Can you build a new career path in one year?

The Migrant Vote platform is 1 year old. It is a perfect time to reflect on the last year to share learnings about changing a path mid-career.

Can you build a new career path in one year? Especially when you are unsure where that path should lead you. It is exactly one year and one month since I posted my very first Migrant Vote article. It is a perfect time to reflect on the last thirteen months to search for some learnings.

My post-Obama Scholar transition wasn’t easy. I returned from New York with no job to go back to. I couch-surfed for nearly six months and I lost count of how many interviews I went through. I failed some of the interviews due to my poor performance. There were interviews where I performed great but came as a second choice. There were also interviews where my career choices were interrogated. One interviewer asked me directly if I did not regret taking a career break and accepting the scholarship. I could not decide whether that question confessed his jealousy of me grabbing a life opportunity or sadness that he never followed his true goals.  

After those experiences, I quit job searching. Instead, I’ve decided to take the time to experiment with my life. I started freelancing and kept running the Migrant Vote platform. I set an intention for this time, and I chose it to be 'courage' to pursue opportunities and try out anything that comes my way. I decided that I'll see this time as exploration rather than stagnation.

Having a foundation of previous experience and a network of people I know I speak from a place of privilege.

The benefit of changing a career path is access to spaces and resources that may not be available to those who are only starting their work life. The challenge is however that you are judged through the lenses of your past career path and achievements.

I always considered my job to have a strong element of creativity. Even before I started using writing as a tool for activism and campaigning. I spoke numerous times with my brother about the creative process, especially about sharing your work with the public. My brother who is an artist said that the moment you publish your work is the moment your confidence drops down. The process is done. Your published work is your final work. You can’t change it. The only thing you can do is to take in the feedback and do better.

Reading back the introductory Migrant Vote article I feel the insecurities I had about going public with a dream of writing for a living. I am still full of doubts each time I publish a new Migrant Vote article or podcast.

A few months after launching my newsletter I was talking to my friend about confidence. She is an artist too. We talked about ways to build confidence to publish our work. I told her that I feel very self-conscious about my writing, so I keep publishing to get rid of that feeling of insecurity. She was surprised saying that I come across as having confidence in my work.

It’s a matter of commitment, not confidence. Commitment to work towards a goal.

The Migrant Vote platform wasn’t always my priority, but it was the most consistent element of my life throughout the last thirteen months. I published 13 articles and 3 podcast episodes. The platform has now over 200 subscribers in 27 countries, and my read-through rate is 56%. I don’t know how those numbers compare to other newsletters and podcasts. I am not measuring my progress by comparing myself to others but by comparing my current self to my old self. My old self one year ago had zero published articles and zero subscribers.

What I am taking note of is how people respond to my writing and podcasting. The article on how to protect migrant storytellers from exploitation generated the most engaged responses. It is also my most popular article having gained 580 reads, meaning my subscribers shared it with their networks. Messages from readers who found that article transformative reached me through multiple channels. Most excitingly, the article inspired a documentary maker to reflect on their work methods. They also want to use this text in the documentary they are making about a refugee woman.

I received moving comments from parents who said the article about my mum’s voting lessons motivated them to bring their children to a voting station. The article on expertise touched many migrants and refugee leaders who felt seen for their experiences and they felt compelled to tell me about that. The year-old article on EU migrant voting rights was revived for the June 2024 EU elections.

The Migrant Vote platform also opened a path for me to be recognised as an expert on migrant political participation. I have been invited to contribute to conferences and workshops.

I still don’t know exactly where I am heading. I am wondering about exploring prospects. That wandering around resulted in two op. eds., including one in the Irish Times. A few other unexpected opportunities come my way. I hope they will come to fruition, and I will be able to share them with you soon.

If I were to give you one advice for building a new career path it would be to limit the number of people who have access to you and your self-worth.

Keep building your network, it will benefit you in ways you may not expect. However, do not accept feedback from people unless they know you well or they are actively working to help you succeed.

A few months back I accepted a part-time role in my old workplace. It is at a lower level than the position I held before. I received unsolicited feedback from people who considered that a career step back. What a lot of people don’t realise is that it’s not about titles but actual progress. The new role allows me to focus on gaining knowledge and building skills in the topic of my interests, without being distracted by additional tasks and duties. Unsolicited feedback, or feedback from people who do not understand your work style and goals will only drag you down.

The 1st anniversary of launching the Migrant Vote platform fell in the middle of counting votes in Ireland's local and European elections. I had no time to celebrate. On that day I was sitting in the studio of Irish national radio discussing the results of the Irish election and migrant engagement in electoral processes.

Not all who wander are lost, sometimes you can find yourself in unexpected but wonderfully exciting places. Happy ‘new career path’ anniversary to me!