Looking for Your Dream Job
4 Steps to Creating a Wish List to Identify What You Want in a Job
Looking for a dream job? The only way to find one is to know what to look for. Here are four steps to take in identifying the job that will make you happiest.
Why do most people work? Generally it’s out of financial necessity. But how wonderful it would be if everyone could earn a living doing exactly what they love to do. Basically, find their dream job. Unfortunately, too many job seekers aren’t exactly sure what they want to do or how to go about finding it.
Six months ago Catherine realized that her twenty year career managing a call center was getting stale. That’s when she decided to make a change. “I thought about all I had accomplished, the leadership and interpersonal skills I had developed and what was important to me now: community service and work/life balance.”
So she quit her job to take a part-time position as the Director of Career Placement for a local non-profit job service. Now she’s doing exactly what she wants and loving it.
Catherine was lucky because she was able to identify what she wanted and then match her skill sets to the right position. Not everyone is as fortunate to be able to pinpoint what they want and where to find it.
However, by giving some thought to the four concepts below, employees can think about what they like and dislike -- their work preferences. They just might find that what they are best at is exactly what they like doing most.
Employees should began by asking themselves what they like about their current (or even past) job. Consider:
- Project driven or task oriented work
- Working in teams or independently
- Leading others or being an individual contributor
Next they should ask themselves what they enjoy doing most in their spare time by looking at ideas such as favorite:
- Hobbies
- Sports
- Entertainment
Next they should consider what type of work environment is important to them such as:
- Company size
- Company industry
- Company culture
Finally, they need to look at other job-related things that ae important to them such as:
- Commuting distance
- Benefits
- Work hours
Once employes have developed a list of specifics, they will then be able to narrow down their preferences.
For Catherine the primary focus was the company industry -- in her case a non-profit -- and the work hours -- she wanted to work part-time. In addition, Catherine realized she enjoyed leading and coaching groups. So working with others was important. Her part-time position acting as a career coach and finding suitable job placement for others was the answer. Catherine knew the minute she heard about the position from a friend.
“It was like a bolt from the blue. I couldn’t believe how perfectly this position fit into my idea of a dream job. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t taken the time to refocus what I wanted.”
So for employees considering doing something different with their career, remember to focus on the important things and never give up looking for that dream job.
