new career in England

I didn’t have a career calling. There wasn’t one job I’d always known I wanted, or a particular skill that pointed me towards it. I needed to pay my bills and have a decent life, and in my July 2021 account I explained how I had moved from a temporary administrative job into marketing.

The useful part of Adventures and Naps wasn’t only that I enjoyed it as a hobby. Making videos had involved writing, editing, running a website and learning how to do all sorts of things myself. When I started looking closely at those skills, I could see another direction to try.

The three-month job that kept going

Getting my first UK job had been tricky, with a lot of crying involved. Through a recruitment agency, I got a temporary role at a local college doing basic administration and data entry. I’d done administrative work at a private school in Canada, so I already had experience of that kind of work.

The position was supposed to last three months, but the college kept renewing it. After a year, they hired me directly as a permanent, full-time employee. I hadn’t been in a position to be picky about that first job, and the temporary role had given me a start.

Being paid mattered because I needed to cover my bills. Working in an office with some wonderful British people also helped me learn about life here. That wasn’t the main reason to have a job, but as a foreigner it was an important part of my experience.

Working, studying and making videos

Alongside the college job, I was studying human resources in the evenings and at weekends. I’d started those courses with a Canadian college before moving to England and continued through distance learning. HR wasn’t some great passion either, but I thought it could be useful if I kept working in an office or administrative role, even if I didn’t move into HR itself.

Adventures and Naps was still small, and I was doing that as well. There was a lot happening around the full-time job, but learning had become an important part of how I tried to find a direction. I also considered doing a degree through a UK institution, then decided the money I’d have to put into it wasn’t worth it for me.

I love making lists, so I made one of the hobbies and interests I had. Then I looked underneath each hobby at the skills I was gaining, and underneath those skills at the jobs that might use them. It wasn’t an overnight process. I spent time thinking about what I was actually doing in my spare time.

A different use for Adventures and Naps

The channel involved coming up with topics, keywords and video ideas, filming, editing and posting across different platforms. I was also running my website and writing its copy. That made me wonder about marketing or online content work, because I could show an employer what I’d taught myself to do.

I didn’t have a degree or official marketing experience, but I had built a channel and a brand while working full time and studying. That was what I wanted an employer to see. The HR subject wasn’t marketing, of course, but being able to keep learning while working was part of the case I made for myself.

The entry-level opening

I began applying for jobs every day, aiming for an entry-level marketing or content position with a small business. I kept the college job while I looked, and carried on studying and making videos. Eventually I found a marketing opening asking for somebody organised, willing to learn and able to take the work on without necessarily having formal qualifications.

Yes, please. I had an interview and got the job. In July 2021, I was still in that marketing position and still making Adventures and Naps videos, posting on Patreon and livestreaming on Twitch. It was busy, but I really enjoyed it.

I had emphasised the things I was learning and doing in my CV and cover letter, with a portfolio the employer could look at. In my case, showing that work had helped me change careers without UK qualifications in that field. It didn’t mean every career would work that way, but it explained how I’d got from the temp role to the position I was doing then.

Watch my original career-change account.