Yes, I am convinced that you can and will find and get the job that’s right for you – that is less like work and more like fun, that makes you want to get up in the morning and get to work because you are so motivated by what you do, what impact it has, the people you work with, and the purpose of it all.
I’m convinced of this because I know so many people who now are doing work they love – including me. You are no different from them.
You may be looking for a job right now and think you have to settle for just anything. I disagree completely.
It will take the same energy to find just any job as it will to find your “right fit” job – so why not aim for something that will make you happy?
Here’s how to start.
You know what you love to do for work and to make a living. There are things you enjoy so much you either already do them for free or as a hobby, or would do them for free if you could. There are skills you take great pride in using, and accomplishments that gave you the feeling of being on top of the world.
Of course, you also know those jobs or tasks you would like never to do again, as well as those skills you really can’t stand using anymore – even if they were hard won. And there are things that bore you now because you’ve done them too many times.
Take a sheet of paper. Pick up a pen you like to write with. On one side of the paper, write all the things you never want to do again. Flip the paper over. On this side, write all the things you love to do – at work, at home, at play.
Compare the things you like to do at work and at home and at play. See if there are any commonalities. For example, I know a woman who loves to give dinner parties, complete with customized menus and decor. She hates being a lawyer, because it’s boring. However, she does like lawyer pay. She now works with nice people, instead of at the corporate firm where it was incredibly competitive and elitist. The firm is small which she likes, and her dinner parties are usually small. What she misses at her current employer is working on projects from beginning to end. Her dinner parties are projects, and she designs them from beginning to end.
From this and other information, she realized she was drawn to the design field, and that she really likes working in a cooperative environment with a relatively small group. She likes to work on projects and is comfortable working on her own with a minimum of supervision.
Now she’s taking classes to learn more about design and what specific field she might enter. From informational interviews, she’s realized she doesn’t want to be a residential interior designer because they make too little money. And she’s redoubled her efforts to keep her current job because it provides a pretty comfortable spot from which she can plan her career path. At the same time, she’s looking for legal jobs in the design field so she can get closer to the industry and learn more. We’re targeting smaller firms of high-end goods, mainly homewares. Her resume features information and accomplishments to market her to this new industry. She also has a model cover letter explaining the transferrability of her skills and her passion for design, as well as rehearsed answers to difficult interview questions.
This is just a simple example of how to use information about your life to figure out what you want to do. It’s not the whole story, just a taste of the process I use to help people discover what they love to do and then create the marketing materials necessary to get that “right fit” job.
