Are You Finding Your Dream Job or Are You Creating It!
“Follow your Passion” is some what of a catch phrase these days. Everyone says its what you need to do to find a fulfilling career, and there’s plenty of advice out there for how to make it happen.
But what does it really mean to find a career that makes you happy? And how can you actually make the scary leap towards your passion amid vague advice like “Just go for it” ?
As a youngster, you were so sure of your dream job by continually telling people: “I want to be a famous singer and make lots of money.” Now you’re older and hopefully a little wiser, that dream of performing on stages seems a little out of reach- mainly because you sound like a drowning cat when you sing. But if your dream is little more realistic, there’s no need to get comfortable in a dead-end job and forget about what truly makes you happy until its too late.
People often make the mistake of not finding a job that matches their personality and culture fit and try to find a job that will meet their income requirements. What job seekers need to realize before going in for interviews is that there are “Jobs” and then there are “Dream Jobs”.
A job is something you seek and accept to meet your income goals and beef up your resume. Your dream job isn’t only about the money or even about what you’ll be doing all day, its about finding a place where you truly fit and a company that fits you. To find your dream job, you need to know exactly what you’re looking for and make a plan to get it.
1. Get to know yourself-
To find the job of your dreams, start by understanding who you are, how you work best, and what you want to do with your life. Once you know these things, you’ll be more prepared to find your dream jobs at companies that match your unique style. Ask yourself some questions like:
What’s my personality like: Learn where you fall on the spectrum of traits like introversion/extroversion and organization/spontaneity. The more you know about your personality, the easier it will be to find a job that is perfect fit. Likewise, the more you know about a company’s personality, the more likely you are to find a place that fits you. It’s one thing to know about your personality traits and how you like to work, its another to understand how the people in your potential dream company like to work.
What’s my purpose: Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish through your job. Are you going for something that you’ll love or are you going for something you think will improve your professional standing? If you’re looking at jobs for the wrong reasons, its going to be hard to find a position you’re truly happy in. Don’t be afraid to have lofty ideals or big dreams.
What’s my ideal working environment: Not all offices are created equally. Some environment allow you freedom while others offer supervision. You may be expected to socialize with your coworkers, or you may work independently; you may be expected to take the initiative, or you may be given direction. The way you like to work and the way the rest of your potential offices like to work may differ. Whatever your preferences are, you’ll thrive in an environment that supports your dream work style and will likely flounder.
2. What makes you better than the competition?
Let’s face it, there’s a lot of people out there searching for their dream job, and their dream job might be your dream job! So, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to show the hiring manager you’re worth their time and effort? More importantly, how is your culture going to fit in theirs?
Even the experiences you don’t think matter could have a huge impact on your dream company's work environment. Do some research on the current company's culture to see how your personality can improve employee well-being overall. Hiring managers want to make sure that the people coming into their company will not only be a good culture fit but will enhance the already established culture.
3. Think about past jobs-
Your past can give you keys to your future. Thinking about what you enjoyed doing and what you hated doing can help you figure out the details of your dream job. Looking into the moments that have been absolutely crappy gives you valuable insights into what you’ll want in future. If you’ve ever walked in on a Monday and thought about all the reasons the weeks are going to be bad, its not because its a Monday. It’s because your job is not a good fit. On the flip side, if you’ve enjoyed going to the office day in and day out, think about what the management and coworkers in your office did to make it an enjoyable experience.
Jobs are rarely black and white. If you hated a past job, challenge yourself to list five things you loved about it. Similarly, if you loved your job, think about aspects you hated, and how you can use these positions to still find future employment for your next stepping stone.
4. Talk to your network-
Chances are someone knows something about the company you’re looking at. Chat with those people to see if they think you’ll be a good fit or if you have something to offer the company.
Don’t underestimate the people around you, specially those who have been in the field for a while. They have a lot of great insights into which companies value culture fit and those that care more about revenue than employee happiness.
5. Tailor your job search to your needs-
Once you’ve gathered all the information you need about yourself for your dream job, its time to start looking. No job will just fall into your lap, so there’s no substitute for a thorough job search. However, you can more easily find your dream job if you’re looking for a job that fits you. For example, if you are interested in a creative field, look for companies that match the criteria you discovered from the first two steps. Once you’ve done those positions in mind, start narrowing them down by positions or opportunities they have in the field you’re looking to get into.
Keep in mind that you might not start at the position or pay grade you’ve dreamed of but if there’s room for growth you should still consider the opportunity.
6. Use interviews properly-
Interviews should not just be to impress your potential boss or hiring manager. Instead, approach them as opportunities to see weather the company is a good fit for you and your needs. Prior, to the interview, be sure to thoroughly research the company’s outline to access the company's culture.
Be yourself during the job interview and then ask questions at the end to find weather the job catches your dream. Don’t forget to send the thank you note for his/her time. If you are polite and authentic during the interview, and are talking with a company that has an open, clear management and human resource department; you should find and eventually be hired for a job that matches what you’re looking for.
“Do what is right
not what is easy.
The start is what
stops most people.”
Key Trends Defining The Future of Work-
If you want to future proof your organisation and stay relevant in a fast moving world, you need to be in tune with the trends likely to shape the future of work.
With so much technology driven change and transformation taking place at the moment, predicting what the future will bring for the world of work is no easy task. One thing you can be entirely confident about is that the pace of change is unlikely to slow down in the coming years.
Here are four significant concepts that could prove to be defining themes in next few years:
The Gig Economy-
The gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organisation hire independent workers for short term commitments.
It is made up of three components: the independent workers paid by the gig (i.e. a task or project) as opposed to those workers who receives a salary or hourly wage; the consumers who need a specific service and the company that connects them.
“The gig economy is not new- people have always worked gigs…. but today when most people refer to the gig economy, they’re specifically thinking of new technology enabled kinds of work.”
Artificial Intelligence and Automation-
AI is a rapidly evolving space that seems to be having an influence on almost every dimension of life in 21st century. AI would have a low error rate compared to humans, if coded properly. They would have incredible precision, accuracy and speed. They won’t be affected by hostile environment thus able to complete dangerous tasks, explore in space and endure problems.
Automation empowers organisation to optimize internal resource allocations, capitalize on opportunity costs and enable business scale while ensuring consistency in customer experience.
“With automation business are either saving or making money.”
The Cloud-
You can access your data anywhere, anytime. An internet cloud infrastructure maximizes enterprise productivity and efficiency by ensuring your application is always accessible. This allows for easy collaboration and sharing among users in multiple locations.
According to LinkedIn, cloud computing expertise tops the list of hard skills in companies.
Demand for Soft Skills-
Hard skills in areas such as cloud, AI, data analysis and software development are essential to many modern business, but soft skills will prove equally valuable- if not even more important to the future of work.
Technical abilities such as those listed above can be taught to people who have the fundamental potential and willingness to learn, but soft skills such as creativity, collaboration, emotional intelligence and empathy tend to be innate and are difficult to teach.
A reskilling revolution?
By 2022, skills such as analytical thinking and innovation or complex problem solving are all set to grow. This creates a need to re skill the workforce of today, with 54% of all employees requiring significant re and upskilling by 2022.
Do you feel ready for the future work? Always remember fortune favors the bold!
By Mahima Rathod
August 2020
