5 Steps to Figuring Out Which Job is Best for Me by Anna Dvorakova
Are you looking for a new, or even your first job? These steps might help you figure it out.
It’s not hard to find job advertisements; the internet is full of it. There are thousands of job search sites with various job opportunities. But what do you actually look for? What position? What company? How do you even read the job description?
1. Decide what kind of company you want to work in.
This one is pretty easy. Where can you imagine yourself? Is it a large corporation or a small start-up?
Large corporations look really good on your resume, and it almost instantly gives you credibility. Also, you will most probably be exposed to a lot of learnings so you can quickly catch up to the company’s standards. A disadvantage might be sort of a rigidness to the firm, since it usually tightens up with many processes and gives you just a little room to be creative. Still, there are many various corporations. There will be huge differences between a traditional bank and Google. Just research and see what would work for you.
Smaller companies and startups give more opportunities to prove yourself and try various tasks. Things are moving quickly so you have to be flexible; each day is different and you always have fun. According to Forbes, 90 percent of new businesses fail, so just make sure that you believe in the product and that it has a future.
There is still a possibility to start a business on your own, but I’ll talk about that in a different post.
2. Industry
This is a very important decision. It’s quite easy to change positions, divisions, teams, companies. Usually it’s the same job, just in a different context. But changing an industry is a big deal!
If you master your industry, you are the king/queen. Often, there is a small bubble of the same people who run it and who are gurus in it. You can see it, especially in the event industry. There are just a few people who know each other well and kind of rule the whole industry. Once you get to know them, you become known, too. Then you can flow in the industry sea. It doesn’t really matter where you work at a certain moment, but who you are and what you know.
Make sure that you have a passion for the industry. Do you like planes? Go for aviation. Are you passionate about finances? Go for banking or trading. This decision is long-term and often life-long, so try to choose something you believe in.
3. Choose a department.
This should be easy for people who studied a subject at school that they wanted to pursue in their career. However, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, only 27% of people work in a field of their major. So if you are among the remaining 73%, you got a lot to decide about.
For accounting, IT, legal, etc., you should already know your sh*t (or you can take a postgraduate course). But stuff like project management, operations, marketing, etc., are more of a practice. (At least in my experience, it never helped me to run a successful marketing campaign by merely knowing the history of marketing).
Choosing a department is just a start because there are various roles there too. So unless you know exactly which team is right for you, don’t get too distracted by that and focus on…
4. The Position
This is the real bummer!
Not only are there millions of positions, but often the same position has various names. In the past, it was super clear knowing a person’s role just by knowing his position. An accountant? A doctor? A sales rep? Marketing manager? Clear as vodka!
But today? Open LinkedIn and search. Do you have any idea how a normal day of a Portfolio Manager or Service Fulfillment Officer looks like? What is the role of an Insight Manager? Or what is hell is an Audience Interaction consultant? (Those are actual positions. In fact, the last one is mine).
My suggestion in this case would be this: Be as concrete about your role as much as you can. However, use more general keywords in searching for positions. For instance, I’d like to take care of large clients (Account Manager), who I’m going to help by offering them our product (Sales), but I don’t want to cold call them, but instead wait for them to find us (Inbound sales). So while searching for the ideal position, I’m going to use all those keywords and adjust them according to the outcome. Like I can delete “sales” because I was getting too many “hard sales” positions. Or I can get rid of the “inbound sales” because it was too limiting.
5. Know where to search.
There are many websites where you can find job offers. There are specialized websites for certain locations, types of jobs, etc. For instance, LinkedIn has one of the biggest job pools, but with one of the biggest pool of candidates (aka competition) as well.
My recommendation here is BE FOCUSED. Don’t send your CV to 2,000 job offers a day. Be different. And I’m not saying that you have to send them your resume as a video. Or you know what? Do it! Find 2–3 perfect jobs. Read the description. Is that exactly what you were looking for? Awesome! Read the wanted qualifications. Is it exactly who you are now? Excellent! Reach out to them with a personalized approach. Explain to them why they need you and how you can help them. Even better if you know someone from that company so he can give you a reference. For ideas of the videos, check out Youtube for Mindvalley Cover Letter.
It doesn’t have to necessarily be a video. Be creative! ESPECIALLY if creativity is a part of the job. Are you applying for a website designer position? Create a website with your resume in it for them. Are you applying for a strategic position? Mention a few strategies you’d apply at the company. When I was applying for a tour guide position, I attached a few interesting facts about the place I would be talking about (and I got the job). When I was applying for a regional manager position of a company that hadn’t come to that region yet, I did my research on the opportunities they’d be missing (and I got that job too).
Do your research about them. Companies love proactive people.
Just to Wrap It Up
Finding an ideal job is like finding an ideal partner. It’s super hard. It’s possible but it can take a long time finding it. And even if you find it, you have to work on it. Well, that sounds obvious but seriously, people evolve and the job you love now might be boring or not fitting for you in the future. I see it in myself. I love my job already for all the 4 years I’ve been doing it. But I also changed the job 4 times (within the same company). I changed regions and slightly shifted my role.
I used to love being in business development. Getting fast results. It was awesome for my ego, seeing the numbers and being praised by my managers. But I changed. It’s too superficial for me. I like to build relationships with my clients, take care of them for a longer time and what makes me happy now is when the client calls me and says, “Anna, I’d just like to discuss with you my case.”
What I wanted to say is that the job you are looking for might not be forever, but it’s still very important. Don’t waste your time at a job which pays your bills. Look for something that you’re passionate about.
Editor’s Note: This article is being reposted with the express permission of the author, Anna Dvorakova, which first appeared here. We thank the author for sharing her work with us.
