I am so excited to start a new path in my career journey. From the initial job ad that I saw throughout the entire thorough interview process, the position has felt like it was created to suit my strengths. I was bouncing off the walls when I got the offer.
As I prepare for this opportunity, I’ve found myself looking back over my career. Dang, I’m a much better employee than I was twenty years ago. I can remember back then thinking I was a good worker, but simultaneously I thought that making a mistake was terminal and can remember cases of trying to hide a mistake. I’m so over that. Coming clean immediately with a proposal on how to make it so it doesn’t happen again earns a lot more street cred. It is something I wish I’d known sooner, but something that I could only learn through experience.
When I worked at the automotive job, I realized that my not-so-obvious brain connections could be really enduring to customers, and I used it to my benefit. When a customer sent over a copy of her driver’s license and apologized for the bad picture, I sent a copy of my serial killer license photo and told her not to worry because it could have been much worse. She told me when we met in person that she used that exchange as an example of excellent customer service when training her team. I was so flattered, especially since my coworker thought I was insane for doing it.
It was the interview process for my new job that taught me the final lesson. There was an extensive personality test that was involved, and one of the segments was my worst nightmare. It was a series of five diagrams, of which I was supposed to choose the one least like the others. Three of the diagrams were similar and the other two were similar to each other. I had to figure out what four had in common. I felt my brain starting to shut down and giving up.
That is when I took charge, reminded myself that I am a darned good test taker, and to put on my big girl pants and take the damned test. I ended up not guessing on any of the 25 sets, finding something I could base my answer on in each case. I asked about my score this section in my interview with the company president. He said I did more than well enough to be sitting in front of him. Evidently most people give up on the test and simply guess all the way down. I beamed with pride for the success of my big girl pants. Not succumbing to kryptonite pays off!
What have been some of your work lessons you have learned over the years? Or How well do you see patterns in stick figure diagrams?
Grown Up, Now What? 