"Hey there, it's me...I'm the problem, it's me."
I never thought I'd start a blog post with a quote from The Taylor Swift, but then again, I've made some crazier decisions in my life...
Like leaving my teaching career behind to pursue running my own business only to have the worst timing from an economic standpoint. That's a story for another time...luckily the business still exists, only the attention I can give it has shrunken smaller each month.
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If you're reading this, chances are, you've thought about trying something different in your professional life, maybe a side hustle like pet sitting, copywriting for a local business, or creating a course for how to write music arrangements.
But for those chosen few, maybe you're looking to leave something completely behind and go on a totally new path...if so, you've come to the right place.
See, I'm back.
I haven't touched my blog in almost two years but something hit me just a few weeks ago around the beginning of March 2024.
Since I left my career of teaching behind in 2021, I've been immersed in the world of Tech Sales and that's brought some amazing changes in my life.
It also meant that unlike before, I found myself in new networking circles on LinkedIn, a platform that I never truly used or ever considered when I was coming out of college.
LinkedIn was like, "old people Facebook for professionals". I'm an old soul, and that counts for something, right?
After all, I'm a "geriatric millennial" according to some NPR article ...I digress.
So, back to March of 2024.
I made a longer than usual post on my Facebook about a new company I was working for...
Full disclosure, I don't really talk about where I work so much on Facebook or even mention it in my "about me" section.
However, it's worth bringing this up because within the next 5-6 days after posting, I started getting messages and requests for phone calls.
This is a pretty natural phenomenon given the circle of friends/professionals I have worked with in the past as a teacher.
Something was different this time...
See, I've been a "Tech Sales Professional" for almost two years now, whatever that means. Naturally, I spend most of my day talking to strangers and convincing them that I have something to offer them that could improve their lives.
You might see where I'm going with this now...
Since making my Facebook post about switching to another company, I've had more people reach out than ever before and it got me thinking, "I need to blog and provide resources for these wonderfully talented people I know in my network."
Trust me, I would love to continue having 4 to 5 one-hour phone calls with individuals who have reached out to me but there's only so much time in a day.
So, follow along as I attempt to share my own personal experiences and demystify some common pitfalls when taking those anxiety-inducing next steps. Also, I'm not a professional career advisor, so please, use good judgement and seek support from a professional if this doesn't fit for you.
If you've made it this far, wow, thank you for sticking it out with me. I promise there will be more bite-sized nuggets to come in future posts.
Topics I plan on starting with:
Resume rewriting
Leveraging LinkedIn
Cold prospecting to people in roles that YOU want
Know your worth (what your personality tells you about fitting into the role you want)
Micro-testing role specific ideas/concepts to help you narrow job titles down
Marketing/Branding yourself
Business Acumen - translating your current skillset into business jargon to appease Corporate America - stonks.
Creative approaches to finding the right career path (open AI/ChatGPT will be covered *gasp - oh no! Our jobs!)
All this and plenty more...so follow along if you'd find this helpful or exciting.
JM
3/25/2024