What does it mean to start over?

This is probably my first time opening my heart here on LinkedIn and I must say I was inspired by the beautiful semi-work-related personal stories my connections have been sharing here.

My career journey hasn't been easy. Albeit think it's successful from a distance. But the amount of learning and unlearning I've had to do over the years has been immensely overwhelming!

This is just a glimpse of a few of the times I've had to start over.

???? ??I did two degrees which were not in sectors where I ended up working.

?Although I've worked in the energy industry throughout my career, it wasn't all in one sector. I've worked in Solar PV, Capacity Market & Transformers. But I even started my own tech company during one of those phases!

????My roles in my careers have varied as well, working in business development, research, training, marketing, energy policy, analysis, programming, etc.

??And to make it even harder, I worked in 4 different countries; Jordan, UAE, Kuwait & the U.K.

How did that go?

? Each one of these phases has been successful

? I managed to link what I learned from each stage to the ones after it. In addition to the skills and knowledge, you acquire new ways of thinking & analysis, skills to deal with short-term challenges but plan for strategic opportunities, and most importantly you learn how to manage your own (and sometimes others') resources; where and when to put your time and effort, when to mention a piece of information and when to remain quiet

? Working with people from diverse backgrounds, specialities and seniority levels has had a great impact on how I approach people and communicate with people in a language they understand and are interested in

? I could always apply success stories from one sector to another. It's amazing how much you can transfer across sectors of different maturity levels

? What you learn from education like programming or sustainable responsibility or from volunteering like public speaking or event management becomes surprisingly helpful in the most unexpected times!

But that has equally been so hard in ways not many people notice or can comprehend:

? English is not my mother tongue. My brain still does math in Arabic! Although many would commend my English, deep inside, there's always a fear of someone saying a word you don't know the meaning of.

? The biggest loss of all of these transitions is losing your professional capital. The networks and connections you've spent a lot of time getting to know and the partnerships you've built over the years. All of that suddenly becomes irrelevant and that's scary because you have to start all over again.

? Losing your social capital is another big one. You lose the friendships you've built in school or at work. But if you move to a new country, you even lose all your social capital and support system including family and friends. And I had to go through that many times in the past and I can tell you it's not pleasant and it made me cry numerous times! Having been born in a society where social capital is everything; everyone is helpful, generous courteous, and caring (even with strangers), this one hit hard!

? Losing all your references. And no, I don't mean it in the resume terminology. But as we go, we build a huge reservoir of cultural references that make it easy for us to connect with others. That being technical terms, jokes, political understanding, geographical, historical and even TV & musical references, the list is long. It's extra hard when you move to a new country and cannot relate to what your colleagues are talking about or them not relating to issues that matter to you.

? Losing all of the above makes it hard for people to hire you or appreciate you in the first place. You could end up in the wrong job, or on the wrong pay or simply be categorised to fit a certain stereotype. Because it's near impossible to show your full self and the vastness of what you've been exposed to or learned over the years in a job interview or even during work hours when your main focus is finishing the work. All of a sudden, your degree might become irrelevant because the person you're dealing with did not hear of that university. Or the fact that you sat at tables with world leaders means nothing because you talked about irrelevant topics or even worse you can't even tell a joke because what if you say the wrong thing or offend someone...

But I am all that you know about me and much more... I have layers and layers of hidden culture, language, history, humour, values and traits that you might never get to see. It becomes even hard for me to connect with all parts of my own personality when my surroundings cannot see them or appreciate them...

If you're dealing with someone who's moved quite a bit and has done a lot in their life, please remember that it's not just exciting and cool, it's mostly challenging and lonely. If you have had to move across sectors or cities or countries, I feel your pain. It often goes unnoticed and very rarely even gets talked about but I'm here to listen and help if I can! It would mean a lot if some of you reach out to let me know it's not just me...