Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing - Forget Networking. Ask This One Question.

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

“Marketplace Radio” host Tess Vigeland walked away from her job with no idea what was next. In her subsequent book, Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B, to Find the Career and Life You Really Want, she outlines a key piece of advice for anyone thinking about a job switch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a monthly full money extra, I'm Chris Hill. Whatever you do for a living, imagine being one of the best. Not just where you work, imagine being regarded as one of the very best in your profession in the entire country. Now imagine quitting your job with no idea of what you want to do next. That's what Tess Vigeland did in 2012. A longtime host for Marketplace Radio, she walked away from the anchor's desk and began a journey she ended up sharing in her book Leap, leaving a job with no plan B to find the career and life you really want. And for anyone thinking about changing jobs at some point in the future, Tess has some good advice. First, forget about traditional networking. This is a piece of advice that I would really encourage

people to start thinking about. And, you know, even if you really love your job, you never know how long it's going to last. You never know what is going to happen in your workplace, in your industry. It's always good to at least have something in the back of your mind. Even if you don't have a actual plan B, you need to think about what would happen if it went away. So one thing that I think is really valuable is, you know, we hear this word networking all the time. And I think it's a very squishy idea. You know, yeah, talk to people who are in your industry and get to know people. I think it's actually much more valuable to see if you can really spend some time asking people what their work life is like. So you're not just trying to meet people for the

sake of making connections and people who might introduce you to someone at their company. You really want to get a sense for what their work life is like and what their life is like outside of work. These days, Tess Vigeland is one of the hosts of the new podcast, Pandemic Economics. check it out when you get a chance I'm Chris Hill, thanks for listening we'll see you next time