Path to a Career Change (PART 1)

When you dedicate seven years of your life to a profession and at the end, you realise that you didn’t even like the job. 

If you are like me or anything close to that I’m here to share my journey with you. A career change: from civil engineering to digital marketing…

My name is Hande Serin and I’m 26 years old and as you figured out, I have wasted seven years of my life in a field which I really have zero interest in. But let me explain how everything started so that maybe this article might be helpful for someone who is going through the similar stages of their lives or maybe for people who’s planning to study in civil engineering. 

In September 2013, I was enrolled at Middle East Technical University (METU) and my department was Civil Engineering. When I was studying for the university exam, I always wanted to be a part of METU because what I hear and know back then about the college was its prestige, vision and most importantly, its education.

For those who don't know, METU is an internationally well-known university which was founded in 1956 in Ankara, Turkey. One of the oldest establishments and you can say that it is the Stanford or MIT of Turkey. Fun fact, it was the first institution which has the internet in Turkey.

Having a METU degree could lead you the way studying/working abroad which was my plan since high-school. Also, the campus was in my hometown so everything was ready for me to study in METU. 

First Half of the College, Meeting with the Department

At first, like every beginning, it was great. Honeymoon period. Being in the beautiful campus and living, breathing that atmosphere, I remember I was saying that I made the right choice. I was very proud of myself to be a part of the METU community. 

During the first year, after the English preparation year, I was taking the courses (calculus, physics, chemistry etc.) with other engineering departments. Every course that I took was on track until the second year which was more about the civil engineering department.

Domino effect started when I failed a course in second year’s first semester. It was an essential course (yes, it was static, you guessed it right) that prerequisite to almost all of my classes throughout the college. Of course, back then I was telling myself that it was just a course failure or loss of distraction. But I know now, it was one of the signals about which I have no interest in this area.