Welcome to Bonus Episode 07 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two Pre-Sales Technical Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we discuss the influence of family on career and the influence of career on family.
Original Recording Date: 11-13-2019

* Note that John sneaks in his top 5 delivery pizza places at the beginning (mentioned in Bonus Episode 2 from last Thanksgiving).

Topics – Thanksgiving, Family, and Career
2:05 – Influence of Family on Career

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Who in your family can be an influence on career?

* These are the people in our lives that model career, how they balance, work, life, and family.

* Sometimes it is chosen family and not birth family.
* The level of influence depends on the amount of time spent with the person.

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5:12 – What specific kinds of influence does family have on career?

* Family businesses are often passed down for multiple generations to keep it going. Nick gives a specific example here.

* Growing up in and around a family business can soak in, making it feel normal. Some will love this, while some will not.
* Not everyone is qualified to take over a family business, but being exposed to it may influence a person to work in that specific type of industry.

* Sometimes everyone in a family works in the same field (i.e. a family of teachers, a family of doctors, etc.). John shares an example from his wife’s family.

* The career field can become ingrained in children in this type of environment.
* John shares a realization about his current career field.

* Behaviors

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What if family members appear to constantly work or work takes them away from important events and special family time?

* 10:34 – John White School of Mentoring Plug
* Nick shares his daughter’s perception of his work.
* Avoidance of work is something that can also be modeled.

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Work / life balance

* If family members have a poor work / life balance, it could cause resentment of a specific job or job field.
* We react to what is modeled around us, regardless of what it is.
* Kids socialize about what their parents do and how present they are.
* Nick got some feedback on time spent working from his brother-in-law. He did not realize at the time that things were out of balance.
* Being on call is a part of some jobs. It just is.

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Shift work

* Nick shares a story about his aunt that worked 2nd shift and the effort she made to spend time with family.
* Shift work can lead to the perception of an absentee parent.
* These types of jobs need to be staffed by someone, and it has an impact on that person’s family.

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Pressure to perform

* Do you put pressure on yourself to perform in your career that started with academic pressures when you were younger? It can happen.
* John shares a story of his parents modeling the importance of education.

* Academic excellence and trying to beat everyone else are two different things.
* Sometimes we don’t realize the influence of past experiences on our current attitudes and behaviors until reflecting carefully upon it.