How to overcome career obstacles and achieve your career goals

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Andrea Yacub Macek, founder and CEO of AYM Consulting, a career coaching company. We discussed 2 significant career curveballs she had to face in her career that were both a blessing in disguise as each curveball helped give her career clarity and guidance needed to move her career in the right direction. The main message she wants to provide is that linearity does not equal success and as long as you are making moves that helps you get one step closer to discovering what you truly want, that's all that matters.

QUOTES

• “[When looking for signs a layoff is coming] In my experience with myself and with clients, typically it’s a reorganization, a leadership change, a budget reason most of the time.” - Andrea Yacub Macek [16:54]
• “[When I got laid off from my job] I was very relieved and I know that’s not always the emotion that people feel, rightfully so when they get laid off but I was at a place mentally, emotionally with that job that it was not healthy anymore.” - Andrea Yacub Macek [29:58]
• “Sometimes these unexpected events like a layoff will happen to you, if you’re already looking for something else, you aren’t sure what you want to do, I hope for you, it’s going to push you in the right direction, cause it’s done that for me multiple times in my career.” - Andrea Yacub Macek [33:39]

TIMESTAMPS

• [0:33] Meet Andrea
• [2:19] The 2008 recession (1st career curveball) and its impact it had on Andrea as a soon to be Masters Graduate trying to enter the workforce
• [7:09] Andrea’s networking strategy to land a higher education job opportunity and advice to professionals trying to network to advance their career
• [11:14] Common misconceptions of the job search that Andrea had as a recent graduate looking for her first corporate role
• [13:12] How much should you tinker your resume when you are already getting a consistent amount of interviews but aren’t landing that job
• [14:35] Getting laid off (2nd career curveball)
• [16:25] Additional signs a layoff is coming at your company
• [17:25] How Andrea knew she was being let go on her first day back at work, coming back from her honeymoon
• [19:52] Discussing how performance plays a factor in who gets laid off in an organization
• [21:31] Signs at an interview that this company is not right for you
• [23:46] Accepting a less than ideal job because you need the money and what you need to do to plan your next move after
• [25:08] Perspective on job hopping
• [28:05] What happened after the layoff conversation Andrea had with her former company and what she did short term to adapt to this change in her life
• [32:57] Job searching after layoff and what led her to start her own career coaching business
• [35:53] How Andrea landed her first client for her career coaching business and her current business strategy to grow it
• [37:27] Difference between employee and employer that Andrea realized as she started her own business
• [39:14] The difference between the 2008 recession and COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to how it affects someone’s career
• [41:00] A major roadblock that Andrea had faced and what she did to overcome it to move her career forward
• [43:59] Contacting Andrea
• [44:27] Outro

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

• Andrea Yacub Macek on LinkedIn
• Chan With A Plan
• Max Chan on LinkedIn