Posted in 30/20 Vision Career Change Recommended Resources on January 4, 2010 at 11:27 am
Happy New Year, everyone! I love the freshness of the new year and look forward to sharing lots of great dialogue with you in 2010.
To start the year, I’m excited to share a guest post from my friend and 30/20 Vision podcast co-host, Alexandra Levit. She has just released a fantastic new book called New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career.
In addition to the tips below, Alexandra is offering some really cool giveaways, including a free teleconference, free coaching and free product offers. Don’t miss out on these great resources.
And now, over to Alexandra…
6 Tips for Landing Your Dream Job
By Alexandra Levit
As unattainable as a dream job might sound, with the right amount of forethought and preparation, you can make the move as well. Here are six tips to get you started:
1) Learn about yourself. Take time to do a self-assessment of your values, how you like to work, and what you’d be compelled to do even if you never got paid. Research careers and industries that map to your skills and interests. Hit the Internet, set up informational interviews, take relevant coursework, and arrange to go onsite at a company in your chosen field.
2) Don’t be deterred by a lack of experience. In developing a resume and other promotional materials for the field you want to pursue, think about how your current skills and talents apply to the responsibilities you’ll hold in the new job. For example, knowledge of project management, client relations, information technology, and sales will take you far in most types of careers.
3) Ease into a new career one foot at a time. Perhaps this means earning a paycheck at your current job while doing a part-time internship in your new field or taking an adult education class or workshop on the weekend. The only way to find out if you’re passionate about something is to try it – ideally with as little risk as you can manage.
4) Remember that any progress is good progress. Even confident people stay in unsatisfying jobs because they feel safe, and because they’re afraid of making a bad decision. But in the quest to uncover a source of meaningful work, though, your worst enemy is inertia. Make an effort to do one thing, like e-mailing a networking contact or attending an event – that moves you a bit closer to your big picture goal.
5) Start early. Younger professionals have more flexibility when it comes to test-driving different careers. The process of self-discovery is much easier when you’re unencumbered by family responsibilities and substantial financial burdens, and when you haven’t yet reached a level in a career where it’s tougher to turn back. That said, it’s never too late to pursue your passion. More and more baby boomers are leaving the world of traditional employment for alternative career paths that will fulfill them well into retirement age.
6) Have realistic expectations. Even if you’re lucky enough to hold your dream job, there’s no such thing as the perfect work situation. Every job has its ups and downs, and aspects we love and aspects we don’t love. And dream job doesn’t mean “cushy” job. As your mom always told you, anything worth having in this world requires some effort. There will be some days you feel like shutting the alarm off and going back to sleep, but many more where you feel more energized by the prospect of work than you ever thought possible!
Alexandra Levit is the author of New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career. Learn more at www.newjobnewyou.com.
@Marian – Thanks for elaborating. I agree with a lot of your points and think you’ll find a lot of that advice on my blog and the blog of Alexandra Levit, who wrote this guest post (www.alexandralevit.com). Keep up the great feedback!
Lindsey
There are a few things college grads are “expected” to do after graduation (and many times while still in school) — take an unpaid internship (aka be somebody’s bitch), take an entry level job at a fancy company getting someone’s coffee… and that’s it really. But what about freelancing? Or aiming a little higher? This post talks a lot about being “realistic” but that just sounds to me like “don’t push yourself”. Just because we’re young doesn’t mean we’re not qualified to take jobs with real responsibilities. And the concept of internships is basically slave labor — I realize that sounds incredibly melodramatic, but the concept of working for free really bugs me. It’s really important to meet as many people as you can (people hire people, not resumes) by joining professional groups, using social media within an inch of its life, making friends with EVERYONE. Freelance. Temp. Take a part-time job while you work hard to find that “perfect job”. And I do think they exist. I also think that not enough emphasis is put on working for yourself. College career centers put all the emphasis on interview techniques, and perfecting your resume, but nothing on how to make real connections or actually getting your resume SEEN. You can’t send out a hundred resumes and expect for people to call you back. Find a way to meet someone at the company so it at least gets handed to HR. This is why I love social media so much. Even if you have no connections you can make them via LinkedIn and reading industry blogs and making twitter friends.
Freelance work is by far the best way to get your foot in the door (from my experience at least, which should probably be taken with a grain of salt). It puts the “big fancy” companies on your resume and gives you experience outside of admin work.
This is turning out way longer than intended, but I hope this puts my point across a little clearer! There’s just so much generic career advice out there but kids my age need to be kicked in the ass because that advice is slowly becoming obsolete…
@Marian – Thanks for your feedback. Do you have any suggestions or recommended resources for “pushing the limits” as you mentioned? Would love to hear more.
Lindsey
I don’t feel like any of this is particularly new information – it also sounds a lot like “play it safe” and that rarely gets anyone anywhere. College grads need tangible, actionable advice, and not tips that tell them to take it easy, pay their dues and sit tight. Life after college is about taking risks and really pushing the limits. We’re young enough and sans-responsibilities enough that we don’t have to take the traditional route and I don’t feel like this post does young people any favors.
This all sounds a little new year’s resolution(ary)! Having said that, if you don’t have much experience, at least be clear on the skills that you have gained from your experience. That’s the minimum. Visit our blog at http://www.mytalentplace.co.uk/blog for more career advice
Thanks for the comments, guys! TF – Are you sure you’re too old for positions targeted to new college graduates? It strikes me that someone who is two years out of college without specific experience in a given area would still be a candidate for the entry level. Positions beyond the entry level usually ask for a minimum of 2-5 years of industry-specific experience. Despite recent events, entry level positions in finance and accounting still tend to pay better than others, so you might make more at the entry level than you would at the mid level in some other professions.
I especially like tip #4. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by change. The idea of breaking it down into bite-sized tasks is a great idea!
I actually disagree that younger professionals have more flexibility. I have found that it is a lot more difficult to “test-drive” careers, especially as a recent college grad. I’ve been looking to change industries for about 6 months now but being 2 years out of college, I’m too old for entry-level positions and too young for experienced hire positions so I feel stuck. I’m not even looking to make a major industry jump, just applying to positions more closely-related to my undergraduate major (Finance). However, virtually all positions I find are looking for people with work-experience in Finance/Accounting so it’s been impossible to change industries. It seems that whatever field/industry you enter post-graduation, you’re obligated to it for at least 3-5 years (unless you go back to school). Any thoughts? What do you recommend for younger professionals in a similar situation looking to change their career paths?