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59 Jobs over 40 Years in 22 Cities and 4 Countries…and the Career Lessons Learned
January 27, 2010
I recently grabbed coffee and had a quick chat with Karen Burns, author of “The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use,” an illustrated career advice book. Karen wrote the book based on her own checkered career of 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities and four countries. Yes, you read that correctly…she’s had 59 jobs in the last 40 years! Here’s what she had to say about what she learned during her adventurous career…
Question: Wow! 59 jobs over 40 years. Why so many jobs?
Karen: I’ve actually gotten this question so many times during my career that I provided my top 10 list of answers in the back of my book. But I usually give three main reasons: I started very young (age 10), I worked two jobs at a time for many years (‘cause I needed the money), and I worked freelance for more years, which involved many clients and many companies. And just to be clear, I never intended to have so many jobs – it just happened. But by having all those jobs what I really learned is that we should embrace change and not be afraid of it or of trying new things. Sometimes, jobs are just plain horrible. And when a job is really awful the only thing you can do is quit and find another one. I’ve never been afraid to try something new and that’s allowed me to have a pretty colorful career path.
Question: When you look back at your career, are there certain jobs that stand out as the most interesting?
Karen: I don’t think one job in particular stands out over the others, but the most interesting jobs were definitely the ones that required me to stretch the most and step outside my comfort zone. Hmm…maybe the most unusual was when I lived in France and was hired to model plus-sized bustiers…unusual because I’d never modeled and I’m a fairly petite person.
Question: I love the illustrations you include throughout your book and you’ve obviously put a lot of thought and effort into both the writing and illustrations. Is it true you created all the illustrations yourself?
Karen: Yes. It’s funny really, because I’d never drawn anything in my life until I wrote the book. Then an agent suggested that the book would be better if it was illustrated. I like to joke that it took me a lifetime to learn to write and only one month to learn to draw.
Question: You’ve had such an incredibly varied career path. What do you believe is the key quality that’s allowed you to be successful?
Karen: It would have to be that I’ve never doubted my abilities. Even if I don’t know how to do something, I never doubt my ability to jump right in and learn something new. That, and the fact that I worked darn hard for so many years. One cannot underestimate the value of hard work for sustained periods of time.
Question: The book is great for people of all ages, but especially for women who are just starting out in their careers. What would you most like young women to get out of reading your book?
Karen: I want women to realize that it’s o.k. to change a decision and start over; that nothing in life is irrevocable. So often we choose a job and end up hating it but then we’re afraid to quit and try something new – and that’s often way worse than making a bad decision.
Question: I love your list of the “Working Girl’s 10 Best Eternal Truths”, shall we share them with our audience here?
Karen: Absolutely! I don’t claim to be any kind of career advice guru, but as I looked back on my career and wrote this book, I realized there was always at least one key thing I learned from each job. The 10 best list is my way of sharing the key truths I learned during my career journey (and, there are more Eternal Truths sprinkled throughout the book).
Karen Burn’s “Working Girl’s 10 Best Eternal Truths”:
10. Things seem impossible only until you do them.
9. If you don’t ask for something, you will never get it.
8. Make friends before you need them.
7. The farther out of your comfort zone you leap, the more people will step forward to catch you.
6. Authority isn’t given to you; it comes from you.
5. It’s the stuff you don’t do that you regret the most.
4. Believing you know it all is a sure sign of ignorance.
3. How you actually do your work is as important as the actual work you do.
2. Life is supposed to be a little bit dangerous.
1. It’s never too late to be the person you were meant to be.
I found Karen’s book to be accessible and easy to read. It doesn’t need to be read in chronological order as each chapter is short, illustrated, and offers pithy yet profound advice. It’s the perfect type of book to give as a present to a sister, daughter, niece, granddaughter, or friend.
For more about Karen or her book, check out: www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com. Enjoy!
~ Lisa Quast
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