Find a job you love and make yourself happy.
The idea of finding a job that you are going to love sounds easy, but why are so many people unhappy in their careers?
Did you know that most people spend more time planning their summer holidays than they do their career? Don’t be one of the crowd and fall into this trap! Instead, with a little planning and by learning some subtle techniques, you can accelerate your career to such an extent that you can even get the job of your dreams!
This short blog is going to outline some of the KEY tips you should consider when trying to find work that you will LOVE.
CHOOSING A CAREER IS NEVER EASY!
One of the hardest decisions in life is choosing what career path to take. Moreover, it is even more difficult to find a job you love.
After all, this decision is ultimately going to shape your everyday life. It is a job that you will be doing about 5 days a week, for many years to come. Therefore, you want to ensure that you choose a career that you are going to love and that you will enjoy doing for a long-term period.
FIND A JOB YOU LOVE
A dream job is regarded as something that appears – initially at least – to be out of reach of the ordinary person.
However, by using a career mapping strategy you can, in fact, find a job you love and thus, achieve extra-ordinary career success that enables you to get this type of job.
A career mapping strategy is where you examine the role that you ultimately want and map out a route –using intermediate jobs as stepping stones to get there. It is a long-term plan that sets out what you want to achieve and how you will go about it.
CHOOSING A CAREER
There are many different career paths you can head down:
Discover which jobs are most suited to you.
- Think about your skills and personality. What transferrable skills and qualities do you have?
- Will your current skillset help you to find a job you love. What kind of job is it that you are looking for?
- If you’re an introverted person, you may find a job that requires less socialisation better suited to you. If you’re an empathetic person, a job in social care could be well suited to you.
Create a personal skills audit.
- This will allow you to find your best skills. You can evaluate yourself and determine what characteristics you have, before applying them to a certain career.
Understanding who you are is an important FIRST step in finding a career that you will love.
ANALYSING YOURSELF!
In order to find a job you love, you first of all, need to ask yourself some basic questions:
- What are your strengths?
- What do I see myself doing for a long-term career?
- What do I do best?
- What do I struggle with?
- What do I enjoy?
- What fascinates me and makes me curious?
- Who do I envy in terms of their career?
- Who are my role models in terms of career?
Knowing the type of person you are, and the characteristics you possess, will go a long way in determining what career choice is ideal for you.
Not everyone is cut out for the same choices. Find a job that you will love; your career choices should reflect the type of person YOU are; NOT the type of person your family wants you to be, or what your friends are doing. Making your own life decisions is crucial to your happiness!
STRENGTHS AND SUCCESS
- What are your biggest strengths?
- What are you good at?
- What do you do best?
It’s not always about what you want to do, but what you can do. What can you thrive from? How can I be successful? Well, to answer these questions, you need to find a job you love. Finding a job you will love will go a long way of shaping not only your career, but you as a person.
For more information, take a look at this useful video about finding work that you love.
EXPERIENCE MORE, EXPERIMENT MORE
- What experiences have you had?
- Have you found something you are passionate about?
The key to finding a job that you love is to TRY everything.
If you have no idea where to start looking, or what you are interested in, you need to experience lots of different things.
That way you will eventually come across something that you are passionate about.
CREATE AN ACTION PLAN
Consider your current situation
- Employment, finances and stability
- Qualifications, training and experience
- Skills, personality and interests
Things to consider:
- What are your short term and long term career goals? Set yourself goals that are realistic. How are you going to reach these goals?
- Constantly review your progress.
- Create a backup career plan just in case. Your situation might change, and you need to adapt to these in order to manage and meet your set goals.
- Your first short-term goal could be that you CV needs improving. If so, take a look at our advice on how to write a CV
RESEARCH
A big part of finding a job that you love is RESEARCH.
Research into the career that you see yourself doing. Is it something you can see yourself enjoying?
Try and shadow someone in a similar position to the one you see yourself in. Does it match what you expected?
There’s plenty of support available to help you learn more about your options and make a decision, including:
- Company websites;
- Family and friends;
- Professional bodies;
- Tutors;
- Recruitment agencies;
- Career fairs;
- University careers and employability services.
PERSEVERE WITH YOUR DREAMS!
Authors would not publish best sellers if they gave up after their first draft. Scientists would not find cures and statistics if they gave up after the first obstacle. Can you see what I am trying to convey? People wouldn’t get anywhere if they gave up at the first sign of implication.
Nothing worth having in life comes easy. You will understand this concept with the more life experiences you have. The point that I am trying to make is that if you want something, you have to set out to achieve it – no matter the obstacles or implications that stand in your way. Find a job you love and go after it – matter what obstacles get thrown in your way!
The KEY to success and finding a job you love is perseverance.
Try and try again until you reach your goals!
Whatever step backs and obstacles thrown your way, use those as a way of learning. What can you do differently? How can you avoid these issues for next time? What do I need to do to get one step closer to securing my ideal job?
