An Inquisitive Mind

Yesterday I had dinner at my friends house. We don’t bother with doorbells or knocking so I just walked straight in. Usually I'm welcomed by two very cute toddlers, a big dog, a tiny dog and a cat so huge it could be pass for a cougar.

Last night everyone was upstairs so I was greeted by an empty hallway. On the wall next to the door was a framed certificate awarded to my friend for having “An Inquisitive Mind”. Apparently it’s been there for ages but I'm always distracted by the noisy welcome and had never noticed it before. It made me smile, what a brilliant quality to be recognised for! It really is a true reflection of her character. She asks a lot of questions, digests the information and 9 times out of 10 gives an answer that a) no-one else thought of and b) is a considered & valuable solution to the problem. In short, she’s a clever cookie.

An Inquisitive Mind got her through a law degree and has taken her to a very senior role, yet those achievements aren't displayed on the walls of her home. It was the “jokey” award which her husband framed for everyone to see, which takes pride of place. Clearly he recognises it’s special, along with hard work and determination it’s possibly the key to her success.

This gave me food for thought.

In high school, about 20 years ago, a new subject called Computer Studies was added to the curriculum. Someone in the Know realised that in the future understanding how a computer worked would be helpful in finding a job.

I suffered from a severe lack of motivation in this particular class, I was very bored which led to me talking, a lot, and my school report stated that:

“If Computer Studies was a “social” subject Annie would be an A student”.

This report landed me in trouble and after being grounded, or some other punishment familiar to teenagers, I buckled down and like every other kid passed the modules. I'm pretty sure most of the UK population now takes those skills for granted.

Could my ability to engage/ distract those around me have been an early sign that I should choose a career in communications? Well, no-one spotted that, I just into trouble, “people skills” didn't carry much weight and my chance to shine was cruelly quashed. Okay, so I've embellished that, but you know where I'm going with this.

Someone in the Know was right, we needed those skills but if everyone has them how do we stand out from the crowd when looking for a job? What is your unique selling point?

If I had to choose between a degree in x,y,z OR “An Inquisitive Mind” I know what I’d chose.

And you?

Pretty Shoes ...

I've spent the last week on a beach in Portugal without my phone, email or Twitter, and had some breathing space to think and to recharge my batteries. Here's my latest update:

When I was a wee girl, five or six years old, we always went to the same shop for our school shoes. We didn’t have a lot of money so whilst I always wanted the patent shoes, with the frills on the front, we always got a “sensible pair” that were scuff resistant, comfortable and likely to endure all the running, skipping, falling and climbing that make up childhood adventures.

Going to the shoe shop was a cause of excitement for my big sister and I because they had a very ‘high tech’ machine that measured your feet. It looked a bit like a shiny silver treadmill you stood on and held on to the bar. Then you lowered your foot into a rectangle that made a “zhoosh” noise and slowly the metal sides moved in to take the measurement. There was a sense of fear that it would crush your foot (for those with an active imagination) and excitement because at that age I really thought, once it gave the size, I’d be getting the patent shoes.

Every year I left the shop with a sensible pair and a petted lip. My sister would get the same style but couldn’t care less about the shoes, she loved the machine and I loved the frills. Now I’m all grown up I still love the fancy shoes but I understand the importance of the right fit, and know what suits one person doesn’t suit an other.

Why am I telling this story in a blog about job hunting? Well, when I closed my business I was fortunate to be offered a great job opportunity. I've always been really interested in communication and with my business background it seemed that this role was perfect for me. I love social media, it's the communication part that fascinates me. I like the connection and am interested in the language, trends, topics and experience it provides for both business and personal use. For me it's about the content, the idea generation, networking and building relationships off line,you still can't beat a real life conversation.

However in reality the “foot measuring machine” would have told me this job wasn’t the best fit for me and to try another shoe. So, I took a bold step and resigned, worked my notice and finished up last week. Some people think I'm nuts to give up a good job in a recession but it's always easy to comment from the sidelines, and life would be so dull if we were all the same. Me? I'm looking forward to whatever is around the corner.


Life is too short to wear the wrong shoes.