Did you pivot toward a new career you’re more passionate about? What was the hardest part? Was it rewarding, ultimately?

As someone who, likewise, taught himself how to design and build websites, I unfortunately listened too closely to high school counsellors. If you did anything w/ computers they said "Get this boy into Engineering!" 1 year into college, I withdrew from my CS course & eked a cumulative 1.6. I wasn't an engineer. Several years of bouncing around programs finally triggered an epiphany—these people have no idea what to do with you, but you do!

I dropped out of college & just started working. It's been 14 years since I started designing sites, and I've had to earn every job, prove every time that I can do what I say I can. I'm still shifting, growing, but I can't stop now. My career isn't defined by a degree; it's about making things work.

My first career was education, and I started out at a science museum. I had developed a passion for web design since college, but I thought I needed more experience before I could pursue web design professionally. When I found out that the program I was running would be cut, I knew it was time to focus on the web. This was the hard part: I quit the museum and worked at Target for the summer while I learned everything I could about the web. Later that fall, I landed my first job at a small agency as a web developer. Five years and an HCI degree later I was working at the largest agency in London as a UX designer. Twelve years and several jobs later I'm a product designer in SF, and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

The more I think about it, I realize I've pivoted more than just getting away from a degree in programming. When I dropped out of college, I was ~25 hours from a BA, but my real world experience sold me as a web developer. I'd start out as a web monkey, then end up as the designer as well. I was pigeonholed in my hometown, where it seemed like the only web design work was "do it all" design. I lucked out and found a startup in Seattle that agreed to move me, and I spent a while there focused on UI—no code. How liberating!

Even now, at Amazon, I find myself pivoting more into the guts of UX—patterns, flows, boxes and arrows—and while that seems like a small shift, it aligns with what I find fulfilling.

I pivoted away from a career I was passionate about (broadcasting) toward another career I was passionate about (web design and content management).

I actually loved working as a television news producer, but it became clear by the late 90s, with the rise of internet news sites, that local news was probably going to be unrecognizable sooner rather than later. I was wrong about that--it is still somewhat recognizable--but I was fortunate to be a young worker at a time that you could work on websites without a degree for it. I was smitten with computers going back to the mid-80s and I had taken several CIS classes in college, so my TV station bosses were more than happy to let me work on their website. A new passion was born.

I think that if you haven't "pivoted" at some point in your career, you're missing out on lessons you can learn from working in diametrically different fields.

I started out with an undergrad in Biology, published a paper, graduated, started a fashion company, taught undergrad classes, and had one of those crucial nervous breakdowns that every entrepreneur should have. I eventually realized that I needed to merge left & right brain goodness and moved into the career that I'm currently focused on - Social Media/New Media Strategy and Film Production.

If you're thinking of pivoting in a big way - talk to people who are already in the field that you'd like to go into - this often clarifies direction (or at least gives a bit more insight).

After the usual career climb from code monkey to architect to engineering management, I took advantage of a good client relationship to jump from a tech consultancy to an ad agency. (There's the "hard part".) My initial job wasn't that different but led to responsibilities in areas I never would have touched in techland.

Then (in order to jump to Seattle like GB) I took a job with frog that again positioned me to grow in directions the last employer wouldn't have afforded. So thus I've managed geek > ad guy > business strategist.

Thanks to the illusion of a continuous self, thought, I feel like the same person who started.

I pivot all the time! I really think that generalists got a bad rap before the economy starting to go haywire, but now we really exist in an economic environment that needs each of its contributors to be multi-faceted and capable in different situations. There's more personal leapfrogging that happens when you stop climbing the single ladder and try bringing one set of skills to a new scenarios.

I started in the financial services industry 8 months after graduation.
This was a very exciting time, as I was now one with knowledge of "THE FINANCIAL MARKETS"..hahaha, great thought!

The more I learned (through work experience and personal endeavors) about this industry the more confused I became on where I belonged.

It was June 2010 when I took my life and dedicated it to building a social commerce company named Social Plaza.

One year later I had made every wrong turn and trusted the wrong people, and was left with a real sense of "starting over."

Two life changing takeaways - I wanted to be involved with a start-up and be closer to innovation.

I now work at a startup and live in Northern Cali. Hard, but great pivot.

and sorry about the general tumblr login...trying to post the link below :)
tumblr.com

I started my professional career as a graphic designer, in which I worked for some in-house design departments at large corporations as well as some advertising agencies. My latest job at an ad agency that had some large retail clients (who I shall not name) really burnt me out on the idea of doing print design. A combo of the extremely short deadlines that we were expected to deliver high quality work within, and the ungodly amount of hours we worked were not rewarding.

I decided that I really liked the idea of becoming a product designer. Working for a smaller start-up, the detailed pixel work and the rewarding feeling that you get from thousands of people using your product was very appealing to me.

Here in Italy unemployment among young people is 35%. I'm one oh those. I've studied and worked for few years in Marketing and Communication in very big and important company for the italian marketing, but it seems not enough. So, I'm thinking to improve my culinary skills and convert these energy in something new, but it's hard.

For about a decade, I was a journalist/writer and was doing pretty darn well too. About four years ago, I decided to pursue postgraduate study in the UK (having secured some funding, though I paid for this education mostly through my hard-earned savings) with the intention of making a mid-career switch to the academia -- except that the higher education sector has more graduates than openings. I'm still passionate about the humanities, and steadfastly believe that education must surely not be all about money. Despite grim prospects, I honestly can see myself doing little else.

I was sure I was going to law school when I started college. Unfortunately, 2008 happened, and the world realized they didn't need 5000 new lawyers jockeying for jobs that don't exist.

Now I'm working at a tech startup in San Francisco doing technical account management - analytics, data-crunching, and some programming along the way.

And honestly, I'm much happier for it. I've learned a ton, expanded my skill set, and have a great time with my co-workers.

I expect I'll pivot myself many more times in the future, and while it will probably be just as hard, I imagine it will be equally rewarding.

I was a technical recruiter for about 5 years before transitioning to a full-time copywriter and community manager for a start up in the financial sector.

Recruiting was never something that fulfilled me. I spent most of my nights and weekends during those years blogging about the new music industry at the now-defunct Creative Deconstruction. That led to a piece for the New York Times, as well as a decent portfolio, despite being a part-time commitment.

Earlier this year, a colleague of mine moved on to a new company and provided me with the connection I needed to take on my current role.

Writing and community building are my passions, and I count myself extremely blessed to be able to spend my days on these activities.