Klaus Schuller is Executive Director of The Second City Toronto. I interviewed him on Career Buzz on Good Friday. He shared a wealth of career insights, and the 20-minute interview is worth a listen. Here are four of Klaus’s ideas for thriving in your career, accompanied by questions to trigger your own thriving. Leave a comment with your responses!

“I get to laugh every day.” That’s what Klaus said when I asked him what he liked about his career. How many of your clients can say that? Can you?

“Passion for excellence is my strength.” We know what career happiness happens when you get to use your strengths, daily. So when I asked Klaus what strengths he uses on a daily basis, he said, “my passion for excellence.” Surprising answer! Often people name their practical skills like project management or people skills. I thought this was apt and a unique way to describe one’s strength. If a client asked you if this were okay for a job interview response, what would you say?

“I promised myself I’d never do anything that sucked.” Klaus shared with his career story with listeners and identified that promise to himself as a guiding principle. My reaction was that it’s tilted toward the negative, but, hey, it’s been working for Klaus all his life. It’s like a thought test he can use every so often. I imagine him saying to himself, “Does this suck?” If no, continue. If yes, change. What thought test do you have for your career?

“What else are you passionate about?” Klaus hires a lot of people in his leadership position, therefore, he conducts a lot of interviews too. Instead of the usual questions, Klaus targets passion. He’d rather hear people talk about their passion about say, bicycle advocacy, because he knows passion is transferable. If your next prospective employer asks that interview question, what’ll you say?

Let’s get a discussion going! Leave a comment or a question.

–Mark Franklin  www.careercycles.com

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA