How did Yollanda Zhang know to quit her engineering job at GE and become a teacher? Already questioning the purpose of her work, she was on a flight sitting next to a Catholic priest who also was formerly an engineer. He told Yollanda about hearing stories of life and career regrets from his parishioners. “It was a sign,” Yollanda told Career Buzz listeners (Nov. 11, 2015).

But still she wasn’t sure. “I’ve always loved teaching,” Yollanda said. Then, at an info session for the B.Ed. program at U of Toronto, another sign. With hundreds of people in the room already, Yollanda sits in one of the few remaining seats, to find sitting next to her, “another Yollanda, not a common name, and also a female engineer deciding to quit her job to become a teacher.” This sign clinched it. Both Yollandas resigned from their jobs and became teachers. “We’re both happy in our career and have never looked back.”

How do the clues apply to you? If you’re in a career quandary, be inspired by Yollanda’s stories of noticing signs and clues – then taking inspired action. The next clue Yollanda followed was the demand for Mandarin language skills. She took inspired action to transfer her teaching skills and founded Mandarin language school, Panda Mandarin.

If you’re trying to figure out which signs and clues to follow, get started with an Exploratory Consultation with CareerCycles.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the CIUT Fall Membership campaign! Hear the whole interview also featuring powerful moments from Career Buzz over the past six months and a special call with Career Crafting author, Cathy Campbell.

Ian Hartlen studied philosophy and political theory in university. What good was that? He told Career Buzz listeners that his education helped him become “a good writer, speaker and thinker, skills that are under-represented in the workplace.” Listen to the podcast (Oct. 21, 2015) to hear how Ian is using those strengths in a career he loves at The Learning Partnership where he’s just launched the Real Talk app to help high school students learn about real careers from the people in them.

How do the clues apply to you? I hear lots of people corner students who are studying humanities with the question, “what are you going to do with that degree?” It discourages them because it’s usually an unanswerable question at the time. Next time you’re tempted to ask it, instead, consider encouraging that student by taking a page out of Ian’s playbook, with something like, “That’s great, you’re working hard at building skills in writing, speaking and thinking. Those are important and under-represented skills in the workplace.”

If you’re trying to put your skills to work in a meaningful way, get started with an Exploratory Consultation with CareerCycles.

Hear the whole interview also featuring Linda Morgan, and Julie Einarson who spoke at the recent Your Workplace conference.

I love asking Career Buzz guests to name their top few strengths that help them be successful. Educator Amena Zafar (Aug. 19, 2015) gave a unique twist to a generic response: “Communication skills for influence, which is knowing what the bigger objective of your communication is, and making a plan to achieve that objective through communication.”

Amena’s other strengths of “compassion, empathy, and networking” served her well in her job coordinating a government funded bridging program for internationally educated engineers.

How the clues apply to you: Take a page out of Amena’s playbook and ‘try on’ the skill of ‘communicating for influence.’ Think of an example when you used that skill: What was the situation or challenge? What actions did you take? What was the result? Presto, you now have an answer for one of those tough behavioral interview questions.

Download and enjoy learning from the Aug. 19, 2015 podcast, also featuring Ambrish Saini who participated in the bridging program, Licensing International Engineers into the Profession. Also, listen to any of our 300+ archived Career Buzz podcasts. (Hint: Use SEARCH at bottom right of any CareerCycles.com webpage for your topic, e.g. “circus”).

“Skateboarding and some great teachers changed my whole life,” Jay Mandarino, CEO of CJ Group of Companies, told Career Buzz listeners (June 17, 2015). As a child Jay had many problems and almost didn’t make it. But skateboarding “helped me learn self-confidence and to believe myself.”

Confined to bed after an injury in his early 20s Jay started selling printing jobs. Continue reading →

“If you are working you should get paid,” Gokce Ucar told Career Buzz listeners (July 29, 2015) when I interviewed her in the Izmir airport on a recent trip to Turkey. When she graduated university, Gokce, like many Turkish new entrants to the job market, she reluctantly did an unpaid internship to get a toehold into the job market. The internship led to paid work after six months. Basak Yanar, a Turkish-Canadian researcher joined us on the show to compare and contrast Canadian and Turkish early career experiences, and to share her fascinating career story. Continue reading →