Job hunting checklist: #1 Sector

Continuing on the topic of job hunting, I’ll be writing a weekly post about each of the topics I listed here, starting with the sector where the company operates.

“. . . the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”— Steve Jobs

That’s a nice quote, but it also leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Some people love what they do because of the craft — the amount of care and time spent to perfect something. I share the same mind-set, but my main source of motivation is something else — the big picture. That’s the only way I can love what I do in the long run.

We all have hobbies or things we love to do in our free time. If you can find a way to combine that with your full-time job, the chances for you to be excited about work will be much higher.

For example, I have a list of 5 main sectors I’m interested in: Education, Sports, Health/Nutrition, Environment, and Tools for Productivity. I had the chance to spend 7 years in education, first as an online instructor, then teaching at a university in Brazil, and finally as a designer building a learning management system. Sometimes, I would work all day, teach at night, and spend my weekends reading about innovative ways of education. I loved what I was doing, so work became play.

Over time I learned that I operate much better when I care about the problem I’m trying to solve. When working as a consultant, I learned to put that aside and focus on having pride in the craft, but as soon as I started working full-time for product companies, I realized that caring about the main problem you are trying to solve will give the extra boost essential to endure the hard times.

So, when looking for a new job, my rule of thumb is to first figure out the things I like to do in my free time and use that as a starting point.