Alessandro Botticelli's “The Annunciation”—Madonna’s life is about to turn upside down as this angel tells her she’s pregnant with JHC. That is pretty much how I felt getting my first copywriting position.

The goal of this text.

I wasted my best years trying to become a good (or at least decent) lawyer.

Now I’m a writer — I started out as a copywriter and currently rolling UX/UI.

But the real question is, who are you? Do you want to quit your job and start writing, as I did years ago?

The goal of this text is to show you how I changed my occupation. I hope it will help you transition to a new sphere of life painlessly and gradually.

This text is a step-by-step guide. It’sexactly what I did to:

• Change my occupation after 6 years of fruitless struggle
• Become a paid writer without paying for any (copy)writing courses
• Get paid 10 times more at my new job as a UX/UI writer
• Move to another country and live a good life without FOMO

Who needs to read this?

People who are starting out in the big and mighty Kingdom of Text and Content Design. That involves any profession that has “writer” in it, including copywriters, content writers, UX/UI writers, and so on.

Anyone stuck in a miserable routine, afraid of big changes that affect their income.

Be wary that this article is not for the writers of fiction, as I’ve never written one and don’t know how to get paid for it.

With the introduction done, let’s get down to business.

1. So, you want to quit right f*cking now?

Don’t do it. Believe me, burning bridges, if it’s not with your toxic ex, is never good. Especially if your livelihood depends on it.

“Simply: if you can’t put your soul into something, give it up and leave that stuff to someone else.” — Nassim N. Taleb

My soul was never in the game of law. I simply wasn’t fit for it. The puny attempts to do anything without the supervision of senior colleagues resulted in mistakes. In my team, no one could rely on me. That’s how awful I was.

I wanted to quit SO BAD. I was conscious of the disastrous effect this job had on my soul, self-esteem, finances, and future.

I’m glad I didn’t quit my job before securing another position.

It took me nine months to find a new place. It was difficult to write test assignments and work full-time, but keeping the position was a matter of basic sustenance and survival.

Even if you have a partner or a parent who can support you, don’t quit your job until you find something else.

Being stuck on “permanent vacation” and keep getting refusals will kill your motivation and, in the end, your dream.

I’ve seen people who have been seeking their dream jobs for years. Years! They’ve stayed at home for too long to keep the motivation motor running.

Chances are, you are more likely to find your dream job while working at the shitty one than chilling and meditating at home.

Dreams need action to come true.

2. You will go through 300 refusals.

Good news: you will laugh at them years after, sipping on a Martini.

Recently I opened my profile on hh.ru—that’s a website for job hunting, similar to LinkedIn. On the website, you can see how many times you’ve applied for different vacancies and how many employers have declined.

The numbers were shocking: my CV and cover letter were declined 300 times before potential employers reached out to me.

Does that make me feel like a loser? Nope.

Trying your best doesn’t make you a loser. Never.

So, why so many refusals? Do I remember the names of the companies I applied to or the responsibilities for any of that copywriters’ jobs? Of course not.

There were 2 cheesy but necessary things I had to do:

1. I mass messaged everyone who had the word “-writer” stated in their open position. Even if the candidates were supposed to have 1–2 years of experience, I still applied.

2. I wrote a sincere and passionate cover letter that was vague enough to suit any position in writing. All I had to do was change the names of companies/positions.

My cover letter was pathetic if one wants achievements, but it was moving and filled with sincere enthusiasmfor words and content design.

“Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.” — Nassim N. Taleb

Because I mass messaged employers, I was given lots and lots of “test writing tasks” for positions with zero experience.

The funny thing is that my first portfolio had 15 texts… all of them were failed writing tasks.

So, what did 300 refusals teach me? By mass messaging employers, I:

1. Got used to refusals and overcame the fear of rejection
2. Acquired writing experience and learned how to research any topic fast
3. Used writing tasks to create and extend my portfolio

There’s 1 more thing I need to warn you about. You might not know this, but…

3. Companies are allowed to steal your ideas and NOT hire you.

Don’t repeat my mistake and get heartbroken.

I once wrote an Instagram post about steaks as a test task. The text was so good it made me want to buy Ribeye immediately, but I couldn’t afford it at the time.

I submitted the task, but the company never replied. Then, one day, I saw my text posted under a photo of a juicy steak.

I was furious.

Years after the incident, I learned that some companies use writing tasks as a base for their content. They post a position but don’t want to hire. They want to exploit your talent.

Things like that will happen. Blatantly stealing companies don’t last long anyway.

You will have to adapt: stealing ideas is not prohibited, and anything you submit can end up being used.

If they think you’re not a threat, the company can copy the whole text almost word by word and not feel guilty later.

4. Aim for something “in between” writing and your current job.

My parents pressured me into studying law. So, I was not only unhappy and unsuccessful at my job but also under great duress to meet someone’s expectations at the same time. If I failed as a lawyer, it would also mean that I failed as a daughter.

So I decided to change my job gradually. I quit law to write legal news. Even though I was fed up with the topic. It’s much easier to “shift” the focus from being a lawyer to writing about “lawyerly” things.

It’s a bit disappointing because your heart wants to break free from everything that connects you to the hateful job. But it will get you a:

• decent
• paying
• copywriting

job faster. And will give you the necessary experience in the new field.

I quit legal news after 6 months and got hired by a bigger company as a real copywriter—and that was the real goal.

Searching for a writer's job in the field of your diploma can serve 2 purposes:

1. Employers won’t be so hesitant to hire you, even though you have 0 experience. Just don’t tell them you hate your education and that you got intimidated into it by your parents.
2. You won’t struggle with research. You will soon learn that readers love straight facts, insider knowledge, and a sense of humor. You can be a bad lawyer, but 6 years of studying are useful for explaining complex stuff in simpler words.

Shift focus. Don’t burn bridges. And don’t fight with your colleagues. It’s good to have lawyer friends when you’re successful.

5. For non-natives: English jobs are best-payed but tricky to get.

Only Elizabeth II had perfect English; bless her soul in heaven.

The first job I got when I switched to copywriting was in my native language—russian. As a Ukrainian, I refuse to write russia/russian with capital letters, but that’s another story for another article).

The native language job was great. Also, it was underpaid. Soon I understood that if I wanted a European salary, I had to compete with English copywriters. Scary? Nerve-racking.

For my non-native peeps who are Advanced in English, I suggest the following course of action:

1. If you’re just starting out as a writer, it’s a safer bet to find a job in your native tongue. This way, the language struggle won’t distract you from learning the basic principles of copywriting.
2. Train your English to the point where you can compete with the native speakers of the international market.

On native speakers:

Sometimes employers prefer native speakers to non-natives, and it’s fine. I’ve met plenty of native speakers that suck in copywriting and UX/UI writing. Some of them even admit it.

Food for thought for native speakers:

Being a native doesn’t automatically make you a good copywriter. If you think young scrappy and hungry immigrants can’t possibly learn to write in English better than you, you’ll have to think again soon.

6. You’re not going to be the best at the job you love.

Getting paid for doing the stuff you love makes you feel almighty. But the thing is, you are not going to be the best writer around. Better accept it now.

Critique? Comments? Opinions on your text? And there are other copywriters who get fewer comments, and their texts are accepted on the first try?

You will encounter the blind spot effect. You will think that your writing is perfect and that your clients/editors are in the wrong.

The blind spot effect is a cognitive distortion that prevents us from noticing our own mistakes. It’s wildly widespread in writing.

In 2001, psychologists at Stanford University conducted an experiment. They printed a questionnaire with different kinds of thinking errors and asked the students to rate their propensity for each of them.

The participants considered themselves more objective (not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts) than not only their classmates but also all average Americans. Thus, the test showed that most people consider themselves less prone to thinking errors than others.

The best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and, even better, the mistakes of other copywriters.

It might be a little bit disappointing, but accept that you have a lot to learn. Even if you love words will all your heart, you’re not going to be the next Ernest Hemingway of marketing right from the start.

Hope this article gave you a hint of what you need to do to painlessly and gradually quit your job for a better one. In short:

1. Don’t quit until you secure another position
2. Don’t be afraid to mass message companies
3. Write a good but universal cover letter
4. Learn to accept refusals
5. Fill your portfolio with test writing tasks
6. Be wary of idea-stealing companies
7. Know that finding a job that’s in the field of your diploma is easier
8. Switch to writing in English if you’re a non-native speaker
9. Get used to not being the best writer and learn, learn, learn