That subject lin will be a headline for an article starring me if I don’t make some changes.
I work in HR (accidentally landed and am now stuck in this field). I hate every second of it. I am essentially a babysitter for adults who lack common sense and the ability to use good judgement. I started as the Communications person for HR (translating mumbo jumbo into English so employees could see the real value of working for us). Now it’s turned into a chief of staff role for the VP of HR. We’re restructuring, launching an ERP, etc. I bloody hate it.
I have two beautiful children, ages 3 and 1 who are in daycare from 8 to 5, and I can’t afford to quit my job because the city we live in is overpriced.
I live in a city that I hate on most days. We have no family here, which I thought I would be OK with before I had children, but now I wish we had at least a couple of the non-crazies near us.
My husband loves the city and the industry he’s in and up until very recently was not open to change. (Now he is ready to make some life moves). I explained to him that we have 5 things in life that we need-I know we won’t always get all 5, but we need at least 3, and we currently have .5.
1. Friends & Family (network close to you that you can rely on)
2. Community Connection (the culture of your community aligns with your values)
3. Cost of Living is Logical
4. Career Opportunity
5. Education (good schools are within reach)
Question:
Where does one start when everything needs to change?
I am a 29 year old introvert (ISFJ) woman who struggled with the responsibilities and expectations placed on me by being a gifted kid. I am the first person in my family to attend a four-year university and graduate, which I did with a high GPA and multiple awards.
Immediately after graduating I entered an environmental advocacy fellowship program that is prestigious and competitive, but it made me miserable. I was depressed, gained weight, and entered into a terrible and destructive relationship during that year because I so badly needed any type of support. I’ve worked in environmental NGOs ever since.
Now my job is communications and media relations, which is also prestigious and competitive. The highs aren’t high enough to justify how low I feel when things are bad. I see more gray hairs every day. I am afraid to quit because I am finally making decent wages – $44k per year – and have another 18 months to pay off a loan.
I came across this post and it got me thinking: https://mailbag.penelopetrunk.com/2012/03/04/how-to-find-meaningful-work/. I want a job making 45-50k, not in politics and not in the environmental field, where I can work well with people AND not have my family members disappointed that I’m not living up to my potential. I want fewer gray hairs and more days where I go him smiling. I think human resources or office manager or something like that appeals to me, but I have no idea how to make the transition or even be considered for those jobs.
Whenever there’s no new post on your blog, I check on the Mailbag section. But today I went there and it’s gone. Did you take it down?
Whenever there’s no new post on your blog, I check on the Mailbag section. But today I went there and it’s gone. Did you take it down?
I’m launching an online marketing platform to connect brands with potential customers in a completely new way. The biggest component of the business is partnering with various large and medium size brands that are willing to experiment with their marketing approach and product offerings. Until now, I was working on devising the business plan and the operational aspects of it but now is the time when I have to penetrate the C-Suite, specifically the Chief Marketing Officer suite at those brands I want to sell to. I am not sure how to go about it. Do I sent emails, pick up the phone, send letters? Do I prepare a “pitch deck” that I email the brands or send them or a top view summary page? I am totally unconnected to those brands and they span across various industries. Any ideas or insights would be appreciated!
What are the best ways to get people to notice you if you have not had a job? How do I even know what I should be doing for a job? I feel like there’s a rule book and no one gave it to me.
I’m trying to gather up to have the courage to write an honest blog. I started it to help others get through some of the “tough stuff” I went through. I keep wrestling with should I? Why would I want to tell everyone about my challenges? How do I make the leap?
I can’t stop thinking about a potential investor who is trying to get me to sleep with him. I live in Silicon Valley and he’s an active angel investor with a great reputation. So, to say I was excited when I got my first meeting with him would be an understatement. He’s personable and immediately seemed interested in my company’s vision.
Our first couple of meetings were all business. Then he started sending me flirty texts. Then he tried to kiss me.
The truth is I want to work with him but I have no interest in sleeping with him. I’m now worried that we’ll never be able to have an exclusively platonic business arrangement because he’s crossed the line with me. I’m also worried that he’ll back out of funding my company or worse yet, potentially poison the well with other investors by saying negative things about me if I don’t go along with it. People around here are so fickle that all it takes is for one “popular” investor to say an entrepreneur is incompetent for that to become accepted in the echo chamber.
So, I feel torn. I either shut him down completely and risk his wrath, or literally “take one for the team” and start sleeping with him in order to get continued access to his contacts and money.
I am an avid follower of your blog and your very pragmatic approach to life and work. I wondered whether you had any thoughts or advice on how to strike the appropriate tone when inviting someone for a networking lunch.
I am a junior/mid-level (female) associate working for a law firm and have been told that it would be good to reach out to some of our client contacts and to develop a more personal relationship with them. In attempting to draft the email invite, it struck me that it would be very easy to use an inappropriate tone, especially in light of the fact that the intention isn’t to discuss business, per se. Given that I am a woman and the contacts are predominantly men, I would also want to guard against coming across that the invitation has a romantic element to it. Or do you think I am overthinking the issue?
I’m a medical student in Ohio, and I have a question for you about networking. As a graduate student, I have had a hard time meeting people outside the medical profession who are doing unique and interesting things in their careers/life. I want to know more people who have a different perspective on life than I do and who push me to have experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise had. If I am networking for that purpose, what kinds of events can I attend or organizations should I join to facilitate that process?