Focus on creating momentum
My senior year of college, I had an idea to move to Sydney, Australia and start my career abroad. I didn’t know anyone in Sydney but was convinced that I had to follow my gut and move alone halfway around the world to chase my dream.
I put a lot of heart into trying to make it happen. I spent more than a year emailing companies, networking online and even offering to work for free. It felt like a lot of people were saying “no” to me and some of my messages went unanswered.
While many wanted to watch me succeed, I also found people who wanted to hold me back.
I clearly recall turning bright red with embarrassment in front of more than 200 people when a “motivational” career expert told me it was unrealistic to land a job abroad without visiting to interview first. That was demotivating.
I became scared to tell people that I wanted to move to Australia. I was worried that I would fail and everyone would find out. I wanted to share my successes, but I wasn’t ready to own up to my shortcomings. Then I had a realization. If I wanted to make this dream happen, I had to be in all the way or not at all.
The path to my goal would work itself out so long as I focused on creating momentum.
I kept photos of Australia plastered across my wall at home to inspire me each day. I started telling my story as often as I could. I was relentless in networking online with like-minded people and companies in Sydney. It was amazing the connections it created through all of it. People wanted to help me.
A few weeks before graduation, I got a job offer at 3:30am. I responded to a tweet from someone I had followed in Sydney and two phone calls later I was en route to my dream city. I’ll never forget that moment. I broke down and cried. I’m not an overly emotional person, but it was an incredible feeling. My hard work and passion had paid off.
Three weeks later, I moved to Sydney and began my new life. Now I work for one of Australia’s top 10 fastest growing technology companies. It’s been more than a year, and I still feel blessed to be here.
Don’t let fear and other people stand in the way of the career you want. There are opportunities waiting for those who are willing to hustle and think big.
Hannah DeMilta is a Social Media Specialist at leading digital agency, Switched on Media, working with clients such as IBM, Westfield Australia and Canon Australia.
She is passionate about people and communities online and offline. Hannah is also the curator of the Sydney Fetch – a fortnightly guide to “what’s on” across business, digital and creative. She blogs about her life as an expat, social media trends and her 30 Day Challenges and she continues to explore Sydney.
