by Daria Steigman on August 24, 2009
A friend remarked the other day that my last employer did me a huge favor by throwing me out the door. Otherwise, she said, it might have taken me a long time to find my passion.
She’s right. That one post-graduate-school job wasn’t fun. It wasn’t pretty. Looking back on it, it was actually amazingly bad. But it also led me to where I am today.
That job experience took me out of my narrow jobs box and forced me to reevaluate my career goals really early on–and shoved me down the path of discovering what I really love.
As my business nears 20, I’m taking a little time to reflect on who and what got me here. I might well have ended up a solopreneur eventually — but watching my first plan blow up helped the process along.
What about your career? Encounter any blowtorches along the way?
Photo by vieux bandit. Flickr. Creative Commons License.
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by Daria Steigman on July 28, 2008
I recently reviewed proposals for a federal agency. It was a worthwhile use of my time for six key reasons:
- I got to see examples of well-constructed proposals and some that were not so good. In the process, I picked up some tips I can apply if and when I respond to a federal RFP.
- I was reminded that you can’t assume your readers are jargon junkies. Companies assume their reviewers share a fondness for acronyms at their peril.
- Organization counts. I don’t care if a request for proposals is convoluted; your response shouldn’t be. A reviewer is likely to score your application higher if he/she can identify the key elements and follow your discussion.
- Results count. Give me examples that demonstrate your expertise and how your work helped other clients.
- It takes time to keep up-to-date. Serving as a reviewer gave me a glimpse into how others build their communications methodologies. Even one tiny takeaway is helpful.
- My fellow reviewers were really smart people. Each brought his/her expertise to the table, and I learned from their perspectives.
Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!
Tagged as:
Professional Development
