How were you feeling about your career, prior to the course?

I'd been unhappy at work for a while. 

I was operating at a level of anxiety and stress.

It was one of those things where you don't fully realise how unhappy you are and where your mentality is about work until you're not in it.

Why did you choose to sign up for the Launch Pad?

When I decided to leave my job, I made a mistake that so many people make. 

I had all sorts of LinkedIn job alerts coming at me at for similar roles. I was having conversations with people that I knew, but most of them were working in the industry and in the function that I knew and was used to.

I started to feel overwhelmed that there really wasn't anything out there for me. 

I realised I didn't know how to figure out what I wanted to do next. So I did the workshop, and afterwards asked myself if I could realistically move forward with my shift on my own, or is this something that I'm going to try to do on my own and then not really do it completely? 

That's when I considered the Launch Pad. It was exciting to see something that had a roadmap. They had helped so many people, everyone in the organisation I engaged with throughout the whole process knew what they were talking about and have shifted themselves.

What about the course most helped you make your shift?

There is so much that that comes with being with a group of people that are going through the same thing. 

They understand those moments of uncertainty, they understand those moments of fear. They understand when you're thinking about jumping right back into where you were before, why maybe you don't want to do that.

You get a whole network of people, whether it's the community of othe Launch Pad participants, the coaches, other people that you've met as part of the courses. People that you never even really thought you would meet or know. 

And it opens up so many doors.

How have things changed for you since making the shift? 

It's been really neat because everyone around me, family, friends, former colleagues, they all say “you're kind of a different person now. Having a conversation with you, having a cocktail with you, calling you for support is a totally different experience than than it used to be.”

I have an editor that I've worked with for years, and he's even commented that “it's a very different experience working with you now than it was a couple of years ago. You've gotten more confident as a writer.”

I think this happiness I have now, doing something that I know is what I want to do, has translated into multiple areas of my life. 

I definitely operate at a far lower level of stress. I felt like I was always kind of on edge before, and I didn't realize I had been kind of on edge for for a really long time.

Thank goodness I found Careershifters, because I would probably have either dove back into a version of what I was doing before, or stayed paralysed by all the LinkedIn job alerts that never felt right. 

You can find full details about the course on our dedicated Launch Pad page.