Work occupies a significant part of our life, so the desire to get the most out of it is absolutely natural. Everyone spends a lot of time contemplating their past experience, career prospects and immediate career goals. And, of course, the concept of a dream job pops up in their mind quite often. Some people believe that it’s nothing more than just another myth people enjoy believing in. They claim that the primary role of any job is to provide income for themselves and their families, and such aspects as happiness, satisfaction, joy are hardly applicable here. Yet, a dream job is without any doubt an extremely rare animal, but it can be found anyway. Nowadays it’s possible to get an occupation that not only makes you financially independent, but also provides an opportunity to love the thing you do with a passion. Furthermore, some experts express an opinion that we are all agents of our work happiness, and it’s only up to us and no one else to get there. Having this wonderful idea in mind, let’s take a closer look at practical steps you need to take to finally choose the position of your dreams.
Name Your Dream Job
Dreams are very ephemeral and subtle, that’s why they are called dreams after all. However, when it comes to a job search, in order to succeed you need to be as concrete and precise as possible. You need to define your dream, give it a name and translate it into practical terms that can apply to a certain occupation or profession. Start with answering the following questions: What do you love doing? What are your strong skills? What are you really good at? What kind of job can unite all these factors? It is exactly this overlap that you need to single out.
Remember About Visibility
To get your dream offer, first and foremost, you need to get noticed. To increase your chances of success, become more visible to those already present in the industry or company you are seeking to find your way into. There are many ways to achieve it:
- Become a volunteer.
- Attend relevant professional conferences and other public events.
- Never feel shy to seek mentor support.
This approach has an excellent side effect: eventually, you’ll get more insights and practical knowledge of the sphere you are interested in. Also, try polishing your profile on networks like LinkedIn. The latter has proven incredibly effective lately, allowing many people to be noticed. To make the account distinct and professional, secure all the necessary info about your education, working experience, and skills.
And don’t forget about your profile photo and cover picture! A high-quality image will demonstrate your serious attitude toward the profile and the entire job-seeking process. Just keep in mind a golden rule of a successful LinkedIn profile when taking a snap: “Remove Background From Any Image.” Developing a visually appealing account and strong network in the target industry is the first step in landing your dream job.
Map Your Dream Occupation
Now that the concept of your dream work has crystallized in your mind, it’s time to move on to some more practical stages. You need to pinpoint all key attributes of your desired role, because you can only find what you want when you know precisely what you are after. This typically includes top skills, common keywords, relevant education and training, previous experience and professional certifications and other similar things. Importantly, your dream-job search does not necessarily need to be a dull and monotonous process. You can create a mind map to visualize your desired ultimate objective and qualities you need to possess to make it happen.
Mind the Gap
For sure, knowing what your dream job is in every little detail is already a big step forward. However, it often happens that you don’t have the required skills, experience or some other important element of the desired work profile. It’s imperative not to get stressed out or discouraged about that – it happens even to the best of us. The main point here is not to let your hair down and define the gap between your current abilities and skills and those required for the position. After you are done with that, your next step will be to produce a plan on how you can efficiently eliminate this gap. When tackled this way, it really works to your benefit.
Manage Your Expectations
Sad but true, nothing is perfect in this world. And this principle applies to your dream role as well. You need to be prepared that when you finally get the job, you will inevitably face some imperfections and first challenges or hardships. Don’t let this dishearten you. The work might be called a “dream”, but we live in the real world. That’s why you need to make sure your goals and expectations are realistic and doable under existing circumstances. Unfortunately, if you don’t have the vocal talent, most probably you won’t become the world’s next Michael Jackson. But what if the world doesn’t need another Michael? Think about it carefully.
Conclusion
The job market is a highly competitive place with lots of qualified, motivated and experienced candidates seeking the same position as you do. No matter how strong your faith in your dream and skills is, most likely a day will come when you will be desperate and lost off track. Keep your eyes and mind focused on your desired role (the abovementioned mind-map will come in very handy in this situation) and never give up.
