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She magically appeared at one of my speaking engagements recently (I had no idea she’d be there) and stood up and shared her story – it took everything I had to not break down in tears – we filmed her talking about her story that day – here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dKHJoNMbMw
The other amazing thing at that speaking engagement is that important member of my support team where there to cheer me on – if you haven’t assembled your support team yet – that is a priority to finding your dream career – find out more details on how to do this in “Finding Your Passion: The Easy Guide to Your Dream Career”
What are you waiting for? Start going after your dream today!! If you need help, feel free to email me at marcy@careerswithwings.com.
Gail’s story is so amazing that I had to share it with you below.
Finding Your Passion ~ Through the Storm
By: Gail Hill
October 2008 began what was the downward spiral of thousands of people being laid off from their jobs. Amongst the unemployed were a large and silent number of people who could only blame themselves for their joblessness. They had been fired from their job. That was me. I was fighting my way back into working world with the dark cloud of “FIRED” over my head.
The first 30 days, I tried to give myself a break. Businesses rarely interview or hire during the holidays, so I found myself bouncing back and forth emotionally between relieved and scared. I was relieved because I was tired of being underemployed in my second “survival” job. At least now when it came time for an interview, I wouldn’t have to take off time from work! I was scared because the job I was looking for was in the hospitality industry which was suffering from huge lay offs. How could I find a job in a workforce that was flooded with extremely talented people who had years of experience while all I had were transferable skills and a strong desire?
In January 2009, I attended a job fair where Marcy Morrison was speaking about finding passion in your career. At first, I thought to myself, who has time to find a job you are passionate about when bills are pilling up? As I sat and listened to her speak, I started to realize that I needed to stop wasting time acting in fear by taking low paying jobs where I would be bored and ready to move on within a year. What I really wanted was a career, not a job where I would be challenged and paid well. At the job fair, there was a piece of paper on my seat entitled, “Five Steps to Living Your Passion in Your Career.” In the last two years, I had finished my degree in Business Management and I had completed a certificate in Meeting & Event Planning. I had stumbled across Step One by uncovering my passion for creating and planning events. If somebody asked me what I did for a living, I wanted them to see my eyes light up as I described what I did for a living. That’s finding your passion!
I once heard how you can’t expect different results when you continue to do the same things. I needed to try something different this when it came to my job search. Instead of letting fear and doubt get in the way, I had to trust my gut and believe in myself. That was Step 2. It’s really hard to believe in yourself when I had been unemployed for nearly five months. At last count, I had applied to 110 jobs with only 3 interviews! I started to slip into applying to any position that was available. Regardless of how many people were unemployed, I had to keep telling myself that I was just one person looking for one job! I didn’t care what I heard on the news or how people would say how “bad” it was out there. I had to get up every morning and keep looking, despite how I felt or how there were days when there were no jobs to apply to.
I have always been a bit shy when it comes to speaking to people I don’t know. I don’t have that gift of small talk or starting up conversations with total strangers. I had been a member of an event planning association for about 8 months, but I never attended of the meetings due to my previous work hours. I took this opportunity to network not only with people in the association, but with former instructors, and anyone else who might know a way for me to get my foot in the door. I once read that 80% of most jobs are not posted on a job website. It’s not who you know, but who knows you! I started attending meetings and networking at every opportunity. That’s Step 3. I made it a mission to speak to someone new at every meeting and get a business card from someone who was doing something I was interested in.
One of the most crucial steps that helped me to stay focused and not get discouraged was Step 4 – Build a Support Team. I had friends, family, former instructors, and members of my church to lean on when I was ready to give up. I did run into some naysayers and negative people you were not there to encourage me. This was a very difficult time for me and I didn’t need anybody around me who wasn’t going to be there to help build my confidence when I needed it.
I have always been able to set goals and stay organized, so Step 5 was easy. I made it a point to create an online file for every job I applied to and follow up with prospective employers as needed. Since I had applied to so many jobs, I had to make sure that if somebody did call for an interview, I would be able to find their job requirements so I could review what they were looking for in a new employee. I had also learned how to highlight my qualifications on my resume to fit the job I was applying for.
In the end, I stayed focused on a career that would make me want to jump out of bed in the morning and despite all the obstacles - my dream job finally came through! I have a job where I get to work from home, travel, plan events, and learn new and different things. I had some really dark and depressing days as I went through this time of uncertainly in my life. I would call it a storm that seemed like it was never going to pass. I once heard that bad days don’t last always. Sometimes you have to dig deep down and find that tenacious spirit that is in each of us. Regardless of how high unemployment may be or how many people are laid off, a door WILL open with a job that is just for you. I'm really excited about my new job and my future!!
Wishing you wings for your career.
In joy,
Marcy Morrison
1.858.213.5945
marcy@careerswithwings.com
www.careerswithwings.com
www.myeasycareerguide.com
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