Work From The Inside Out 138: Take on New Challenges with Dawn Graham
Early in her career, Dr. Dawn Graham experienced her first wake-up call (and it wasn’t a friendly voice calling from the front desk). Working for the large management consulting company, Arthur Andersen, equipped with her master's degree, she had just taken a new role when the Enron scandal erupted. Dawn was doing everything right but still got laid off along with tens of thousands of others. Then, she did all the wrong things. She only did online job applications and didn't network. Dawn is an introvert by nature. She believed that just doing great work was enough. But now all of her colleagues were laid off, so the people she would have leaned on were not available. Additionally, listing Arthur Andersen on her resume was not positive as people associated her with the scandal.
So, there was Dawn with strong skills from a company that no longer existed, a network that couldn't help, and a brand on her resume that was negative. Dawn didn't talk to people because she felt ashamed. It was hard not to take it personally. Oh… and Dawn was in the middle of a divorce, too. She turned to restaurant work as she knew it well from her younger days and took time to reflect. Dawn also signed up with a temporary agency, which landed her work in an outplacement firm, and there she realized that she was not alone in her fears or pain.
Dawn never wanted to feel that kind of pain or fear again and she wanted to create a situation where others would not have to go through those experiences. She decided to go to graduate school for her doctorate in counseling psychology.
Today, Dawn is a career switch coach, TEDx Speaker, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, and Host of the popular call-in show “Dr. Dawn on Careers” on SiriusXM Radio (channel 132). She is the Career Director for the Executive MBA Program at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Dawn’s journey:
- Dawn is the author of Switchers: How Smart Professionals Change Careers and Seize Success which gives people the strategies to overcome obstacles and land the job they want. This book is at the top of my list for people in career transition.
- She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com under the leadership channel.
Learn more and connect with Dawn here:
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