Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to ask people what surprised them about their
Speaker 1: jobs or about anything in life really, so you don't
Speaker 1: face the same surprises yourself. Today's tip comes from Tessa
Speaker 1: West's book Job Therapy, Finding Work that Works for You.
Speaker 1: West is a psychology professor at New York University and
Speaker 1: an expert on social relationships and communication at work. In
Speaker 1: Job Therapy, West helps readers figure out why they're not
Speaker 1: happy at work and find a job where they will thrive. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that many people listening to this are quite
Speaker 1: happy with their jobs, but even if you plan on
Speaker 1: staying where you are, it can be worth analyzing the
Speaker 1: situation and figuring out ways that you can do your best.
Speaker 1: In her book, West advises that when you are exploring
Speaker 1: a job, ask those working in that job to finish
Speaker 1: this sentence before I started this job, nobody told me
Speaker 1: that dot dot dot. She explains that this will help
Speaker 1: you learn the hidden curriculum before you start the new
Speaker 1: job and be better able to figure out whether the
Speaker 1: workplace and the role would be a good fit. I
Speaker 1: think this is a good question to ask in lots
Speaker 1: of contexts beyond new jobs. There are all sorts of
Speaker 1: things in life that aren't publicly advertised, but that people
Speaker 1: learn over time sometimes the hard way. West writes about
Speaker 1: a national public radio project called I was absent that
Speaker 1: day about things people had to learn as an adult.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we have all got things that we've learned
Speaker 1: quite belatedly in life. Asking people what nobody told them
Speaker 1: will help reveal some of the hidden curriculum in any situation. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, before you start a new project, you might
Speaker 1: ask people who've worked with a particular client what nobody
Speaker 1: told them about that client. If you are transferring to
Speaker 1: a new location, you can ask people there what nobody
Speaker 1: told them about that place. And you can ask this
Speaker 1: in context beyond work too. If your kids are going
Speaker 1: to a new school, ask other parents what nobody told
Speaker 1: them about the school. If you move into a new
Speaker 1: neighborhood or join a new club, this question could be relevant.
Speaker 1: What did nobody tell you about signing up for after
Speaker 1: school activities around here? What did nobody tell you about
Speaker 1: hiring a contractor to renovate your kitchen? What did nobody
Speaker 1: tell you about owning a beach house. Maybe that the
Speaker 1: ocean is beautiful, but you'll be doing constant maintenance because
Speaker 1: being by the ocean is rough on a house. You
Speaker 1: probably need to build that into your budget. At work
Speaker 1: and in many aspects of our life, things we need
Speaker 1: to know often go unspoken. But with a well chosen
Speaker 1: question posed to helpful people, you may not have to
Speaker 1: figure out everything the hard way. Somebody may tell you
Speaker 1: the things you need to know, and then maybe you
Speaker 1: can repay the favor by passing that knowledge along to
Speaker 1: someone else. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple po Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.