Christine DiDonato is the founder of Career Revolution and AwesomeBoss.com. As a former head of talent and organizational development at Sony, Christine focused her passion and research on developing the youngest generation of employees to be the next generation of leaders.
She’s also a LinkedIn author and recognized leading expert in her field as seen in her contributions to publications such as Time, Money, Inc, Forbes, and USA Today.
Find out how Christine chases her passions on the Find Your Passion Career Podcast!
As the president of Career Revolution, Christine understands the pressures young professionals feel in their career search after graduation.
“You don’t have to achieve all of your goals or meet 100% of your passion everyday the first few years of your career. It’s really unrealistic and so I say just be forgiving of yourself and say ‘I’m not alone, most people working are feeling the same stress I am anyways.’”
At San Francisco State University Christine discovered that her passion for speech and debate fit within the speech and communication program. She began her career journey during graduate school in which she took on an unpaid internship with a women-owned training and development startup company.
“I worked for free until they saw that I had some skills that they pointed out which was the best learning ever; [it’s] someone else showing you, ‘hey you’re really good at this!’”
From there Christine was hired and worked for four years. That’s right, an unpaid internship that led to a mentor and launching her passion career. (Hint hint!)
In working for other people, she realized she wanted her day to day to reflect her love of change and taking risks. Now Christine gets to switch gears from meeting with clients to attending brainstorming meetings to teaching classes to traveling for her events.
Trust your passions will grow and evolve
On the podcast, Christine shares how we can discover our passions. “For the majority of us, we don’t have this one linear thing that we are passionate about…really it’s a matter of where do I find energy?”
Your passion is not something to be forced. Taking the time to consider what ignites your fire will allow an authentic passion to grow.
“And I feel like the only way to figure that out is just to try some stuff you haven’t done,” added Christine.
“Your passion is evolving and the only way to figure that out is just to live everyday and be present and the rest kinda works itself out. Opportunities show themselves to you when you are a passionate person.”
Be authentic and share your story
Based on her years of recruiting expertise, Christine shares her insider secret when it comes to the interview:
“What they are looking for are authenticity. We are all people. And it’s just about meeting other people that we think we can work with.”
Your authenticity can be seen by letting your passions and stories shine when seeking out new opportunities.
“When you show excitement about something it comes through without you having to fake it. That authenticity comes into play and the more examples of any passion that you’ve had and how you’ve followed through on it or you’ve even explored it.”
Take a moment to consider how you can relieve some of the pressures you feel around your career journey. Take some time to reflect on what you have accomplished and cut yourself some slack. Listen in to Christine and allow yourself the time to grow and discover your passions!
Download our podcast interview with Christine here on iTunes!
Once you’re inspired by Christine’s story we would love to read your review. Thanks so much!
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