14 | Let God Be Your Career Coach | Sonia Cameron
Tags: career, podcast, news, motivation
Published: 2023-03-13 01:43:50

{% embed https://youtu.be/OHYhK8aZqHY %}

**About**
*sponsored* Sonia Cameron's journey through the tech industry has been one of resilience, perseverance, and faith. After completing her master's degree in computer science, she worked at some of the biggest names in tech, only to be let go when the companies folded. Despite the setbacks, Cameron refused to give up and instead decided to change her approach. She realized that she needed to shift her outlook and attitude on the job search, and with her renewed mindset, she not only found success in the tech world but also wrote a successful book about her experience. Today, Cameron is thriving and using her story to inspire others to persevere through life's challenges.

Sonia Cameron:
[Bless The Work](https://www.blessthework.com)
Books: [https://a.co/d/bKa1iCu](https://a.co/d/bKa1iCu) | [https://a.co/d/01aWsRq](https://a.co/d/01aWsRq)

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Alternate Titles For The Algorithm:
From Big Tech to Better Attitude: Sonia Cameron's Journey to Thriving
Falling Up: How Sonia Cameron Found Success After Losing Her Job
The Unconventional Job Search: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to Tech
Turning Setbacks into Opportunities: The Story of Sonia Cameron
Fired Up: Sonia Cameron's Resilience in the Face of Adversity
Learning to Pivot: How Sonia Cameron Navigated Tech's Turbulent Waters
Defying the Odds: Sonia Cameron's Rise from Job Loss to Success
The Power of Perspective: Sonia Cameron's Journey to Career Triumph
Breaking the Mold: Sonia Cameron's Quest for Career Fulfillment
Thriving Through the Struggle: The Story of Sonia Cameron
A Journey of Reinvention: Sonia Cameron's Inspiring Tale of Triumph
Discovering a New Path: Sonia Cameron's Quest for Career Reinvention
Surviving and Thriving: The Sonia Cameron Story
Picking Up the Pieces: Sonia Cameron's Journey to Rebuilding Her Career
The Road to Resilience: How Sonia Cameron Found Her Way Back to the Top
Never Give Up: The Inspiring Story of Sonia Cameron's Rise in Tech
A Second Chance at Success: Sonia Cameron's Journey to Redemption
Changing the Narrative: Sonia Cameron's Story of Triumph Over Job Loss
Overcoming Adversity: Sonia Cameron's Journey to Finding Her Dream Career

**Show Notes**
0:01  
Hey y'all, this is your host Elyse Robinson. With nobody wants to work though podcasts, I hope the stories were inspire you to switch careers. I was an auditor in my past life and I'm in tech, then let's get to it

0:19  
we are switch into tech tech resources to accelerate your career in information technology, monthly classes on tech topics. We offer free or discounted exam vouchers, scholarships for you to meet courses, free events, free boot camps and more. You can find us at www dot switch into tech.org.

0:45  
Hey, yah, this is Elyse Robinson with the nobody wants to work though podcast today we have Sonia. And she is a technical support engineer. And she's gonna tell us how she got into big tech. And she has a book now. So go ahead and tell us about you know, your your journey, your introduction? Yes. Thank you for having me on your show. Um, I started out in college, looking for an internship. And I actually I wanted to be an accountant. And

1:23  
they didn't have a whole lot of accounting internships at the time. And what was available was computer science. So I said, Okay, I'll switch my major. And that's how I got into big tech. I started my career

1:42  
with a

1:44  
company that no longer exists, but at the time, it was big time. It was Nortel Networks, and Nortel. You know, of course, it's out of business now, but at the time, they were selling trunks and networks for too little baby Bell companies. And they thought the phone lines were gonna be

2:11  
the next thing forever. Until mobile phone came mobile phones came along. So that's really where I got my start and end to left to telephony, I guess you could call it.

2:28  
Wonder how you say it's not telephony,

2:32  
telephony?

2:35  
telephony? I'm gonna Google it later and be like, No, really.

2:43  
And counting to computer science now. I mean, I love me. So computer science and accounting like I can. I have a whole podcast business brain versus my tech brand, because I can use both. And I love math. I love chemistry and physics, but I also love me some accounting.

3:01  
And it's definitely a huge change in a job. Like, how did that work?

3:08  
Well, I was motivated, because, you know, my, I came from a middle class family. And my mom worked two jobs and put me through school and light when it was time for me to start school. My father lost his job

3:27  
from a company called Dupont, DuPont.

3:32  
And so he, he went on his own career transition journey. And so I just basically left my mom trying to support me in college. So I was serious about making money after I got out of college. And when I started

3:51  
my college career in computer science, I had professors coming to me and saying, Oh, you're a minority, you know, and you're doing well in computer science. You can't go to graduate school for free.

4:08  
And so that's what I ended up doing. I ended up leaving, graduating from UNC Charlotte. And then I went to University of Virginia graduate school, and in there in School of Engineering, and I got a master's in computer science there. All right, okay. You did that you did that. Yeah, yeah. Your your views is big. Um, gosh, I'm, I'm sitting here like, what I want to ask you after that, because

4:41  
I'm just like, yeah, we're motivated. Yeah, cuz I tell people all the time, like, I loved audit, but I hated accounting. I would never be an accountant.

4:54  
I took like accounting wanting to like I think like I tried like three times before. I was like,

5:00  
Okay, I'm gonna buckle down and get it done. Because accounting is the Language of Business. You know, I saw that the auditors could work from home. I mean, you could work anywhere on the globe. So I was like, yeah, let me let me get it done. So, you know, for those out there that are watching, listening, you know, even if you hate it, there's there's good parts in it that you will like eventually.

5:24  
Because yeah, I love I love the audit. I love tax. I love tax too. But accounting, accounting, managerial accounting cost accounting, I could never never touch it.

5:36  
So yeah, um, here's a fun question for you. What did you want to be when you grew up?

5:43  
When I was a kid, right? When I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a missionary doctor, when I was 10. Yeah. Why did you want to do bad, like, you just want to, like, help people and go travel around. Basically, I wanted to travel the world and help people and you know, I liked little kids and I wanted to, you know, how you see these commercials on TV, or they had a lot of kids that are sick, and he's missionary darkness, come through and fix their cleft lip or whatever. That's what I wanted to do. And I was 10

6:21  
That's funny, because my sister she is in healthcare, and she's been traveling around for the past three years because of COVID. And so, you know, when I was in Houston and stuff like that, and working for you know, in big tech, you know, I would I would help out with my nephew and stuff like that, and she would be gone. But I mean, the money was ridiculous.

6:45  
But yeah, I can I can definitely relate to that, that hope and dream.

6:52  
So mostly, you talked about where your career began and what your first career was, what was your first career when you got out of grad school?

7:02  
Like I said, I work I worked for Nortel Networks and yeah, you did.

7:08  
Tell him telephony.

7:13  
telephony.

7:15  
It was basically networking. So you know how, as a programmer for them, my program then the proprietary language called protel, which was a mix of Pascal and that that ages me there was a lot of

7:34  
talk about it. You guys talk about Pascal.

7:40  
Yeah, I'm in and then I started programming in Perl.

7:49  
And C Plus Plus, while while I was at Nortel, so they weren't too far behind. But they did have a proprietary language for their switches and trucks and switches that they had.

8:07  
Then I left there, I left Nortel in

8:13  
2003.

8:16  
That was 2003. And I went to work for Sony Ericsson testing. Cell phones

8:25  
and texting had just come out.

8:29  
And so I was testing cell phones and stuff like that.

8:35  
But um,

8:37  
and then after I left Sony Ericsson, I worked for a financial company. And I got fired on the financial company. This is my horror story.

8:55  
Interview,

8:57  
went on the interview. And I was really embarrassed. I thought no one would want me ever again after being fired.

9:09  
And the reason why I got fired is because I was an underperformer.

9:14  
To me taking some medication that caused me to have like a slow reaction.

9:23  
My my motor skills weren't quick. I was at like this, in that particular company

9:34  
was based out of New York City so can you imagine me southern are surrounded by all these New York New Yorkers, and they're going let's get it done. Let's get it. Right.

9:48  
And I'm wondering medication and I, you know, my response time is not quick at all. So to them I was an underperformer. Okay,

10:00  
Okay, definitely understood. I will say my first my first real job, my first federal job I, I didn't get fired, but I got in trouble a lot and is because I have moved to Boston. And I'm a Cali girl. I think Sacramento is like, the third most sunniest city in America. And from that to Boston Ross really go weeks without seeing the sun. Oh,

10:30  
it almost killed me literally.

10:33  
Depression, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I was on meds and stuff and that the meds almost killed me and had me with issues.

10:42  
So yeah, I can definitely relate to that. But you know, they couldn't really fire me because it's government. But you know, if it was private industry, oh, I would have been let go. Because I think I must have missed like a good month of work. You know, often, I was negative on my leave, and in a whole bunch of stuff. Literally, when I left the government, like, I had to pay back leave, I owe the government money. So I understand and I can totally relate on being sick. And you know, trying to work here No, so.

11:16  
So yeah. Um, so. Oh, go ahead. So, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

11:26  
Um, yeah. So I got fired from that job. And so I actually took about six months where I didn't even put my resume out there. I didn't, I think I was in a small depression, because I was like, woe is me, you know, nobody's ever gonna hire me again after being fired. But, um, so this is the story. When I'm in interview, and the lady was like, so happened, you know, why did you leave your last position? And I said, Well, I gotta lay it all. Well, we both know, it was a layoff of Morin, right.

12:11  
And since I'm a Christian,

12:14  
I was like, destroyed, I went home, I couldn't eat. I didn't want to sleep. I was pacing the floor, because I was like, here. Now, I'm supposed to be a Christian. And I was just lied to this lady, you know, about what happened to me. I know, I should have told her to but I, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hire me if they found out I had been fired. And I found myself friends or guy going, God, you know, what, what am I going to do? Because I need to help support my husband and my family. And at a time, I was the one carrying the health insurance because my husband was self employed.

13:00  
And

13:02  
I was like, I gotta get back out here. You know, in the corporate world. I'm talented, I'm well educated. And by that time, you know, my health issues have somewhat changed because

13:19  
they change my medication. But I'm, so I prayed to God, and I was like, God, just

13:29  
give me another chance. And then once you give me another chance, I'll stand in my truth, I'll tell the truth. And I will, you know, whatever. They asked me, I tell them that I actually got fired. So that was the deal. I mean,

13:46  
just so happened. A few months later, I got another interview. And it was

13:54  
at a company that was new to the area new to the Research Triangle Park area. And

14:04  
I was surprised they even call me in, you know, but I went on the interview. And it went fairly well, I was, I was really shocked how well it was going. And then, of course, they asked a question, why did you leave your last position? And I said, Well,

14:28  
it was not a good fit. And I was fired.

14:32  
And so they said, Oh, we're surprised because you were there over 18 months, and you came highly recommended.

14:44  
And I said, Oh, really? And they said, Yeah, and actually, they recommend that you so well, that we were tired of interviewing people. They were real transparent. They said we're tired of interviewing people and we want to

15:00  
Are you? So they hire me?

15:04  
Well, he told me and I said, Well, who recommended me? He said, This is not her real name. But he said, Jennifer recommended you. And she said that you're a good worker, you're very enthusiastic, and that we should hire you. I said, Okay.

15:22  
So that night, I was like, Who in the world is Jennifer and I was pacing back and forth trying to figure out who this person was. Then I thought about it. Every morning, when I went to work.

15:36  
There was this young lady in the break room, and we would have coffee together. And she worked in HR.

15:45  
So that was Jennifer.

15:47  
And she, she's just happened to see my resume and told them Yeah, yeah, you guys need to call her because she, she's a, she's a good person.

15:57  
So they hired me, and I ended up working for that firm for eight years.

16:03  
Yeah.

16:06  
Um, so

16:09  
then,

16:12  
in 2010, I started writing my blog, because a lot of friends of mine, they felt like, you know, they couldn't believe it, I got hired after being fired number one. And I got hired in the middle of a recession, in 2008 2009. And so I told them, you know, it took a lot of prayer. And it, it took a lot of, you know, networking, you know, a lot of times when you find a job is someone that you know, is on the inside of that company. So, um,

16:53  
so then I started a blog called bless the work.com.

16:59  
And that's where I started writing prayers, and writing blogs to encourage people on their journey. Then, in 2020, when the pandemic hit, I was distraught, because there were a lot of people losing their jobs. And I felt like, though, I was like, What can I do to help these people, you know, this blog is not enough, I need I need to do something more substantial. And so I was led to write the book guy, please help me find a job. See.

17:43  
Ya.

17:45  
And,

17:46  
and

17:49  
it was really on my mind for a long time, you know, and it was kind of a passionate project, I couldn't stop writing the book, thinking of ideas. And so what I did was, I took some time off work, and take me into a hotel, nobody was there, but me and the person that did this, because everybody was locked down.

18:13  
And

18:15  
I spent the time just writing and

18:19  
bragging about it. And, you know, just eating and writing a brand. Um, and so I ended up with a book, and

18:30  
I had my editor, edit it. And then what what I did was I had several career coaches, HR personnel, and ministers to like, review the book and give me suggestions on how can make it better.

18:47  
And

18:49  
then, in three weeks, we published the book, and it was it was very successful. And I feel like it's still relevant today, because there are a lot of people being laid off.

19:04  
At this time, in fact, about three weeks ago, my manager was laid off, and several of my colleagues

19:15  
were laid off as well. And it's, you know, I think we're finding ourselves in a recession all over again, you know,

19:25  
especially, you know, in tech, a lot of people are being laid off, and

19:32  
I just want people to know that.

19:36  
God is

19:39  
a career coach, he can help you know, if you only spend time with him, one of the things that I

19:48  
like to do is I like to

19:53  
read the Bible and kind of compare it to

19:59  
something

20:00  
As that are happening today, and I feel like Jesus was the first career coach, because if you look in Luke,

20:10  
Luke five,

20:13  
and

20:18  
yeah, Luke five in tune. And this is the story of Peter, and some of his friends, they had been out fishing all night. And then they come in and Jesus gets in the boat and starts ministering to people. And then he turns around and says, Peter, lunch out into the deep. And I'm sure Peter was like, Look, I'm a professional, you know, and, but the person was Simon Peter. And Peter said to him, you know, Master, we taught, taught all night and cotton up, and nevertheless, at your word, I let down the net. So he was basically saying, I know what I'm doing. But since you're Jesus, we don't follow your instructions. And then they caught, you know, they had a net breaking, they had so much fish, the net started to break, and then they share with their friends and all of that. So I said, All that to say is, you know, when you humble yourself and spend time with God, He can give you pointers and download things to you to give you direction. Whereas just like in Peters case, you know, he thought he was the professional, he thought he knew everything. But Jesus is a miracle worker, and he knows the end from the beginning. So he can give you pointers, of things to do, where to go, who to talk to, for instance, the last time I got laid off,

21:59  
I had given been given two months to find a job internally. And what happened was,

22:08  
I interviewed like, four or five times, but I never secured a position internally. So I started searching externally, because they were going to give me like six months severance. And my goal was to find a job

22:28  
before the severance ended. So I started talking to all of my friends. And that's one of the things that I would like to say is, a lot of times there is a hidden network of jobs, like job openings that are not advertised on LinkedIn, and all those social media job boards, you know, is somebody that you know, and the best way to get hired is have your resume handed to the hiring manager. So that's what happened to me. In

23:06  
that role, I was

23:09  
given the phone number of the hiring manager, and a good friend of mine gave her the hiring manager, my resume, and she called me the same day. And we did the phone first phone interview. And then the next week, she invited me onto the canvas to interview with, you know, everybody that was on that team. And eventually they hired me. And it was all because I just happened to call a friend of mine and say, hey, you know, I'm getting laid off and I got six months to go. And she was like, here to hire, you know, here at my company, why don't you send me your resume?

23:56  
And, but

23:59  
that is that's an easy way to get a job as through somebody that you know,

24:07  
definitely, um, you touched on a lot

24:12  
is, oh, I've been fired many, many times.

24:18  
I've always wanted to be entrepreneur, ever since I could breathe and you know, I even since I was born,

24:26  
so I'm not you know, that's what I've always strived to be. I've done it made it failed. You know, COVID messed up some stuff. Oh, that recession, missteps and stuff. So I've done it many, many times.

24:42  
I guess. They say that you have to fail, like you know, 30 different times as entrepreneur before it finally hits. But

24:50  
you know, my whole thing is with the honesty. It's to me, it's like, I don't really care to lie. I just don't see

25:00  
Going in it, you know, all this this, you know, politically, politically politically correct and having to sugarcoat stuff just doesn't make sense to me it's like, okay, well, I was fired, you know, stuff happens, you know, it's like, okay, people have to work to live and you know, all this other kind of stuff and it's like sometimes it just wasn't a good fit. Yeah, no.

25:22  
So yeah, no, it was just like,

25:26  
you know, these dumb questions on Well, why do you want to work here? Well, I have to work to live. You got it?

25:38  
I don't really care if you know, because I don't like makeup. Right? I will work in Maybelline. If the if they go pack me, you know,

25:48  
difference doesn't make like, I gotta sit up here and lie and say, oh, yeah, beat my face every day. Ya know? No, it's just dumped me. I reckon somebody comes to me and say, hey, you know, this is what happened. You know, I'm doing better now. And this is the skills that I have. This is what I'm trying to do. And we can go from there. You know? Because this this little sugarcoating stuff. And all this other kind of stuff is just ridiculous. This can be to me, I don't I don't really care to put on a show.

26:23  
That's my issue with it.

26:27  
So yeah, yeah, no, my mom was always like, yeah, you just need to go here to either work for the government or be an entrepreneur, because private industry is not for you. And you know, I have found that to be true.

26:40  
But, but yeah, you know, there's the long term and short term goals. I'm like, bruh, like COVID was just like, right there. Like, I have no short term and long term goals. I'm trying to make it till tomorrow.

26:58  
So yeah, we add on those. So I don't I don't believe in the covering up and the sugarcoating things good stuff happens in life, you know, the whole question on,

27:09  
you know, why do you leave your last position? I mean, I have a six sob story. And as soon as I say that, you know, my mother passed away, you know, it's like, it turns the interview negative, and they're like, Oh, well, you know, I don't want to deal with that, you know, you know, I never get fired. So it's like cert to me, certain things shouldn't be asked anyway. But, you know, in the scheme of things, it doesn't matter to me, ya know, because, as someone that has hired people, I'm looking at your skills and what you can do for me, can you make me some money or not?

27:42  
Absolutely, absolutely. When, when I was in the position to hire people, it was a little bit more than that, because I'm wanting to make sure it was a good fit for the team. Because there were some people that came through that were very, how can I say pushy.

28:03  
And that was, that was not a good attitude, or not a good

28:10  
emotion for the team, you know, to have someone that will will bully other people on the team.

28:20  
So it was more than and I knew the person had the skills to do the job, but they were they were just a very, I can I say aggressive type person. And they were so aggressive, that when we chose not to go forward to the next stage of the interview, they

28:44  
wrote us emails, and

28:49  
probably me not.

28:55  
Emails, and we're like,

28:58  
why didn't you hire me, I'm more than qualified for this job and, you know, just really ranting and I was like, This is what

29:11  
I mean, my whole thing is, is like, I think people deserve feedback to an extent but you know, there's, there's a certain kind of way to come out, come, you know, come at someone you know.

29:22  
And my thing is, you know, with the hiring aspect of it, it's like, people go from this person to that person in relationships and then you know, that doesn't work out what would be the difference between you know, hiring someone and it doesn't work out you know, that's, that's my whole thing. You just have to hire someone. It doesn't work out very well, relationships. So what's the difference? What's the difference? People have lost their lives and they're lacking less bone with the wrong person, but yet they don't do as much research as these jobs do. So what's the difference?

30:00  
I was saying the difference in a relation you talking about personal relationships?

30:07  
You know, they they're all in my personal life and in my my but literally almost, you know, I've taken P TAs and all that, but yet you,

30:17  
Rob around, you're not doing.

30:22  
Even I wasn't doing right. What's the difference?

30:26  
I think the difference when it comes to a corporation is that a corporation wants to test you from all aspects to see, number one, are you a person of integrity, that's why they test you test you to see. And number two, they test your urine or whatever to see, give you a risk.

30:51  
Because if you're on drugs, and you're addicted to something, then that's a risk for that corporation. So that's why they think just

31:01  
been awesome jobs. And then people being in relationships and they arguing and I mean, being violent on the job. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's great. These people obviously very good, you know, saying so yeah. It's like, God need to screen me these people coming on the job. I need to scream these people relationships. And that's all I'm saying is like, okay to see, oh, this screen his booth thing? Yeah, no, but yeah, he wants to screen me.

31:29  
So, you know, she comes up to the job, you know, throwing stuff and cursing, and I gotta hide

31:37  
in all kinds of stuff. But, you know, you testing me, though you tested me?

31:45  
I don't, I don't understand why you tested me. But you didn't test you both thing. That's all I'm gonna say.

31:56  
Well, um, do you want to talk about my

32:01  
tips for acing the job search? Yes, when are you know, 510 tips that should we can do to ace the job search? Okay, and even five. Number one is rehearsing wins. So, a lot of times when people get laid off from their job, they're like, I was I get fired, they were like, they could be like, I was depressed, feeling bad about themselves, their self talk is very negative.

32:33  
And if you, you can start this, even now, where you're, where you're working, is to record your wins. Like, if you did something to save the company money, you did something to improve our process. If you did something to wow, the customer, then record that. So when you have your next interview, you have a positive story to tell when they say, so what did you do it Company ABC and D? You know, um, so that's, that's the first thing is rehearsing. stop you there. Um, I got a question. Um, so what happens when you have all these accomplishments, you know, these wins. And it's more than what your interviewer has done, and they say little slight things and comments and, and stuff like that, because I've experienced that. And outside of that, they are from being an entrepreneur, I can, I can honestly say that. I haven't had too many accomplishments on my job. Because it was the type of job where I didn't I couldn't get accomplishments. And then if even if I did get accomplishments, I wouldn't be able to talk about them anyways, because I worked on a lot of classified stuff. So what can you do in those situations?

34:03  
Well, um, if you work in a classified environment, I'm sure there's something that was not classified as you

34:13  
know, everything was classified.

34:17  
Wow.

34:19  
Um,

34:21  
I don't know. Maybe you could talk about your side hustle. Yeah, I've run into issues with that and like he ain't gotten another job. I'm like

34:34  
to eat like, I don't care if the job is to eat. Right you can talk about a job because I care about

34:43  
you just tell them if I tell you I have to kill you.

34:48  
But yeah, like I was an interview one time and it was, you know, a white guy and stuff and he had all these accomplishments and stuff and he he's literally in an interview talking about I'm scared of you like for

35:00  
What can you really learn in my book?

35:04  
I'm looking at you like I'm trying to get like, but yeah, I've experienced that a lot. You know, I mean, just the fact that I, I've lived in another country and I speak another language, you know, they're like, you know, what is what is this? So, I mean, you know, I don't know if they're interviewing me just to looky loo at me or what but ya know, I get in these interviews, and they're like, yeah, so you know,

35:35  
you know, your accomplishments a little bit too much. And you know, you've been entrepreneur, they think that I'm going to run eventually, you know, yeah, because they may feel like you're overqualified. But one, one thing I want to put in your head is that when you're interviewing, you're, you're also interviewing them, to see if it's a good fit for you. So because if you're in an environment where from Jump Street, they're saying, I'm scared of you,

36:06  
you may not want to take that job.

36:10  
It wasn't the hiring manager, he would have been my coworker. And I'm like, for why do you want to be in that environment where somebody is, is already competitive with you from from the start?

36:25  
I don't know if that would be somewhere I would choose. No, I didn't. I ended up doing three rounds waste of time. And yeah, they did show. So it was like, but But yeah, I mean, I run into it a lot. Because my resume my LinkedIn is very thorough. And, you know, they're like, Who is this person? I'm like, you know, and I ain't got no reason to lie. I didn't did it.

36:54  
Like I did it, but I did. Right.

36:59  
And you're well qualified. So, I mean, a lot of times we don't look like our qualifications. Right? Hmm. And people are surprised when when you walk through the door, because you know, you know, like, what you look like on paper. So, man, I'm so glad that we can do interviews over the camera and I got to drive 20 miles to have them booked their eyes.

37:29  
I can just, I can just print, you know, record on the screen and you know, have it for safekeeping.

37:35  
Now

37:38  
but yeah, those those are the bad days, Will you drive two miles?

37:46  
But go ahead. Next one, what's the next one?

37:50  
Hey, baby steps everyday towards your career goal. So if you're looking to make a career change, it should not or it's probably easier. If you start out doing something small every day, like changing your resume on a day or actually, I have a free download on my website. I'll show it to you.

38:18  
It's

38:20  
been you see, this is probably 21 days of preparation for your next position. And it's it's a

38:32  
they call it I forget what they call it just that quick is oh gosh, I can't think of the word Infragram but if Yeah, there you go, ah, infographic. infographic, that's what they use. Yeah, so it's pretty cool. I made it up a couple of years ago. And I felt like I wanted to give something away for free to the people that visit my website. My website is blessed. The work.com is b l e s s. Th e wo rk.com.

39:11  
And then a question. I'm

39:15  
not it wasn't a question. I just want to make a statement. Sorry, it's after six

39:20  
on a Friday. Um, yeah, I tell people all the time that you know you even if it's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, take a break during your break at lunch, whatever you got to do, but make sure you you do something towards it every day. Because if you don't, it won't sink at number one. And number two, you won't make any progress. One of my favorite sayings is Time waits for no one.

39:49  
Time is not you know infinite. When it comes to people at least not yet anyway. Not yet.

39:57  
Maybe one day

40:00  
Um, I don't know if I want to live that long. I guess it would depend on this. I didn't. I don't want to say age but more so have the I call them the hurts. Yeah, no, because you know, we age if you get the hurts the aches and the pains and stuff like that, like I wouldn't even mind getting wrinkled and all that stuff. It's the hurts that I'm scared of.

40:23  
Take care of your body, then.

40:27  
You're going through so much are you talking about, you know, like, fall in and car accidents and stuff like that. But yeah, no, it's not more so of Oh, my organs are breaking down is more so Oh, well, you know, I got in a car accident. And now my neck is jacked up, you know,

40:47  
is that once they can solve that problem? I'm like, Sure, I can be you know, 600 years old, like, you know, they're tired.

40:56  
wouldn't even mind is so. But yes, the hurts for me. Because I'm like, I don't know if I want to be 100. Because then hurts, go go really hurt.

41:06  
But next one, what's the next one?

41:10  
Pick an excuse to to encourage so. So one of the things that I like to do is I like to put scriptures all over my house, like write them on my mirror, and keep them in my wallet. And

41:26  
so one of the scriptures is Hebrews 11. And one which is Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. And so you think it's positive to have hope, even in a situation where you feel like you need to make a career transition. And if you if you don't have hope, you know, without faith, it's impossible to please God. So you have to like, exercise your faith as well. And that's why you need to be doing the 21 days, or you need to be taking baby steps on on a daily basis. So the fourth one is, dare to dream big. And that's something that I'm sure you're very familiar with. But a lot of people just want a job, you know, you meet someone that's recently unemployed, they may tell you, I just want a job, I just want to do anything, I just want to do anything to make money. But I think you have to be strategic when you're job hunting, or when you're searching for a job. Because if you don't know what you want, how do you know when you find it. So you have to know what you want. And you have to be very specific, very strategic in your job selection. Because it's kind of like this. You don't know what you're looking for, you know, you'll never see it.

43:05  
Never see it. For instance, like when I bought my car about a Lexus. Before then I didn't see a lot of Lexus's on the road. Then after that, that's all I saw.

43:22  
You know, so you know, so you recognize something that you that you know that you want, you'll recognize it easier. If you take the time sit alone, get with God and say, Okay, what do I What is my next position look like? What? Am I going to work remotely? Or do I need to see people do I need? Or do I need a hybrid position? Or, you know, at home sometimes in office sometimes? Is it specific

43:56  
company that I'm interested in working for, you know, what are the top 10s? Or do I want to be in big it? Or do I want to be in healthcare? Or do I want to do health care it or do I want to work for the government? You know, you'd have to have a strategy and know exactly what you want. And then those opportunities will find you. Basically, you know, when you start narrowing, narrowing things down, is it will seem like those opportunities will find you or the opportunities that are easier to find. Because you you've been strategic and you have done your homework, you know, you research the positions, you know who who's hiring and who's not. And what, what is required. And and you start to connect with people you can start connecting with people on LinkedIn

45:00  
You know, whoever the hiring managers are, for those types of roles, but um, you got to know what you want. The

45:11  
The fifth and final one is stay organized and keep a journal of your search. So that's one of the reasons why I created my second book. And I'll show it to you.

45:26  
Yeah, see it from my big head.

45:32  
This is, this is what it looks like.

45:35  
So it's

45:38  
ECNL

45:45  
you're muted.

45:48  
I'm telling you right there, and I'm gonna leave.

45:51  
But we saw it, we saw it real good. We saw real good.

45:56  
Okay, so it's a journal. My first book is a book of prayers. But my second book is a journal that allows the reader to develop their own prayers, I kind of gives prompts and things for the reader to create their own prayers, their own testimonies in the book. And in the back of the book, it has a job search organizer that allows you to record who you interview with, what company, what the phone number was, what the website was, what positions or roles that you apply for, who you talk to, how many interviews you had, and it's a good thing to keep track of that. One.

46:43  
If, if you're if your state is like the state of North Carolina, they request that information in order for you to file for unemployment. So, you know, it's, it's just a good place to keep track of all of that.

47:02  
And that's all that's all I have the, the

47:09  
I can attest to, I never thought about doing the scriptures. I just have a vision board. Where you know, I get up like every morning look at it, I'll do it probably the middle of the day. And then before I go to bed at night, and you know, I'm I it works at least it works for me. I crossed off some huge things last year. I don't want to talk about it yet because I don't want to jinx myself. It's not 110% completed yet, but

47:39  
the and I had been manifesting it since 2019. And you know, I thought it was never going to happen when COVID hit, you know, these are the kind of stuff but I finally got it done last summer.

47:55  
So yeah, vision board a vision board is definitely one that I utilize a lot and I recommend to people because I literally just write it out people do pictures and all this other costs. I literally just write it out. This is what I won't. And you know, I look at it and you know, it comes true. I'm not gonna say I put in work all the time, but it came true.

48:17  
Well, that's, that's excellent. Yeah. Even the Bible says Write the vision and make it plain so so if you if you have a vision board, I have a vision board but I usually don't share it with people.

48:32  
Well, I mean, if I guess I share it after it's done not not necessarily while it's in progress or didn't know you know, I'm working on it but after I don't really care because I've done it you know it's over. Absolutely. And I you know, the type of goals that I have is goals that you know, not many people that look like me get done. So you know, I don't mind sharing them at all when they are complete.

49:02  
Awesome.

49:04  
I'm excited.

49:06  
Go ahead and tell us where to find you. And you know, we can we can cut it loose. Okay, um, you can find me on Instagram and Facebook at blessed to work.com and at blessed and at blessed a word.com. You can find my books on Amazon. If you Google will search. God please help me find a job. Both of my books appear. You can search by my name Sonia, Cameron, Sonia H Cameron. And the books appear as well.

49:42  
And that's it.

49:44  
All right. Thank you for coming on the show. My name is Elyse Robinson with nobody wants to work though. Podcast on Google podcasts, Spotify, Apple podcasts. Of course. If you're watching this on YouTube, then that's where we get to and

50:00  
Subscribe, and this is episode number 27. We got three more to go and then I'm gonna close out the season because we'll be in summertime but that's I'm in. I'm gonna be at the Summer streets. So see y'all next time