Episode 65: Telling Your Story

Real Job Talk

Check out our new tagline!!! We’re evolving, and while we loved our water cooler, it’s been sitting dormant since March, 2020. Real Job Talk is the podcast for mid-career professionals looking for practical career guidance.

Today we’re talking about vulnerability and telling our stories, inspired by some training Liz has been doing. A great way to get to know someone and to hear how other people have found success is to ask “How did you get to where you are today?”

Many people believe that careers happen to people vs people managing their own careers. We’re here to dispel the myth of the career fairy and to find out how people have figure out where to take their career. How does someone with a marketing degree get to sales operations? What moves did they make?

Showing how others have helped us and how we want to help others can open us up to mentorships and making our own career journey real. Being appropriately vulnerable (read Dare to Lead if you want to learn more) helps us to reflect and help others learn from us.

If your company has ERGs (employee resource groups), JOIN THEM! You can learn from these other people and their stories - after all they'll have at least 2 things in common with you: the area/theme of the group as well as the fact you’re at the same company. ERGs are great places to meet mentors and role models and to learn your colleagues’ stories, to share yours, can to help you better understand and get ideas about your own career.

Sharing how you navigated something can help others -- both career stories and life stories -- and can build mutual respect and bonds. Showing how you got through a tough time shows your coping skills, problem solving, adaptivity, and resiliency.