Life and career lessons from a washing machine

Bet you are wondering how I am going to create career lessons from a washing machine, right?

In the past, I have written about radishes and connected them with your job search. I've written about ants too and connected it with careers.

I found a lot of parallels in my recent appliance dilemma I want to share with you.

Career Lessons: Ignoring the Early Symptoms of Needing Expert Assistance

Our washing machine started making awful banging noises a while back.

It sounded as if someone was loudly knocking on the door. This is probably when I should have called a repairman but I didn't.

It continued even "walking" across the basement floor. We would have to shift it back to the original location only to find it "walking" again the next time we used it.

The noises got louder until Monday. It made such a horrible noise I turned it off only to find the drum totally detached from the bearings. My husband went to our favorite appliance store and talked to the repair department.

They told him that the repair could run up to $1000 and since it was 8 years old, it was time to invest in a new one.

A pretty good salesperson doesn't mean you get a good product — Career Lessons

The front-loading machine we had was purchased from another store because, at the time, someone we knew was there.

He wasn't an expert in appliances, only a pretty good salesperson. We gave him the business and bought a model we later learned had a reputation for failing.

Working with an expert

This time, however, we determined we would return to a store with a reputation for service and good products. I talked to a salesperson on the phone. I learned about warranties, current life spans, and the differences between the top loading and front-loading machines.

Yesterday, I asked my brother for a ride to the store and purchased a new top-loading washing machine.

I could have gone for a longer life span with a different model but the life span added $300 to the price tag.

On the other hand, I could have bought the cheapest model I could find. However, then I probably would be facing this dilemma again in the near future.

My network was there for me

A friend from church offered to let me do laundry at her house.

When I asked who to call for repairs on Facebook another friend reminded me to contact the store that ended up to be the place I bought the new machine.

My brother stepped in to drive me to the store to select the machine.

My son was willing to deliver the machine and install it when the store said it would be another week before they could get it to our house.

Career Lessons Learned from a Washing Machine?

1. If you look for help early on, the investment is less.
2. If you go to the wrong expert, you may find you are drawn in by the sales pitch but not necessarily finding the quality you want.
3. The cheapest product may cost you more in the long run.
4. If you research who stands behind their product and service, you can select an expert that matches your needs and your budget.
5. Use your network with a filter to make sure you are getting quality referrals.

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