Best Laid Plans: From Journalism to Recruitment

Growing up, we all have aspirations. Whether they are instilled in us through our parents, sporting or entertainment role models, wider popular culture, or some other form. It is human nature to chase an idea that we believe will make us happy in our adult life. When those plans go awry, however, dreams turn into the realisation that you need to displace feelings of disappointment in search of new ambitions.

Thirteen years old is a tender age to first experience this transition following the realisation that I wasn’t going to be able to make it as a professional footballer. I then focussed on a second passion, writing. Coupling that with my love for sport, Journalism seemed like a logical step. Throughout my school years, I undertook work experience opportunities and then following on from university, I went freelance at a time where the digital age was starting to hinder print sales. I was quickly caught in a second transition as the industry I believed I was joining was slowly ebbing away.

This is starting to sound like a sob story which it most certainly isn’t as I learnt so much from everyone I met along the way and developed into a published writer. The one thing about the sort of work I was doing was that I operated pretty much on my own. I missed being part of a team. I made the decision to move away from Journalism and found myself interested in Recruitment having spoken to various family members who were involved in the industry. This final transition (to date) has proved to be the best decision I ever made even though it did not fit in with my original plan.

I now get to work in a great team all moving forward together for the same target and when we are successful, we celebrate together, and when we don’t quite get the results we are looking for, we work out how to achieve success at the next opportunity. This teamwork and the challenge of an industry with many competitors has led me to find a place where I am as happy as I was playing football. I laugh as I think about the comparisons between then and now and although, my original plan did not work out, I quite simply think I swapped one pitch for another.