Succeed by letting go of your “dream career” – James’ story

Posted on 8 July 2026 • Disabled Veterans, Job search, Jobs, internships and work experience

“it kind of stopped my career… it’s like if you wanted to be a footballer but suddenly breaking your leg and not able to fulfil your dreams anymore…”

For OU student James, being a helicopter pilot was the dream job that he’d always been “dead set” on. But then, due to medical reasons, his flying career “stopped overnight”. James learned to understand that his career wasn’t over, and he had not failed. Discover why employers embrace applicants with a growth mindset in this recorded panel session.

Bounce back in three steps:

1. Acknowledge the loss

“Not being able to fly has been a real trauma that I’ve had to live with”

Losing a dream role can feel like a real loss – affecting your sense of purpose, identity, or routine. It’s OK to acknowledge that.

When you feel ready, consider what the role gave you emotionally. What did you value most from work? Impact, mastery, recognition, or lifestyle?

Tools like our Rate your current (or last) job activity, or reflecting on your values, can help you identify what matters most. Rather than replacing a specific job, focus on finding new ways to meet those needs. Often, there’s more than one path forward.

2. Translate the dream

Break your dream job down into components that you could find in other jobs:

• Skills you have or are building (e.g., communication, technical expertise, leadership) – see our Listing your work achievements and skills activity.
• Motivators (e.g., helping people, solving problems, creativity, living your values, finding fulfilment) – see our values-based recruitment panel recording.
• Environment (e.g., fast-paced, independent, collaborative) – see our Recognise your style of working activity.
• Identity (e.g., being seen as an expert, a creator, a helper).

3. Focus on what you actually enjoy

Be careful what you wish for. Focus on a broader range of career options with potential for you to do what actually makes you happy and motivates you, rather than fixating on a ‘dream job’ title which may not suit you in reality. Start by thinking about the work you’d like to do or exploring opportunities in your area with local labour market information.

Browse roles to find out what’s really out there on the OU Careers and Employability Services website or other vacancy sources. Consider:

• Adjacent roles: Stay close to your original field but in a different capacity or in a different commercial sector.
• Portfolio careers: Combine multiple roles to recreate different aspects of what you love doing.
• Re-skilling/up-skilling: Transfer your existing skills and gain new ones – you’re not starting from zero.

You can try different things or take incremental steps with work experience.