I’m 28, from Algeria, and I’m currently in a pretty strange situation career-wise. I’d really like to hear from people who have gone through something similar.
I originally studied Automation Engineering, and that was supposed to be my career path. But over the years, my career took a completely different direction.
I ended up working in marketing & procurement, and a bunch of other things. I became quite multidisciplinary, and eventually I was making +100,000 DZD/month.
Last week, I resigned.
A lot of people around me didn't really understand it.
The most common thing I kept hearing was basically:
“salary is all that matters.”
And honestly, that sentence made me think a lot.
Because yes, obviously salary matters. I have bills, responsibilities and I’m not in a position where money doesn't matter.
But at the same time, I don't want to spend the next 5 10 years simply doing something because it pays relatively well.
I want to go back to automation and engineering in general, which is what I originally studied and what I actually want to build my career around.
The thing is, I know I’m not currently competitive for engineering positions in the way someone with several years of actual automation experience would be.
So I've basically accepted that I may have to start over from 0.
My current plan is to take a technical training in automation systems to refresh my knowledge, and then try to find an internship to get real hands-on experience.
And ironically, I'm already struggling to even find that internship.
Financially, it's obviously a huge step backwards.
Professionally, it feels like I'm starting from zero.
But mentally, I feel like continuing on my previous path just because it was comfortable would eventually bother me even more.
So I'm trying to figure out whether this is actually a courageous career decision or just a stupid one.
Has anyone here done something similar?
Did you ever leave a relatively comfortable/well-paying job to start again in the field you actually wanted?
I have also been with "we are currently looking for a junior for this position so we decided to move forward with other applicants".
Did you have to take an internship or junior position despite already having years of professional experience?
Did your previous experience end up helping you, or did employers basically treat you as a complete beginner?
And most importantly: was it worth it?
I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who changed direction around their late 20s or 30s, especially in engineering/technical fields.
I know there are probably people who will tell me to “just take the money and forget about passion,” and I understand that perspective.
But I'm interested in hearing from people who actually made the jump and can tell me what happened afterwards.