What Is Your Dream Job?
We’ve all heard it as early as preschool. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
A princess? Famous singer/dancer/actress? Doctor? Olympic figure skater? Astronaut? Dinosaur? All of the above, please. Even a three year-old knows you should chase all your dreams.
But seriously, the question, once exciting and fun as a young child, can send chills of terror down any high school or college graduate’s spine. Well, anyone’s for that matter, let’s be honest. There’s so much pressure and build up around the idea of a dream job. Does such a thing exist? How do you know if you have one? If you obtain a dream job, is it sustainable?
We sat down with three of our successful mentors and posed the age old question, “What is your dream job?”
It’s Not What You Think It Is
For Dylan McGee, co-founder and producer of MAKERS, “It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.”
If you had asked McGee as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have said an actress or singer in Hollywood. But, as an adult, McGee quickly realized she wasn’t great on camera. Instead, she stumbled upon her current career, which she describes as her dream job — behind the camera, bringing the stories of incredible women to life. Like McGee, what you think your dream job should be, and what it actually is are often two different things. Staying true to your strengths and weaknesses will help you pivot onto a course that plays more into your passion, which will lead to more success and an easier time recognizing a dream job when you see one.
It’s What You’re Passionate About
Project Gravitas founder, Lisa Sun, sees finding what you’re good at as piece of the puzzle to finding your dream job. A mentor once advised her, “Figure out what you like to do, what you’re good at, and what you’re passionate about.” Sun further explained, “Those may have very different answers. They sound similar, but they are very different answers.” She likes to focus on the last part, the passion. “I love helping people. I love seeing other people succeed and feeling like I’ve had a hand in it.” Whether she ends up a venture capitalist, or even investing in other brands and helping them find success, Sun would consider it a dream job because at the core they allow her to flex her passion. That, or she’d really love to be a Korean pop star. All jokes aside, Sun says she has found her dream job in pursing her passion for fashion and inspiring others as founder and CEO of Project Gravitas.
It’s What Keeps Challenging You
We spend so long considering what a dream job is and how to get it, but what if you’ve found it (when it’s not K-Pop stardom)? What’s next? For Alyse Nelson, she’s found her dream job as the co-founder of Vital Voices, and doesn’t see an expiration date in sight. “I ask myself on a regular basis three questions. Am I curious? Am I passionate? And, am I challenged? Every day…or nearly every day, you can’t be always curious and you can’t be always passionate. You should be challenged on a regular basis. If you can regularly say, yes I am all of those things, you’re in the right place.”
Do dream jobs exist? Yes. Are they sustainable? Yes! Find something you’re good at, passionate about, and challenged by every day, and you’ll have a chance at confidently answering, “What is your dream job?”
For more advice from our Girls’s Lounge girls, check out the full video. Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Written with ❤ by the girls at The Girls Lounge.
