I spent my undergraduate ensuring that I got relevant work experience, engaged with employer events and explored various career paths to make sure I ended up in the right career post-graduation — I loved my degree subject and wanted to find a job I was equally as passionate about.

Studying Education, the natural career path for me was teaching — I’d done a few projects on teacher stress and burnout and knew that many teachers drop out of the profession. This put doubts in my head about going into teaching, but I loved my work as a tutor so felt I owed it to myself to try teaching.

Through the summer, my niggles about teaching continued but I continued with the mindset ‘you don’t know until you try’.

After spending four months in teaching, I decided I couldn’t handle the dread of going back after the Christmas break — although I loved the children and I was performing well, I just couldn’t get over the feeling that teaching wasn’t right for me.

I completely understand how scary it can be when you think you’ve gone down the wrong career path, and you begin to fear that all your hard work during your degree has gone to waste. In this blog, I’ve identified the biggest takeaways from changing careers, and hope this will help anyone going through the same:

1. If it’s affecting your mental health, it’s not worth it — know when to get out!

No job is worth a negative effect on your mental health. If it’s having more of a negative effect than a positive one and you’re not thriving, then it’s not for you. If it’s right for you, you should feel passionate, driven and enthusiastic — life’s too short to settle for anything less!

2. Don’t feel ashamed

There’s nothing wrong with quitting if it’s not the right thing to do, and that takes courage. When I decided to quit, I worried that people would think I was a failure. But the actual response was the opposite — so many of my friends and family said they were proud of me for taking a leap and getting out of something that wasn’t for me!

3. Don’t be afraid to try something new

As we all know, the best way to learn is by doing. How will you know what you enjoy if you’ve never experienced it? Every experience will teach you about what you do or don’t want in a job and will help lead you closer to your ideal job! I’m not saying you should job hop, but let your experiences inform your likes and dislikes and you’ll be able to forge a career you enjoy and develop many transferable skills in the process.

4. There’s always support out there, don’t be afraid to reach out

I needed support to help me make my decision so I went back to the Careers Network for advice. There’s nothing wrong with taking a step backwards to be able to get yourself ahead again. To help me figure out what I wanted to do, I looked back at a time where I felt passionate about my work. I loved my work as a Student Ambassador at the University and channelled this to figure out what I wanted to do in the long-term. I’ve now begun a career in Higher Education and I feel content that my change has given me the resilience and tools for the future, however my career turns out.

This could be a lesson about not investing in a postgraduate qualification or committing to a career, but (other than the extra few thousands of pounds of student loan debt…) I don’t regret trying out teaching at all. This process taught me that if you’re going down the wrong route, it’s so important to know when to stop and reassess!