The article below builds upon insights taken from: Bolles, R.N. (2014). What Color is Your Parachute? Berkley, CA. Ten Speed Press. and an anecdote by Ed Burdette.
The path to your dream job
Once in a while we will stumble upon a picture of something we want. For example you meet someone at your sports club who tells you all about their profession and you feel like this would be a great job for yourself as well. When this idea persists in your mind, the next thing you need to do is to find out how to get closer to actually getting that job. Often this dream job is not something you can start right away, since you lack experience. However there are several steps you can take to get closer to it:
- You can put yourself in positions to gain the skills and experience you’ll need. You take a job that isn’t your dream job, but will help you in that direction. You build something over time.
- You can also simply start by interviewing or meeting up with professionals to get to know more about their work and professional lifestyle. Such conversations could indirectly land you a job as the interviewee can connect you to more professionals in the field.
- Small (< 100 employees), less popular companies are sometimes more open to such interviews, especially for job-hunters with non-ordinary career paths, or older job-hunters.
Go to article 4.2 ‘What professionals do you connect with naturally?‘