What Is A Dream Career And How To Get One?
A dream job is one that brings you both happiness and a feeling of fulfilment. For some people, this may be a high-paying job with great career prospects, while other people would rather have a job without stress but reflects their personal values and passion. Of course, some careers also offer a combination of both.
What is Your Dream Career?
Most of us struggle to define what our dream career looks like. It can be an overwhelming thing to consider, as most of us never assume we will get that “Dream Career” – or whether it even exists. It’s easy to put up barriers too as their maybe far too many sacrifices or hurdles to overcome along the way.
If you have difficulty visualising a specific job or company that you would love to work for, the great news is that your dream career does not have to be a specific job at a specific company. Instead, your dream career can be a feeling or a set of circumstances that allow you to live a happy, fulfilled, and successful life.
So, what if your idea of a dream job isn’t linked to any specific location, job or job title where do you start?
How to Determine Your Dream Job?
Start by focusing on your personal requirements. What are your values, what are you truly passionate about and what would give you job satisfaction and fulfilment?
Ascertain Your Values – the word “dream” itself suggests it’s just a dream and not reality, so it’s a good position to start by identifying who you are, what are your core values in life, and how a job would reflect that. It doesn’t always follow that if you love to paint you will become a renowned artist, but what it does mean is that your core values will be represented in your work, for instance creativity, an eye for detail, or even teaching and passing on your knowledge and skills to others.
Remember a “Dream Career” is as much about balance inside and outside the workplace. When you find a role that lives up to your values on a day-to-day work basis, but also allows you the freedom to enjoy other things outside your day job that add additional value and experience then everything has become aligned. A career that aligns with your principals and allows you to live in a way that is true to these ideals goes a long way to helping you feel successful within yourself, your role and fulfilled in life.
Success is an Inside & Outside Job - to get a “Dream Career” it is important to look at the wider picture and ensure your outside life is fulfilled and you have an overall sense of contentment and achievement. Be careful that whilst striving for the perfect career you don’t neglect yourself, your identity, and your life outside of your working environment. A dream career should be one that reflects you as an entire person, any career will impact on your homelife in some ways and can often impact on a personal level and your overall focus. Having a dream career is only one part of your life and balance is the absolute key for longevity of such a career.
Look into The Future – there’s a lot of talk currently about the power of manifesting and if you are interested in learning more why not read; “Manifest, 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life by Roxi Nafousi” - Manifesting is seen as the meeting of science and wisdom, a self-development practice that will enable you to reach your goals, cultivate self-love and live your best life. Whether you are a believer in manifesting or have the vision to see your dream job ahead of you – it all starts with you.
Basically, it is a process of envisioning your life and career and living the most successful and happy life possible. By considering all your hopes and dreams and having clarity of what success TO YOU means, your dream career will therefore reflect your personal definition of what success will look like going forward. You may be looking to have your own successful business, working abroad, working around a family, or working within a larger or smaller organisation. Whatever your thoughts, it needs to come back to one thing, and that is what does it look like to you.
How to Achieve a Dream Career?
- Identify your dream job
- Identify your personal values and ideals
- Consider your goals to achieve success
- Research the education and skills required to achieve your dream role
- Reach out to mentors, coaches, and professionals to gain advice & guidance
- Join professional associations connected to your ideal role
- Seek opportunities to gain hands on experience
- Demonstrate passion, drive, and eagerness to learn and progress
- Develop excellent working habits and continuously improve your reputation
- Network with people with similar ideals and passions
- Review any issues that may occur pursuing your dream and find ways to overcome them.
- Stay informed and up to date, keeping on the cutting edge of your chosen field.
- Take steps every day to pursue your passion, research, practice, and work hard
- Participate in careers fairs to find opportunities and make connections
- Take advantage of professional networking sites such as LinkedIn
- Volunteer with organisations in your field to get your foot in the door
- Remember nothing comes easy, if it’s a true dream – it will take hard work and dedication
Learn From Your Current Position
We are not all in a position to know exactly what we want to do as soon as we leave full time education. So, whilst you are in your current job, take it as an opportunity to learn and grow. It can be a lifelong journey seeking a “Dream Job” if it were that easy, wouldn’t we all be doing it right now?
- Consider the skills you are learning and can they apply in your future roles
- Can you obtain new skills that will help your future you?
- Network with people within your company, even within different sectors, many may become mentors and could serve as an excellent source of reference later down the line.
- Learn from the negative aspects of your current job, what would you want to change and avoid in the future?
- What do you enjoy in your current working environment that you would seek long term?
- Leadership skills are not learnt in a classroom you develop those traits over time. The best way to build them is by working with people who already have those qualities and observing them.
- Take it all in. How do colleagues effectively manage stressful situations? Or stay positive when faced with a negative situation?
- Learn from the overall experience - By experiencing its distinct environment day in and day out, you’re seeing how people work together, interact professionally, and manage different situations.
Do What Makes You Happy
Consider these questions.
Ask yourself, what would you choose as a career if money was no object and what would you do for free? If you are willing to do something and not get paid, then this is possibly close to being a dream job.
Whilst we all need to pay our bills, and live comfortably without financial worries, you don’t necessarily need to choose a career that is so high flying and stressful that it makes you unhappy.
Choose a profession that will make you the happiest and allow you to grow and learn. Ask yourself what engages you in such a way you can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning and begin your working day? Finding a dream job should never mean compromising what you stand for or what you want out of your work life.
Most people don’t have all the answers straight away, but with consideration and a little reflection and determination you’ll soon realise that it is possibly to achieve.
What’s Your Next Step from Today?
If you are currently employed but disillusioned and want to make that step towards achieving your “Dream Career”, you can find fully trained professionals in the field to help you through changing your career path and designing your future one. This can lead to having a much happier and fulfilling life, so why not take the time to find the ideal professional for you.
Career coaching is quite a new industry based on the original performance coaching and learning development programmes within organisations. It has been designed to help a person accelerate their career development plan in terms of what they need, want and how to get there.
Think of a career coach very much like a personal trainer, you’ve wanted to make a change for so long, but need help to get started, so why not turn to a professional and get some educated guidance on the right way forward. A suitable coach in any field will help you set and meet goals, find an achievable plan (with hard work) and hold you accountable, as well as challenging you to push yourself and potentially overachieve.
Nothing comes to anyone without hard work and determination, only you can knuckle down and do whatever is needed to achieve the outcome you are seeking.
If you are at the start of your working career then refer to the start of the Blog on how to consider what a dream job looks like and set your goals, targets, and timelines. Enjoy the process, learn from whatever you do and whoever you work with. Growth is so important, consider your values and a plan of action. A career plan is an essential tool for anyone who wants to take control of their career. It will help you to focus your efforts, set achievable goals and measure your progress.
