How I Reset My Career from Supply Chain to Islamic Finance

We’ve all been there.

You start your career with passion and excitement, but somewhere along the way, you lose the spark.

You feel stuck, unfulfilled, or bored.

You want to change, but you’re afraid of the unknown.

What if you fail? What if you regret it? What if you can’t go back?

But what if you don’t change?

What if you miss out on your true calling, your potential, or your happiness?

The truth is, a career reset is not as risky as you think.

It’s possible to pivot to a new path without sacrificing everything you’ve worked for.

It’s possible to find your passion and purpose without losing your income and security.

It’s possible to learn new skills and grow without starting from scratch.

How do I know?

Because I’ve done it myself.

I went from a clueless graduate to a supply chain enthusiast to a total shift to Islamic finance and landed a job in an international organization at a relatively young age.

And I did it with emotion, passion, and reason.

I’m not saying it was easy, but it was worth it.

And I want to share with you how I did it.

In this blog post, I’ll share with you my personal story of how I reset my career from supply chain to Islamic finance.

Ready to reset your career? Let’s get started.

How I Discovered My Passion for Islamic Finance

It all started with a spark. All you need is a bit of spark and a bit of motivation and guidance from someone. This someone can be anyone: a friend, a family member, or a total stranger you never meet.

When I was finishing my graduation (BBA and MBA in Banking), I didn’t have any career plan. The only thing I knew was that I wouldn’t apply or join any bank (pretty weird for a banking graduate, right?).

And oh boy, the amount of insult and bullying I faced was unimaginable. However, I was at least sticking to one plan.

I had a curiosity for programming, but at that point in time, I realized it was too late to switch. So I shifted my interest to supply chain or the idea was whatever came to my plate. Luckily, I got my first job at freight forwarding which at least I can claim as part of the supply chain.

I was enjoying it; the work pressure wasn’t that high, no micromanagement, and I was kind of solo. It was a dream job with an okay salary. After some time, it got boring.

I was thinking: am I really using my skill and ability here properly? Am I getting too comfortable?

This scared the shit out of me.

I was in confusion.

I got the taste of money and was scared of letting go of my “upgraded” lifestyle. Then I got interested in studying abroad, especially in Germany. And I was delaying sitting for my IELTS exam because of the comfortable job.

So one day, I just said: enough is enough.

I resigned and within three days, I sat for the IELTS. It came out good (7.5 within three days of preparation; something I can brag about).

Then I started to apply cluelessly to German universities while spending a boatload of money that I saved.

And guess what?

It was failing miserably.

So I was unemployed for quite some time (eight months) and oh boy, that time was something.

Then I got another job in supply chain and it was also boring.

Then came the spark.

My mom one day was asking me to calculate zakat for her. And I was a bit clueless. So I tried to find some good videos that exposed me to Islamic finance.

I got to know it, some people around it, and the education about it.

It sparked my interest for two reasons:

• first, as a Muslim, it aligns with my belief;
• second, how come as a banking graduate and Muslim, I don’t know about this field?

Some research on the field showed me there might be some future potential in this. However, I was still hesitant to take the step and apply for a higher education.

After some time, I said: what will happen? It’s just 20 dollars.

So I applied and literally forgot about it.

I was still pushing for Germany and meeting some alumni from Germany.

How the Spark Became the Action

So I met a strange brother through a friend who studied in Germany. By that time, I had already been rejected from all the German universities due to my wrong subject choices.

My only offer letter at that point in time was from INCEIF Malaysia with a scholarship.

But I was hesitant to take the risk.

So that brother randomly visited me at my office the day I got the offer (the beauty of what is destined for you).

I think I have asked almost 10 people and everyone said it wasn’t a good idea.

This brother said: if you have the passion, just go. You don’t know what the future holds. Maybe it will change everything or worst case, you come back and start fresh.

It literally triggered me and I immediately resigned without thinking. Because the more I would think, the more all the worst scenarios would come to mind.

And the rest is history.

Maybe I will divide this into some episodes so that you can learn more.

So stay tuned, follow me here and let the story continue.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of his affiliations and are for informational purposes only.