Sometimes you have to ask
I am not one of those people to ask others for things. Specifically, in my career I am good at what I do but when I want to make a role change or find out about an opportunity from someone I end up dragging my feet and most of the time miss out on the opportunity. I tried to do better over the past couple of years but still it is something I am uncomfortable confronting people about. However, for those times that I have stuck my neck on the line it has been worth it even if it didn’t end as I would ultimately hope but, at least, I didn’t have to think I just missed out.
Today I was again reminded that it never hurts to ask. I have thought about my career path at the company I am working at lately. Don’t get me wrong what I am doing now is fine and I don’t mind doing it but I keep thinking in 10 years I don’t want to be doing the same thing. Also, as I have grown more in figuring “Life” out the last couple of months I realized I really would like to do something different.
On the same lines, I am reflecting back on an email I sent to a CEO that I have run into from time to time over the past 3 years. The company he works at had a job posted that I was interested in, I didn’t think I was qualified and kept dragging my feet for weeks. However, I finally found the courage to ask him if he would mind chatting about it which within an hour he emailed me back the name of the CFO for me to email as well copying himself. In the end, my thoughts were right, they wanted someone with a little more experience but I feel a lot better knowing it wasn’t just a missed opportunity.
Do you have any times in your career that you wished you would have spoken up to find out about an opportunity? Or did you have a time that you did speak up and how did it turn out for you, I would love to hear your thoughts, leave them in the comments below.