This month’s invitation is from James Serra. He had a great idea for a topic, talking about the risks we have taken in our careers.

I really like this month’s topic. I’m a firm believer that you learn from your failures. Taking chances is how you end up with some of those failures. Personally, I’ve taken several Career risks. I’ve worked for over 10 different companies in my 20-year career. It means I’ve had a wide range of experiences and insights into how things work in different companies.  

One specific story I can think of.

I was working at a company for about 6 years. The company actually went through a merger, so I technically worked for 1 company for 3 years and then the merged company for 3 more years.  I had seen a lot of change and knew it was time to move on because of the changes going through the company. 

A former coworker and friend reached out to me about a great Architecture position. Working with a group to change the company’s technology and its direction. The company was pretty large and had been around for 10+ years. It appeared like a really good opportunity and something that was exciting to work on. When I got into the position, I realized we had an extremely large hill to climb. If you have ever tried to come in from the outside and change a large, slow-moving organization with a lot of long-standing technology, you know how hard this is.  

Just about 4 months into the new position, I was approached by another former coworker to join a startup. This had only about 100 employees, and while it was doing well financially, it was clear that working for such a small company would be a gamble. It was also a new technology that I had not worked with. I would have to learn new things and work with a very small group, and be concerned about how much money we had. I had joined a similar company years before and was laid off after about 3 years. This was a risky move, going from a large, well-known company with a good salary to a startup. Something that had impacted me in the past.  

The risk was well worth it since it was one of the best companies I’ve worked for. It was a great, fast-paced time that allowed me to learn many new things and work with a great group of people. My ultimate decision really did come down to the people that I was going to work with. Knowing the people and what they had done in the past gave me the confidence to take the risk. 

Taking risks is important in your life and your career as you move forward. You can help mitigate those risks by having a strong community, network, and mentors around you to support these decisions.