6 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Two weeks paid vacation, grey cubicles, emotionless coworkers, and average industry pay. That was the job offer I had in Milwaukee, a city I had no desire to live in, before graduating university. Far from a dream job.

Everyone else was excited to just get a job and start working. Whether it was in bumble f**k Michigan or the wastelands of Texas, they saw the paycheck and signed their livelihood away. That was not for me.

Sure, it was an engineering job — it wasn’t a bad job in the grand scheme of things, but forget comparisons.

If you’re not happy with what’s on the table, there’s no reason to justify acceptance through comparison.

I was coming out of a great engineering school with an excellent academic record and resumé. There was no reason to jump at the first offer thrown my way. No way was I going to work for the sake of work.

Unfortunately, my job search had been exactly that. I realized I had been looking for work so I could wave the offer letter around. To feel validated. Naïvely hoping my ideal job would somehow fall into my lap. With each consecutive job interview, I came to realize that I was blindly throwing darts at a board. Instead, I should have been aiming at the bulls-eye.

After taking conscious action towards my goal, I found my dream job. Here are the steps I took and the job I finally accepted:

1. Identify What Matters to You

Everyone likes to romanticize about a dream job that offers them “everything.” Unfortunately, few people identify what the hell “everything” is to them.

If you have no criteria for your job search then don’t expect to get anything. Without targets to hit you’re just throwing darts into the wind. So, first thing’s first, identify what you want. Not what anyone else wants, but what you want!

Here’s a good resource to help you: How to Better Achieve Your Goals

As an example, here’s what I set as my criteria based on what I valued:

• Environment: Young, forward-thinking company.
• Industry: Renewable energy, something I decided would be fulfilling.
• Vacation Time: 4 weeks minimum.
• Location: Any city close to my girlfriend at the time (Near Durham, North Carolina).

Note that I did not put down a salary requirement because it wasn’t one of my priorities at the time. I was more focused on being in the industry I wanted to be in and near my girlfriend at the time. In short, my interests came first, and I knew that the salary would come over time.

Once I knew where I wanted to go, it was time to figure out how to get there.

2. Obtain Proper Credentials

I scoured the web for renewable energy work, though I held a degree in chemical engineering. The two barely overlapped. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. If your credentials don’t match the path you want to go down, it’s going to be difficult. In other words, you’re not going to work at CERN if you have a liberal arts degree and no knowledge of physics. You’re going to have to dedicate some time to build up your credentials.

Okay, my jump wasn’t quite as drastic as an art history major seeking to work at CERN. Still, I did decide to proceed to graduate school to get my Masters of Science in Sustainable Energy Systems. My goals were to build up my credentials and travel while doing so.

I ended up at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland for a full calendar year. This allowed me to travel through Europe and get my credentials within a year. Not to mention I paid far less than I would if I were to do the same program in the United States.

It may seem like a pain in the ass to spend another year in school to land your ideal job. I’ll say that it can be if you don’t enjoy the subject. Fortunately, I loved what I was learning. I decided to go down this path because of my interest in it.

Once again: How to Better Achieve Your Goals

Obtaining credentials does not imply that you must go back to school. Sometimes, it’s as simple as taking an exam to obtain a certification. Other times it’s committing to a 2-month online coding boot camp program. Whatever it is, as long as your goals are in line with your passions, trust that the process will be worth it. Enjoy the journey, because the next step is to sell yourself to your dream job recruiters. If you don’t love it, selling yourself is tough.

The whole program ended up being one of the best times of my life. That’s not to brag or boast but show that building your credentials can be an enjoyable experience! Just make sure you dial your aim in, otherwise, you may find yourself running in circles and deeper in debt.

3. Market Yourself Effectively

After completing my master’s program at the top of my class, I still struggled to line up interviews on a regular basis. Well, guess what? You may have the best product to offer, but nobody is going to take notice if you don’t know how to market it.

Let’s start with that sheet of paper that summarizes your entire working career — your resumé. Most people use a trash resumé format that is as bland as a rice cake. These can blend in with the thousands of other resumés companies receive every week. Trust me, I used to review applications at my last position. It’s a sea of monotone, boring, cookie-cutter templates with a crammed list of misspelled accomplishments. Though content is key, it means little if the recruiter doesn’t care to read it.

To fix this problem, start by utilizing an eye-catching resumé template. If you lack the creativity to create one, you can buy one for $10. Fiverr provides quality and affordable freelance services and is a great option. Next, populate your resumé with information tailored to the job you’re applying for. Note the desired skills posted on job listings and echo those skills on your resume. These terms resonate with the recruiter, so they’ll be more inclined to call you.

Second, provide supplementary documents. Everyone submits a resumé, yet few provide supplementary documents without being asked. Impress companies by staying one step ahead! Examples of supplementary documents include:

• Cover letters: Bring out your voice and personality! Don’t use generic, cookie-cutter buzzwords. Be original and clear with your intent and direction. Make sure you tailor this document for each job as well.
• Portfolios: If you have past projects which exemplify skills that the company is looking for, show them off! Make a one-page summary for each major project you’ve completed. Highlight what you did, how you did it, and the results of the project.
• References: This one is simple — have your old friends and coworkers vouch for you! Having reputable people vouch for your competence is invaluable. You love checking Amazon reviews, right? Well, recruiters love reviews too, just from other people.

Great! You have your updated resumé, cover letter, portfolio, and references. Time for some elbow grease.

4. Begin Applying and Hustle

Recruiters told me my resumé was “incredible,” “extensive,” “innovative,” and “one of the strongest I’ve come across.” Still, I applied to over 200 jobs after graduate school. Why? It wasn’t because of the lack of interviews or offers; it was because I wanted to find my dream job. Dreams only work when you apply effort. You’ve got your weapons ready, now get ready to sell yourself.

It takes a bit of trial and error to fine-tune your interview skills. So, don’t get discouraged if your first couple of interviews don’t go as planned. Instead, look at them as practice interviews. You’ll realize similar positions ask similar questions. The more interviews you do, the more comfortable you will be.

Once you are raking in the interviews, be upfront with your expectations. Courteously discard companies that don’t align with your criteria and take in the offers from companies that do. This can be tedious. I remember once having seven different phone screenings in a single week, but it’s part of the process. Once the offers are on the table, we move on to the final step.

5. Negotiate

Across the 200+ interviews I had, I ended up with 14 offers. I sifted through and narrowed down three offers I was most interested in, each with their own pros and cons list. The only step left for me was to negotiate each offer to determine their best and final offer. Don’t be afraid to reject the first offer. Every company should “sharpen their pencil” at least once. By that I mean they should increase their offer.

Negotiation is intimidating but companies expect it and do not treat it as a sign of disrespect. In fact, it sets the stage for who you are and sets the tone that you know what you want and aren’t settling. Of course, there are right and wrong ways to negotiate. I can write an entire article on negotiation itself, but to summarize the main dos and don’ts:

• Don’t focus solely on yourself. Do focus on what you’re bringing to the table. Present a “win-win” scenario where both you and the company get what you are looking for.
• Don’t only fixate on the salary. Do consider the full package in your negotiations (paid time off, benefits, salary, stock options, bonus, relocation, etc.).
• Don’t negotiate on individual issues and drag out the process. Do put your requirements in an organized list and negotiate the package as a whole.
• Don’t make concessions without a counteroffer. Do think of what’s valuable to the other party that you can provide.
• Don’t use confrontational and/or aggressive language. Do present yourself in a friendly, open, and trusting manner. This establishes a good working relationship from the start.
• Don’t make demands nor agree to a deal that doesn’t have your baseline criteria. Do work with the opposing party to make your baseline requirements clear. With clear baseline requirements, it’s far easier to reach an agreement.
• Don’t lie to the opposing party. Do be honest and transparent regarding your skills, other offers, and timelines. You don’t want to start off a new job with them to only find out you’re a liar.

This is only scratching the surface. To learn more about negotiating, I recommend reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on it. This is an excellent book that covers all the bases of negotiation. This skill will prove invaluable for the rest of your life.

6. Sign an Offer

Once you’ve negotiated to your heart’s content, sign an offer and prepare for the next chapter of your life. I managed to get everything I wanted and more during my job search, and so can you. For context, here is what I landed:

• Environment: I joined a start-up environment with a large financial backer (job security). The C-suite executives were in their late 20s and early 30s. Truly a young, forward-thinking company where everyone was treated like family.
• Industry: My role was as a Project Engineer in the solar industry. This was exactly the field I had been pursuing with my continuing education. Also, the role allowed me to dip my fingers into everything in the company.
• Vacation time: Five weeks of mandatory PTO, a step over the four that I required, with flex time.
• Location: My work was 2.5 hours from my girlfriend and in the same city as her parents. We were able to see one another weekly.

I now challenge you to take action and begin the pursuit of your dream job. Don’t settle, because you can create exactly the situation you want. Follow these steps, put in the effort, and don’t settle. Put yourself in the position where you’re excited to jump out of bed every morning.