☎️ Hotline horror: 'I was convinced my career was over'
Last week I asked for your celebrations of career struggles, and wow did you deliver! Here's one story I received – a fantastic example of how even major challenge can become valuable insight.
😰 The struggle: (What happened?)
Very early in my career, I sent a retirement plan communication to a small group of employees and accidentally transposed two digits in the helpline number. Instead of reaching benefits support, employees were routed to an adult hotline. Yes... that kind of adult hotline. What was meant to be a straightforward retirement communication quickly became one of the most memorable moments of my career for all the wrong reasons.
😩 What I thought: (How did you respond?)
I was absolutely mortified. At the time, I was convinced my career was over before it had really begun. I replayed the mistake in my head a hundred times, bracing myself for the inevitable consequences and wondering if I'd just earned myself a permanent spot in company history.
🤔 What I learned: (What did this experience teach you?)
Mistakes happen, even when something has been reviewed, proofread, and checked by multiple people. Perfection is an impossible standard, especially when you're doing meaningful work at scale. I also learned something important about people. Moments like these reveal character very quickly. The coworkers who help you solve the problem, reassure you, and help you move forward are the ones worth holding onto. The people who focus only on blame tend to reveal themselves just as clearly.
🏆 The success: (How did that inform your career moving forward?)
That experience taught me to build my career around supportive, trustworthy people and to extend the same grace to others that was extended to me.
It also reminded me that our mistakes do not define us, but how we respond to them does. Every misstep is an opportunity to learn, improve, and approach the next challenge a little wiser than before.
And while I certainly pay extra attention to phone numbers now, I also try to remember that the occasional human error is simply part of being human.
Happy navigating,
Bridget
P.S. It's quite a busy fall for Career River! I've got events coming up over the next several weeks for Report for America, the Northwestern Alumni Association and the Kellogg School of Management, a Chamber of Commerce and the University of Southern California. My calendar is stacked! 😅
As I hold these sessions, I'll be gathering the latest intel on what career challenges people are facing, and how they are navigating them. I'll share what I learn at our next Job Hunt Pathfinder strategy session.
People are already saving their seats for this session, where we'll go over your positioning and action plan based on the exercises in the Pathfinder toolkit. You can get started today and register for the call to apply all these insights to your next job search: