I Did Not Achieve My Career Goals in 2021, Instead, I Did This…
Hello Fire Starter ️🔥
2021 was a year that meant different things for different people, for some, it was the year they slowly got back up from a huge job or business loss. I’ve decided that moving forward, I’ll review my year, with a core focus on my career journey.
Like everyone else, I was pumped up, and I set goals for myself, feeling that this was the year my career would fly; I had 3 major work-related goals. I wanted to;
- Be an Associate-level consultant, with a track record of proven results that improve the bottom line of the company
- Get My Product Management International Certification
- Lead the BookQuest Team to Build Our First Product
Here is how the year started, and what I learnt from not hitting any of these goals
Beginning the Year with Gusto;
At the beginning of 2021, I was working for BROOT Consulting as an innovation Analyst. I enjoyed the thrill, the energy & the discipline that came with infusing excellence in creativity. At the back of my head, I often wondered if this sector was for me, I wanted to work in a core tech field. The one thing keeping me tied down was the design thinking Sprints we carried out. I loved it!
At some point, in quarter 1, I began thinking about what I really wanted to focus on & these 3 stuck out
- Product Management
- Growth Marketing
- Product Consulting
when I was laid off on February 9th, there! I had some time to dig up the research for these job roles. Instead, I focused on applying for jobs on every product job I could find,
Goal 3: Lead the BookQuest Team to Build Our First Product
While job hunting, I also led a group of young people to launch a website for a bookselling platform. Every week, we meet online, distribute tasks, perform them, then return to report back on this.
We were a completely remote team. I could see why managers are unsure of remote work. We could have everyone present in one meeting, & the next meeting, half of the team would be absent.
It was tough because I was not only managing the product, I was managing people. It was one of the most challenging things I’ve done. we made progress, but we moved slowly due to the circumstances we experienced. we lost teammates every now & then and had to restructure the team, onboard new teammates & update them on our design process, all again.
I began to question some core leadership decisions I was making
- what should my criteria for choosing team members for BookQuest
- How will I address & measure the input of every member of the team
- How do I reward team effort while Bootstrapping
- Finally, what was the criteria for hiring and firing teammates
I found myself faced with people issues when all I wanted to do was build. Most of my effort was spent checking on mates, encouraging them, when they wanted to give up.
When team members actually did give up, I had to talk to them, I was always careful to not impose myself or my own belief of BookQuest our company unto them. If they did not want to commit to it anymore, the best thing was to let them go, like a mother lets her child. Sometimes this letting goes, meant I had to let go of their friendships too. This helped me know what I really wanted
Even if it was the wild wild world of the West out there, I wanted to build with people who absolutely believe in the vision of BookQuest. Convincing team members & convincing customers too was too much a thing to do
Getting a New Job;
In March, I received two job offers, a 6 months Product management Gig for a Freight Management Startup & a Customer Service Staff for a cryptocurrency platform
I really wanted to manage a new product, but I was not interested or passionate about the Freight Industry or Automobiles. There was no way I could talk about it with as much intensity as I could Books or technology
On the Other Hand, Customer Service was not a role I’ll jump to but Cryptocurrency was a space I found interesting. In my head, customer support wasn’t a role where decisions were made, it was where users are pacified, but actual changes were happening with the developers and product managers. Still, after a few conversations with people I trusted, I decided to take the job.
Goal 1: Starting From the Scratch
I began work as a customer support agent for a crypto platform in march 2021. After a year of working remotely, working in an office space with over 20 people all under the same roof;
I had little knowledge of cryptocurrency and the blockchain sector Since I had to answer customer queries on my job. I need to learn about cryptocurrency, which began my journey to the crypto world.
From March to August, I was on full throttle, learning and practising what I learnt. I found myself more drawn to the development of crypto technologies and the blockchain, and I even wrote a couple of stuff about it which you can read about here.
There was still a bit of restlessness in me. while working and learning on this job, I was beginning to understand the kind of work I like to immerse myself in
- Loved working on Big Audacious Goals
- Enjoyed working on solutions with real impacts on the lives of young people
- I was interested in emerging technologies
- and finally, I thrived in translating ideas into creative contents concepts
The more I worked the more I was dissatisfied with the monotonicity of customer support, I longed for something more challenging.
There were many chances to give up and venture into a new job. what I didn’t see was the opportunity to also thrive in a new role in this same organization. Soon I moved on to a new role and in 3 months, I was leading a department…
My year was coming to a close, so far the dream to product manage or product consulting. Instead, people still reached to me for my creative skills; writing, video scripting, content strategy. I found out all the activities I did was leaning towards that in the crypto space
Goal 2: Get My Product Management International Certification
In August, I began a 4-month product management Nanodegree. I set out to finish it in 3 months. Product Management Udacity Program was more intensive and demanding than I thought. It was divided into 4 sections, product strategy, design, development, and launch.
After watching the videos in Design, I would take them online I would then carry out the projects at the end of each session. Little did I know that I was slowing myself down by getting feedback on my assignments.
Throughout the course, I was sent back multiple times to redo my projects. 3 months, slowly dragged into 4 months, and by December I was still not done with my course.
I began to panic because it was already past the proposed time for the course closure. I reached out to Udacity several times, requesting additional time to complete my projects
On the 5th of December 2021, I completed my Nano degree. It was the hardest thing I had stuck through within the year. Working on Echo opened me up to the beauty of the music industry, it was fun designing a solution & meeting people whose lives it could change.
When I look back at the goals I had for my Career at the start of the year, it was completely different from what I wanted, but it wasn’t bad. I wished I had a million bucks or lead my startup team to our first funding instead here are my little wins;
- Dismantling my startup team to build from the ground up
- Venturing into a new industry, & developing content in that space
- Learning new skills on Ads, & Video Scripting
- Helping 300+ people start their crypto Journey
- Facilitating the sales of 100 Books through BookQuest
- Learning to work with over 30 colleagues
- Completing a Nano Degree course
- Product Consulting with a team of smart people for a Fintech App
The People That Made This Work
All these were possible because I had people who were the “wind” in my sale, they gave me a safe landing any time I fell or set out with an audacious goal in no direction. I’d Like to thank Sharon Ikechi for advising me every time I had to make a career decision, my sister, Chidinma Onukogu, for speaking for me in rooms I was not present, & my partner for helping me stay strong on days I should have given up
My cousin DC and friend Ralu, shared more job opportunities than I could apply for, and pushed me to apply for higher roles and request better offers. I’m so grateful for that.
The management at Elatech, have not only been passionate about learning. but have cut out time, and paid for training programs for their staff. This has been so valuable in helping us get to where we are. I’d like to thank Mr Great, especially for being the best teacher we could have asked for.
My colleagues are some of the smartest & most ingenious people I met this year, work would have been so boring without them.
In 2022, I have no idea where my career would lead me to. 2021 has taught me the importance of flexibility & being open to changes. I intend to stick to my work values, (the bullet points I stated above) these will help keep things in view.
In the coming year, I look forward to learning more about #web3, #decentralization, #blockchain & all the possibilities in that space for startups. I’m excited about what the year holds for me. who knows, maybe I’ll even build a smart contract, I’m looking forward to contributing in this space
P.S: I’m big on seeking helps to accomplish goals faster, so here are a couple of helpful things
- share info & insights with me on Twitter @wild_flauwer
- give or get books to grow BookQuest
- Invest in my career development through books
- refer me or share this to anyone who needs to see this
If you’ve made it this far, Atta Boy ( I could call you a real fire starter now). I’d love to hear what you think and what your plans for the new year are. Have a productive year ahead
#productivity #careertrajectory #careerswitching #careersincrypto #contentstrategy
