The Secret to Finding Your Dream Job
Do you envy the friends who love their jobs, who enjoy going to work and feel good about what they do to earn a living? We all do. The secret to finding your dream job isn’t much of a secret: You have to figure out what you love to do and how to get paid for doing it!
Sound simplistic? It isn’t. Identifying your passions and the career paths that allow you to follow them can take some time and soul-searching…not to mention some creative problem solving! And sometimes, your dream job requires re-training, which may be more than worthwhile if you spend a career and a lifetime enjoying your work.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to get the process started:
What do you love to do?
It’s not just about hobbies, it’s about what tasks make the time fly, what do you spend hours doing without feeling tired or restless, and what makes you feel useful? Make a list of the things you love to do, even the ones that don’t have obvious jobs attached.
What are you good at?
What tasks do others ask you for advice on how to do them? What are you doing when friends, family, or co-workers compliment you? Is there something you take particular pride in doing well, or a task you look forward to doing?
What character traits do others notice about you?
Are you detail-oriented, decisive, friendly, introverted, extroverted, a good teacher, bossy, patient? List the most common traits that others comment upon or that you are known for at work or at home. These can be positive or negative.
What do you volunteer to do?
When looking for what you would love to do, sometimes it’s as simple as asking what you would enjoy doing for free! Think about what makes those volunteer tasks so satisfying.
Brainstorm: Now that you have a list of your likes, loves, and natural talents, take a look at jobs that might include these happy tasks. Once you have a master list of possible dream jobs, take a look at the opposite questions, and make a new list of the things you truly hate doing.
What do you hate to do?
Which tasks do you dread or put off as long as possible? What activities make the time just crawl by?
What tasks and pastimes make you feel like a failure?
Have you always been terrible at cooking? Too impatient and irritable to teach? Perhaps you’d rather have a tooth extracted than to spend time taking inventory. Whatever your pet peeves and worst chores are, make a list.
What have been your least favorite jobs?
From your first paper route to your current job, which were the worst, and what made them so bad?
Brainstorm again: Take the negatives and weed out the possible dream jobs that require the tasks you hate, the weak skills you’ve never been able to strengthen, and the preferences you feel about what you do and don’t want to do. Put it all together, evaluating every possible dream job for which are weighted toward happiness and away from struggle, dislike, and self-doubt.
One of the best ways to approach your short list is to discuss both the list and the process with someone close to you, who knows you well. Once you’ve narrowed down your dream job list to 3 or 4, look into what it would take to prepare for doing these jobs. Do you need more education? Practice? Are you willing to start over and take an entry-level position to make a positive change in your career?
Step Up Recruiting would love to talk to you at this stage! How can we help place you in your dream job? We are familiar with both the requirements and the paths our candidates have taken to get prepared to fit into their dream jobs. Contact us when you are ready to begin!
