How a Long Period of Illness Led Me from Amazon to Revolut

"Sometimes, it takes a pause in life to rewrite the script of our story."

In this month’s edition, I want to reflect on a recent career change and the reasons behind this decision.

I have been working at Amazon for 4.5 years. When I started, I knew nothing about recruitment, interviews, or résumés.

I started as a recruitment coordinator and later became a recruiter. During this time, I discovered the joy of getting people jobs and helping them achieve their career goals.

I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to learn alongside smart people. It’s also thanks to my experience at Amazon, that I discovered career coaching!

However, in April 2023 I had a surgery to remove my cyst pilonidal. I didn’t know it back then, but I will have to stay away from work for almost 4 months.

A cyst pilonidal is located on the tailbone, the surgeons leave the wound open so it can close naturally. Mine had a few complications which is why it lasted this long.

4 months without being able to work, work out or hang out with friends. I was basically in a lockdown.?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time, a lockdown lasted for around 1 month in most countries.

It was a very difficult time for me, and I don’t know how I would have gone through it without the support of the wonderful people around me. ?

I had a lot of time to reflect on various aspects of my life.

?“Am I on the right path?” “Am I really happy?” “Is recruitment still for me?” “Should I focus only on career coaching?”

That’s a sample of the kind of thoughts I was going through.

After months of questioning and reflection, I came to the conclusion:

I still want to work in recruitment as I still enjoy it and it helps me become a better career coach. I don’t want to fully commit to my career coaching business yet as it feels too early for me. I want to have it as a side hustle for now. However…., I need to quit my job at Amazon.

I wasn’t learning anymore in my role; my compensation was below my colleagues and mainly below the market and there were no more development opportunities in sight for me.?

I wasn’t feeling excited anymore about returning to work.

So, I started looking for a job somewhere else.

I wasn’t sure what company or industry to work for next, but I was open to proposition.

I landed interviews at Tesla, Accenture and 2 business schools. But it didn’t feel aligned with my current career goals.

Until I received a message from a sourcer at Revolut, interested in my profile, I thought “Mmh not sure about this one”.

I was not fully convinced because I had heard mixed feedback on this company.

But I decided to give it a try, good thing I did!

I discovered the inspiring company culture and mission, I had interviews with smart, super-driven people, I learned how well they recognise their employees for their great work, and a few weeks later I received my offer letter.

It was around the same time that I was finally able to go back to work and a couple of weeks later, my contract with Amazon ended.

Two weeks ago, was my first day at Revolut and it has been quite a ride already! Discovering new things and learning a lot every day, again!

It was the right decision for me, the fresh start I needed.

Reflecting on the past few months, I realised that we often wait too long before making important decisions.

If I didn’t have this long time of sick leave, to think about things in general maybe I wouldn’t have made the necessary adjustments and probably I would still be waiting for something to happen.

I now take the time to do weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reflections.

“Is it still serving me?” “Is it still aligned with who I am and who I want to become?” “Am I still learning?”

I encourage you to give it a try and take the time to pause and reflect on your career. “Are you where you want to be? What would it take for you to get there?”

Feel free to join the discussion to share some ideas or thoughts on it. Don’t hesitate to send me a message if you want to talk about it with me.

If you are still here, thank you so much for giving me some of your precious time to read. I hope you gained something out of it.

Next month, we will dive deeper into the process of reflection and the benefit it can have on your goals.

Thank you,

Damien