that same VP of People Ops had an opening on her team at her new company, Yembo. Emma moved across and is now very happy with her chosen career path.
Emma has a few tips for anybody contemplating a career change. She mentioned that, at the interview, always be prepared for the question as to why you are making a change and have your answer ready. “Not everybody’s career path has to be so linear.” A more varied background can round a candidate out, making you more interesting and employable! Be aware that an ATS system may reject you based on that non linear career path however, so you’ll need to use keywords tactically.
“Be a good colleague and a good person. Don’t burn your bridges and leave your last company in chaos”
Emma believes that it is incredibly important to build relationships at work, even outside of your immediate team or area of specialty. You never know what will happen! Make yourself known to other people and “Be a good colleague and a good person. Don’t burn your bridges and leave your last company in chaos”. She recommended that you reach out both internally and externally, follow high-profile people in your industry and specialism, take professional qualifications and go to events for the company, industry, or organization that you’re interested in. In line with that, manage your LinkedIn profile carefully and don’t be afraid to reach out to your contacts and ask for recommendations.
One key piece of advice that Emma advocates for is to be flexible and open-minded. You may have to take a step back in pay or hierarchy, to end up stepping forward in your career but your earnings will recover! You don’t have to resign first to try something new either. You can take on work at weekends and evenings, or even in a part-time capacity to see if you really do like it. It’s the fear of change that is the most paralyzing and advice given to Emma that she still holds true is to think of the move you are contemplating in terms of, “It could make things the same, better or worse, and two out of three of those options are not worse”! Also, remember your old form of work is still out there in most cases and you can still go back to it. “If you work for forty years in total, what’s the harm in spending one or two years on something else. The goal is to have a happy life”. Emma now enjoys her job so much that, “it doesn’t really feel like a job.”
Common Themes
There are several common themes across our interviewees' approaches to their career change. The most instructive and insightful of those themes are summarized here:
Be open to change - Many people will contemplate changing careers, but will hesitate due to fear of uncertainty, financial constraints, or settling for what they have. The openness to change is one of the things that separates those that have successfully achieved a career change and those still contemplating it. Tune into and follow your curiosity, passions and interests and take the opportunities that allow you to further them. All of our interviewees talked of the likelihood that the type of job you are in now will still be available if your move doesn’t work out. Exploration into a new area will be a small blip in a long career if it doesn’t work out, but it could also be the start of a more fulfilling career (and life!).
Build the stepping stones - The transitions that our interviewees have made were not made overnight. Each role was a stepping stone towards their career goals. For example, Emma’s move to Head of Growth was a move towards HR and People Ops focused work. Brian’s move to the more technical implementation side of software sales was a step towards professional sales. Chris moved out of government and into the commercial sector as a stepping stone towards running his own business. Sometimes these moves are by design and are strategic, and sometimes they happen more organically. Either way, you can clearly see how they shaped their routes to their desired outcomes.
Leverage your networks and professional relationships - All of our subjects talked about the people and professionals who changed the trajectory of their careers. For Chris, it was the confidant who advised him to “bet on himself.” A solid reputation amongst his network resulted in real business opportunities and contracts for services when he went out by himself. For Emma, it was the leader that saw her potential and took a chance on her, giving her an opportunity to transition into People Ops. For Brian it was his original manager at Computer Associates. He was the first professional sales person Brian had worked for and his transformational mentorship paved a way forward for a career in sales.
Put the work in - As with most things in life, a career change can not be successfully accomplished without putting in the hard work. To earn a professional network that you can count on requires relationship building, confidence, professionalism and integrity. To be given the opportunity to try new things also requires trust, credibility and respect. These are all hard won through time, effort and talent. Our interviewees achieved their own breakthroughs with hard work and dedication, and putting good work in even in roles they knew weren’t their forever roles.
Successful career changes often stem from a combination of self-reflection, proactive networking, hard work and flexibility. Our interviewees have not only taken advantage of opportunities but have also sought out challenging and stretching experiences to further their careers. They have persevered, believed in themselves and had the courage to step out of their comfort zone and open themselves up for growth in a new and fulfilling career path. What’s more, I’m pretty sure they are not done yet! Learning is a lifelong process, after all.