9 Sure Steps to Your Dream JobAre you dragging yourself in a job that is so boring? Time to dream your job in technicolour. You can have that dream job you so desire.
Dream Job. Source: aesta1
Your Career: Dream in Technicolour!
My husband and I are enjoying our dream jobs right now. Our life is an international adventure as we work in countries where we can make a difference. Out of North America in winter and back in summer where we go back to our cottage on the lake and enjoy the family. Because we are in a warm place during the northern chill, family and friends come and visit. We have the best of two worlds and we can do these because of our jobs. How did this happen? Have we been blessed by the gods sending out our guardian angels to make this happen? Have the spirits of our ancestors chosen to bless us? Why are we so lucky....or is it luck at all? Maybe or maybe not. Maybe we worked hard. What we think is true is that we chose courses and alternatives when they presented themselves, leading to certain directions. We took the risks and never looked back. 
Source: cnk
Creating your Dream Job
There is more to finding a dream job than just luck and hard work. This, I know and you do, too. There are choices to be made, decisions to be taken, work to be done and more. Remember, it is not only a job. It is a dream. If you sit and wait for fortune to smile, you will pass on still occupying your cubicle in the office. You can definitely get your dream job. These 9 steps will show you how. It's a good guide to start you thinking. The decision is still yours but when you start taking the steps immediately after College, you have a better chance at success. 
Job after College? Source: aesta1
Don't Quit the Cubicle Yet
Hold on. Don't quit your cubicle yet. Take a leave first. You must have lots of leave days you have accumulated. Use these days to try out new things. Explore new possibilities. You never know what altenatives might interest you if you never try them. Usually, we just do things we are used to and we know about...repeat, repeat, repeat. Dig out other activities and events and see how you can get engaged. There are so many circles you can be part of in your life. There are many activities you can get engaged in right now that you may not even be aware of or you have just dismissed all these years. Give these a try. Get into sites that focus on changing directions or changing careers or self-development or any job web site...and just wander. The variety is fantastic. 
Networking Events. Source: aesta1
And to push you further, here are 9 steps to the job you dream about:
1. Itemize activities that grab your interest and magnet your energy What jobs grab your dreams? What job is the magnet for your energy? Itemize the activities that grab your interest and magnet your energy. Learn more about these items from people, books, web sites and the experiences of others. Watch your reaction as you get more engaged and they give you feedback. If you feel the passion in you building up for whatever you get engaged in, go for it. Countless experiences and research have validated for us that people who engage themselves in pursuing their dreams are massively more successful not only in their work but most especially in their own personal lives. 2. Monitor your day-to-day activities and write down the ones that grab your attention.
Which of these really makes you feel good? What do you spend time on? What shops always get your attention when you go shopping? What magazines do you subscribe to or read? What television programs don't you want to miss? All these may just be the clues you need to what your real interests are. Often, you can be really good at what you love but you will always be second rate (and grumpy) with work that just fills time. Remember, some have one passion in life while others bounce around a bit. You are different. That makes you unique. Just list down the things you love and enjoy doing. You will get your clues. 3. Scan and Dig Deep
I just came across a book by the New York Times best selling author, Barbara Sher. Thank you Barbara. All my life I have envied people who from an early age have their dreams clearly identified. I enrolled in university not knowing what I wanted so I went for engineering, where most of my close friends went. After a semester, I explored other things. Subsequently, I bailed out of many commitments to endlessly explore, only to reach almost 60 and still not clear about what I really want. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy many things and can truly focus in many of them. I am also good at them as I have the discipline to learn what I get my hands into. But I always felt guilty or incomplete because I just could not choose. I love doing different things at the same time. Then, Barbara clarified this for me. I am a scanner. I was happy when I finally understood my reality. I am a scanner! Now, I am happy not choosing but giving way to whatever interests me. Wait a minute, though. I can do this because I am retired. Although I also believe when you love what you are doing, the money comes. Scanners posses a unique type of mind that scans the horizon, eager to explore everything they see and pursue many areas rather than a single point of interest. If you know you are this, you can train yourself to focus. As Malcolm Gladwell said, you need 1,000 hours to learn a skill but you need 10,000 hours to master it. The point is know yourself. Listen to your inner self. That is your guide and if you follow it faithfully, you will achieve your own unique mission. It will not be the same as the other person because you are different. So be a scanner but listen to your own inner guide. 4. Dream Big
New Year, New Job. Your reach should exceed your grasp...or why have heaven? Yes, dream BIG. Often, we are limited by our own lack of courage. We get involved in things that we thought were the biggies.... only to find out years later it was just a tired bog to sink into. How do you dream big? Well...first of all, make your mind "4 wheel drive" so it can explore any place you come to. Have the courage to be your own self, your own unique self. Listen to the inner voice. Our life is not only cluttered but filled with so much noise that we can hardly hear our inner desires and longings. The big things we thought about in our younger years when our passions were...ahhhhh....somewhat limited and the worlds' options had not much affected us. We thought we could be Superman or Luke Sky Walker or a cartoon character rather than a real human. Get a dream, not an escape. Give your new four wheel drive mind a real chance! 5. Start Your Dream Job with YOU...Brand yourself
Forget the photo gambit. Instead, create a particular, targeted and brief description that ties together your knowledge and experience and link it to the job you are after in such a way that it grabs the attention of the person wading through the pile. Your cover letter is the spotlight. Focus the Spotlight. Highlight key distinguishing characteristics of yourself. The CV or bid will cover all the regular stuff. Do a new cover letter for each job. If it looks generic, you are toast. Back off the bing and go right for track record proven characteristics that you would want in an employee or a small company providing a service. Problem solver? Quick learner? Team catalyst? Positive influence and upbeat? What is your PROVEN brand? This is what you need to highlight. You can use the key words in the posting or the call for tenders addressing these specifically. Go for substance, not tap dancing. 6. Find a mentor
Stretch your network to find a mentor. Meet new people. This is important for those of you who may have just lived their lives in very close circles of family and friends. Try to hang around people who are entirely different from you and chances are they will bring you to activities you never even thought about or you have always dreaded doing. Churches can be a safe place to try this...or continuing education classes or workshops. Even facebook and its ilk can be useful. Stretch your network and look for other networks in your new areas of interest. Make a list of people you admire within your circles. Talk to them. Ask them how they built the traits you admire in them. Ask them for suggestions. Make another list of people who are the best in the career you dream of. See how you can connect to them. You will be surprised as to how easily this can be done now. When you truly desire it, you will make it happen. 7. To achieve your dream job, learn new skills if necessary What in your education and experience would make you able to get into the new career paths you're looking at? Make a list of the details of the knowledge, training and experience that relates to the job. Learn new skills if this is necessary. If you are a more mature applicant, really focus on what you have achieved in the last 5 years. If it is a bid, link yourself to recent successful projects. Write down personal characteristics that you could bring to a new area. 8. Have a strategy...a Roadmap to your Dream Career
A good strategy is a must. This is the hardest part. Choosing your dream career can be a joy ride, but getting into it requires stamina and maybe a thick skin. Sometimes, you may kiss a thousand frogs to find a prince. But you can't give in to discouragement or frustration. Just keep taking the steps until you get your dream job. Make ten thousand mistakes. You are no different. We all do. Listen to the stories of writers who had a hundred manuscripts turned down before they hit the big time. Faith in yourself is everything. It needs discipline to stick to the path once taken. It needs constancy despite failures. Keep at it until you have a stable foothold in the business you want to be. Get that ladder against the right building. 9. Be persistent
Stick to your strategy even when you are hardly moving, even when setbacks happen. Success come from persistence. Take the necessary step and then, one step at a time. |
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