Create Your Own Opportunities

The job market is still pretty bad and wages are stagnant.  It might be time to create your own opportunity.  We’ll discuss ways to do just that.

If you can’t find a job, just start your own business!  Well, it’s not as easy as that.  And that isn’t an option for everyone.  Creating an opportunity is also about being able to see an opportunity and being ready to take advantage of it.

This podcast was created because Matt saw the website that Andrew started and reached out to him.  They talked and worked together and the podcast was born.  I got involved in a similar way.  I started out as a listener to the show.  They asked for topic ideas and I e-mailed with mine.  The three of us began a dialogue and within a few days, I was hired!  I didn’t send that e-mail with the intent of landing a job but, I was ready when the opportunity was made available to me.

The opportunity might not always be apparent.  Practice saying “yes.”  Invited to a party you’d rather not attend?  Say yes.  Old college roommate in town and wants to get together?  Say yes.  The more people you meet, the more opportunities you will find.  Maybe the old roommate is in town interviewing for a job at a company you’d like to work for.  If they get the job, now you have a connection there.  You have to put yourself out there to make things happen.

Opportunity can be found in your current job.  Offer to take on additional responsibilities.  Offer to do the things everyone else hates to do.  You may not get a promotion or a raise immediately, but being willing to do more gets you noticed and can pay off down the line.

Just ask!  No one is going to offer you anything if they think you’ll work for less.  We gave some more specifics on getting a raise in Episode 52. You might be amazed at the results if you ask for a raise or a promotion.

Take the initiative, put yourself out there, step out of your comfort zone and see what happens.  A lot can happen in a life, especially nothing.

Show Notes

Boulevard Brewing The Sixth Glass:  A strong, dark ale.

Things a Little Bird Told Me:  Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, on the power of creativity.

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