TIL the best career advice I ever got came from a total stranger at a coffee shop in Portland

I was having a really bad Thursday, feeling stuck in my marketing job, and this older guy at the next table just leaned over and said, 'You look like you're trying to solve a puzzle with the wrong pieces.' He told me to write down the three things I did at work that made time fly, then build my next job search around that list. It sounds simple, but I'd never thought to define a role by what I actually enjoy doing instead of just the job title. Has anyone else had a random piece of advice completely shift how you look for work?

2 comments

2 Comments

troykim1mo agoMost Upvoted

Man that's such a good way to put it. I did something similar after a bad job, just made a list of what I actually liked doing all day. It turns out most job titles are basically useless for figuring out if you'll be happy. You gotta look at the tiny daily tasks. My friend even started asking in interviews, "can you walk me through a normal Tuesday hour by hour?" It filters out the bad fits fast.

faithb741mo ago

Ever think to ask what meetings you WON'T have, @troykim?