Steve Cadigan
Cadigan Talent Ventures
Santa Fe, NM USA
"Your job doesn’t define who you are as a human being—look at your working life as just a journey."
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Steve's work combines: Business, Entrepreneurship, and Working with Others
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
There have been multiple instances throughout my career where I felt like I couldn't do the job. A mentor of mine once advised me to take a step back and ask myself if I thought there was anyone else who could do the job better than me. If the answer is no, and you realize that you actually want to take on the responsibility, then put in the work to figure out what skills or knowledge you can acquire to make you feel more comfortable.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
History, General
Wesleyan University
Graduate Degree
Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
University of San Francisco
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Growing up, my father was a minister and my mother ran a few daycare centers—watching them ask other people for money throughout their careers, I knew I didn’t want to follow the same path.
2.
In college, I majored in history because I liked the subject, but I had no real ambition about what I was going to do for a living.
3.
During my senior year, a fashion company from San Francisco made me a job offer, so after graduation, I moved from the East Coast to California to work in the company’s credit department.
4.
After about a year and a half in the department, I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing, so I transferred to human resources to work in recruiting and fell in love with the work.
5.
About a decade into working in human resources for various industries, I decided that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life—and I wanted to become great at it, so I got my master’s degree.
6.
I joined the team at LinkedIn in 2009 as vice president of talent, and took the company from a private firm of 400 employees, through an IPO, and helped it become the powerhouse it is today.
7.
I started my own business, Cadigan Talent Ventures, where I do a lot of career coaching and advising for students and professionals.
8.
I’m also a sought-after speaker and advisor—I’ve delivered conferences at Stanford University and the Harvard Business Review Summit, and advised companies like Twitter, Google, and Eventbrite.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
I can't do this.
How I responded:
There have been multiple instances throughout my career where I felt like I couldn't do the job. A mentor of mine once advised me to take a step back and ask myself if I thought there was anyone else who could do the job better than me. If the answer is no, and you realize that you actually want to take on the responsibility, then put in the work to figure out what skills or knowledge you can acquire to make you feel more comfortable.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I majored in history because I liked the subject but had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. When I was a senior in college, I became very stressed about graduating because I didn’t have any ambition towards a particular job.
I moved across the country to start my career in a field I didn't have much experience in because I wasn't sure what else to do for a living. It was a big change but it gave me much more insight into what I want in a career and what I don't want.
I was working in the credit department with my first company and realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so I transferred into human resources and recruiting when the opportunity arose and ended up falling in love with it.
When I was starting my business, my children were involved in a horrific car accident and my work had to take the backseat for a while. Fortunately, because I was starting my own business, I didn't need to look to someone else to approve my time off.
I had a big international job for a company and severely doubted my ability to perform. I eventually went to my boss and expressed my doubts. My boss allowed me to take a week off to reset. It's okay to ask for help when you feel overwhelmed.