Dream Job Blog

I’ve hosted Thanksgiving at least a dozen times. In all honesty, it’s not my favorite holiday — mostly because I don’t love the traditional meal and don’t love to cook. Most years, I’d order the turkey dinner from Whole Foods so I could just reheat the bird and sides. Not once, not twice, but THREE times I cooked the giblets that were wrapped in plastic inside the bird. Thankfully, the plastic bag stayed intact, so the meal was saved.

Thanks to therapy, I have a lot more awareness of my mistake (especially a repeated one). I felt like I had to host — did it out of obligation and felt resentful that the responsibility laid on me. Did I have to host? Absolutely not. Looking back, I could’ve approached the holiday in a completely different way and/or set an intention that felt good to me (nothing to do with the actual dinner).

It’s baffling that we don’t learn how to start or build our careers given that most of us spend 30 – 50% of our lives working.

The Great Resignation has become a part of our everyday conversations. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, 47.8M workers quit their jobs, an average of ~4M each month — making 2021 the highest average on record. For reference, the year with the lowest monthly average was 2009, which averaged ~1.75M.

I’m currently watching “Julia” on HBO, which has been truly delightful — especially after the slew of intense shows focused on egotistical tech titans.

What I find most inspirational is Julia Child’s determination, resourcefulness, unwavering optimism and growth mindset. She published her first cookbook at 49 and started her tv show at 51. She truly embodies the belief that “It’s never too late to follow your dreams…”

It’s just about that time, where we reflect and take stock of the year. The good, bad and inevitable regrets — the dreaded would’ve, could’ve, should’ves.

One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting new people and learning what they love to do. Since they’re considering making a move, there’s usually a gap between where they’re at and what they want.

Last month one of our clients landed his dream job. Colin worked at a Fortune 100 tech company for 14 years. During the first 9 years, he had a progressive career — led key initiatives, delivered impressive results and was promoted every other year. However, the last 5 years were stagnant. Colin was given the projects that no one else wanted and weren’t material to the business. Over the last few years, he felt stuck, discouraged and resentful.

I just read Adam Grant’s latest book, Think Again — full of great research and fascinating anecdotes. There are too many takeaways for me to recount, but the biggest key learning for me is to remain open, curious and humble. When we do that, we allow ourselves to try new things — ones that often improve our lives.

I used to humble brag about the number of recruiters who reached out to me (yeah I was that guy). I pursued some, but most of them didn’t go very far because they weren’t interesting or a good fit for me.

For someone who’s taken many risks throughout my life, I don’t love change — especially the kind I can’t control (which just happens to be about 90% of the time). And when it comes to the job search, our clients (even execs) have fears and limiting beliefs on achieving their career goals, networking, asking for help, making a good impression and so on.