I unexpectedly lost my job several years ago. I was earning a high income in IT before my employer decided to outsource my position. Overnight, I went from a six-figure income to unemployed with little savings and a small severance package.
My first day of unemployment found me running errands for the family. While I was in and out of local stores I decided to put in an application for a job with an electronics retailer even though it wasn’t in my field and the pay was low. I immediately landed the job and started working.
I hadn’t given up on my IT job search, but I didn’t want to remain idle. I reached out to my friends and sent out some resumes. A few days passed and I got a call to interview for an IT job. I landed the job, gave my notice at the store, and was back in IT after only a two-week absence.
It seemed odd that I got the job since I didn’t have all of the required technical experience. I asked my new boss about it. Why did he hire me?
He said that he was confident that I could pick up on the technology but more importantly, I didn’t sit around too proud to take a retail job after I had lost my IT position. (I did put the retail job on my resume.) He explained, you can teach skills, but you can’t teach work ethic.