Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

Have you ever felt like some aspect of your life has caused the rest of it to feel boring or stagnate? That’s kind of where I was before I landed in my current job. The same thing day after day, week after week, and struggling to move forward.

About nine years ago I was working the overnight shift at Big Red Circles Mart when two separate events happened that required different decisions.

The first event was when I was contacted by a third-party head hunting/hiring agency that wanted people with tech experience for a temporary job in my area. In retrospect the job was very straightforward and easy, but at the time I felt some anxiety about whether I should accept the work. I needed the money, what little it offered given the circumstances, and I figured I could add it to my resume when I eventually left that overnight job. The hangup was some irrational anxiety about the risks of what it might do to my primary job. I pushed aside the anxiety, talked it over with my bosses, who were cool with it, and made sure there weren’t any scheduling conflicts. I signed all the required documents and NDA’s, gathered my tools, and set off to complete my tasks. There were no repercussions with my primary job at the time, which made the next part a little easier to handle.

The second event piggybacks on the first, taking place about five or six months later. A different hiring agency contacted me for a more permanent position. The one I’m in now. The anxiety was back, but I knew this opportunity would be better. That anxiety was easier to deal with a second time, so I made the jump.

It was those decisions to fight my anxiety and insecurity, to take those risks, that helped me get to where I am today.