How to find your dream job –
Introduction ๐
Have you ever heard the saying:
“If you love the work you do, you never work a day in your life”?
This couldn’t be more true.
If you love your job, it doesn’t feel like working! ๐๏ธ
Is there anything you enjoy so much that you’d do it every day, for free? ๐ธ
What about:
- Playing with cute animals ๐
- Helping others ๐
- Saving lives ๐ฉโโ๏ธ
- Spending time outside ๐๏ธ
- Making art ๐จ
What if you could get paid, to do the things you love? ๐
That would be amazing, right? โจ
Finding your dream job and getting paid to do the things you love is the ultimate goal. ๐
Time is short, so why spend your whole career doing something you don’t enjoy? ๐คทโโ๏ธโ
But with so many career options out there, how do you find your dream job? ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ
It’s important to note whilst reading this article, that:
- You might not find your dream career on your first try, or even your second ๐ฅ
- Every job is a stepping stone towards your dream career ๐ช
- As a person, you change over time, and your dream career probably will too ๐ชด
Today we’re going to teach you the secret to finding a career that you love. ๐
Step 1 – Learn about yourself ๐ช๐
How well do you know yourself?
Are you clear on your:
1. Interests ๐
2. Skills โ๏ธ
3. Personality ๐
4. Lifestyle goals? ๐๏ธ
Knowing yourself really well, will help guide you towards a career that you will love. ๐ฆธโโ๏ธ
1. Interests – What do you love? ๐
What things interest you, that you’d love to be involved in every day? ๐
It could include things like:
Animals ๐บ, sports/fitness ๐คฝโโ๏ธ, art ๐จ, film/TV ๐ฝ๏ธ, science ๐ฉโ๐ฌ, news ๐ฐ, books ๐, geography ๐บ๏ธ, money/finance ๐ธ, history ๐ฆ, entertainment ๐, maths โ, music ๐ผ, technology ๐ป, travel โ๏ธ, vehicles – boats/aeroplanes/trains/cars โต, politics ๐ฉโ๐ผ, business ๐ผ, plants ๐ชด, gifts ๐, research ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ, spreadsheets ๐, fashion ๐, laws ๐ฉโโ๏ธ, education ๐, social media ๐ฑ, healthcare ๐ฉบ, food ๐, advertising ๐บ, childcare๐ถ, the environment ๐, writing โ๏ธ
Why not create a mind map, to explore your interests ๐คฉ๐ญ
2. Skills – What are you good at? ๐ช What do you want to be good at? โ๏ธ
If you’re naturally good at something, you are far more likely to be able to get paid for it. ๐ธ
If you’re not naturally good at something, it might be more difficult to find a job in that area. ๐
Knowing what you’re good at means that you know what will give you an edge over other people in your career. ๐
Your skills could include things like:
Confidence ๐, public speaking ๐๏ธ, communication ๐ฑ, creativity ๐จ, maths โ, being organised ๐, teamwork ๐, solving problems ๐ง , being positive โ๏ธ, making jokes ๐ฅธ, growing plants ๐ฑ, being thoughtful ๐ญ, leadership ๐ฉโ๐ผ, making decisions ๐, being strong ๐ช, being proactive ๐โโ๏ธ, writing โ๏ธ, tech skills ๐ป, selling ๐ท๏ธ
Why not create a mind map, to explore your skills? โ๏ธ๐ญ
3. Personality – What kind of person are you? ๐
Your personality can impact what types of jobs you’ll enjoy or not. ๐ค
Would a shy person want to be a stage performer? ๐๐บ
Possibly not. ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Understanding your personality can help you to steer towards a job that you’ll naturally enjoy. โจ
What personality traits do you have?
You could be:
Outdoorsy ๐๏ธ, honest ๐, kind ๐, generous ๐, thoughtful ๐ญ, sociable ๐, curious ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ, confident ๐, shy ๐, analytical ๐, patient ๐ง, observant ๐ง, creative ๐จ, adaptable ๐โโ๏ธ, trustworthy ๐, approachable ๐ถ, enthusiastic ๐, respectful ๐ค, charismatic ๐
Why not create a mind map, to explore your personality? ๐๐ญ
4. Lifestyle – What kind of lifestyle do you want? ๐๏ธ
Your desired lifestyle can impact what types of jobs you’ll enjoy or not. ๐
If you want an expensive lifestyle, you might struggle to enjoy a job that doesn’t pay very well. ๐ธ
Think about:
- What days you want to work ๐
- Where you want to work – indoor/outdoor, which country ๐ข๐๏ธ
- Would you want to travel with/for work? โ๏ธ
- Hours per week โ
- How many jobs would you want? One? a few? ๐ผ
- Holidays – how many would you want each year? ๐๏ธ
- Stability – would you want to work on a permanent contract, a fixed term contract? ๐
- Who would you want to work for? ๐ฉโ๐ผ Yourself? Your own business? A company? A charity? Customers? A mixture of people? ๐คผ
- Pay – how much would you realistically want to get paid? ๐ธ
- Who you want to work with? ๐งโ๐คโ๐ง
- What are your financial goals? ๐ฐ – getting a car? ๐ buying a house? ๐ having kids? ๐ผ retirement? ๐ง fancy holidays? ๐๏ธ – how much would you need to be paid to reach these goals? ๐ณ
- How important are your lifestyle goals? ๐
- What things would you be willing to sacrifice for your dream career? โค๏ธโ๐ฅ
Why not create a mind map, to explore your lifestyle goals? ๐๏ธ๐ญ
Step 2 – Research ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ๐ป
Next, it’s time to get your detective gear on, and research the jobs/careers that are out there. ๐
This might take some work – it’s always good to come up with lots of options to choose from! ๐
You can search places like:
- Job boards ๐
- Google searches ๐
- Inspiration boards online ๐ป
- Linkedin ๐
- Researching people who inspire you โจ
- Thinking about people you know, who love their jobs ๐ฅฐ
- What did you want to be when you were little, why? ๐ถ
- Asking people you know ๐ฌ๐ค
- Researching jobs you’ve heard of ๐ผ
- Asking for advice e.g. career advisors, teachers, career coaches ๐ฉโ๐ซ
- How do inspirational people make their money? ๐ธ
Ask yourself these questions:
- What jobs exist that would suit you? ๐ป
- Could you turn your hobbies into a job? ๐ด๐๏ธ
- What jobs are near you? ๐บ๏ธ
- Do you need money to help get into that career? How much? ๐ธ
- What jobs match your interests, skills, personality, and lifestyle goals? โ
- Do you need to move to get the opportunity? โ๏ธ
- What training or qualifications would you need? Are you willing to get them? ๐
- Would you need work experience? ๐ผ How would you get it? ๐ช
- What skills do you already have that could help you be successful in that career? ๐คนโโ๏ธ
- What skills do you need to develop to be successful in that career? ๐ ๏ธ
- Who do you know that could help you? ๐โโ๏ธ
Why not create a mind map, of potential career ideas that might suit you? ๐ญ๐ผ
Don’t worry if you’re not 100% sure about an idea, having lots of options are good. โ
Remember, no ideas should be off limits! ๐ง
This is your dream career we’re talking about. ๐๐ผ
Even if it sounds completely mad, you can turn your dreams into a career if you work hard enough ๐
Step 3 – Experiment ๐ฌ๐งช
So by now, you should hopefully have a list of career ideas – big and small, things that you’d be interested in doing. ๐๐
The next step is to find ways to experiment and try them out! ๐ฅผ
That could involve:
- Getting work experience
- Learning more about the job
- Trialing the job
- Interviewing someone already doing the job
- Doing some studying towards the job e.g. a short course
You want to get a real understanding of what day-to-day life would look like in these careers, to see if they would definitely suit you. ๐
You’re going to be potentially investing a lot of your time, energy, and possibly money into this career – so you want to make sure that it’s definitely for you! โ ๐ฏ
Think about:
What are the best parts of the work? ๐
What are the worst parts of the work? ๐ญ
Would you want to do this every day? ๐
Experimenting with as many career ideas as possible can help you to learn about yourself and what career might suit you.
You might love the idea of being a doctor and saving lives… ๐ฉโโ๏ธ๐ฅ
but what if the sight of blood makes you faint? ๐๐ช
The more you experiment, the more you learn about work you enjoy (or hate!๐ ). ๐ผ๐ค
The more you know about work you enjoy, the better ideas you’ll have for a dream career ๐ง ๐คฉ
Step 4 – Make a plan ๐โ๏ธ
Experimenting for your career can take a veeery long time. โ๐งช
Some people spend their whole lives trying out different jobs, searching for their true passion. ๐๐
There are so many options out there! ๐ฌ
But maybe you’ll get lucky enough to hit upon a career that gets you reeeally excited. ๐
This is where you can start to plan. ๐บ๏ธ
Research has shown that if you write down your goals, you are far more likely to reach them ๐
So, get writing! โ๏ธ
Draw a picture of you in your dream career. ๐จ๐ฉโ๐จ
What are you doing? ๐คทโโ๏ธ
How much are you earning? ๐ธ
How are you making money? ๐ฐ
Next, write down all of the steps you’ll need to take to get there. ๐ช
(You should have a good idea from your career research!) ๐
What qualifications do you need? ๐
What experience do you need? ๐ทโโ๏ธ
Do you need to develop skills? ๐คนโโ๏ธ
List all of the things you might need to do, to reach that goal.
What could you do this week, month, or year to work towards it?
Once you’ve written your plan, follow it, and hopefully, reach your dream career. ๐๐๐ฅณ
Conclusion ๐
So that’s it!
You can find your dream job by following these steps:
1 โ Learn about yourself ๐ช๐
- Interests โ What do you love? ๐
- Skills โ What are you good at? ๐ช What do you want to be good at? โ๏ธ
- Personality โ What kind of person are you? ๐
- Lifestyle โ What kind of lifestyle do you want? ๐๏ธ
2 โ Research ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ๐ป
3 โ Experiment ๐ฌ๐งช
4 โ Make a plan ๐โ๏ธ
Hopefully you’re feeling more confident about finding your dream job. ๐
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about how to find your dream job, share this post with them!
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