If you are analytical, like many of the folks I work with, than chances are you have a few challenges when it comes to dreaming or imagining acareer you love.
But do you realize until you are able to allow yourself to dream big, chances are you will never come close to having a truly fulfilling work life.
Let’s be honest for a minute. If you are reading this and you are in your dream career, wasn’t there a time when what you are doing was only a thought – perhaps even a fleeting thought? You had to have had many thoughts and dreams and seen yourself performing many of the tasks you do on a daily basis.
Richard Bolles calls the “not allowing yourself to dream” part the "Safekeeping Self." This is where we make every excuse we can think of to not take action or to dream big. “What if my spouse doesn’t like what I do,” “I’m not talented enough,” or “I don’t have what it takes.”
Although this concept is nothing new, how many of us would you guess still insert the “Yes, buts…” into our thoughts and we excuse ourselves from dreaming big.
Today I met with a young lady who paints beautifully. Potential buyers have offered to purchase her work, yet she is unable to imagine how she can support herself doing this one thing that comes naturally and is effortless.
Although she is only at the beginning of her journey, it is clear painting is one of the skills that gives her great pleasure and, if she allows herself to dream big, would likely be listed as one of the top skills she would need to use in her work to achieve career happiness.
Given the time it takes to complete one painting, she is concerned that she would end up a starving artist. Yet, is it impossible to imagine a job or career where painting can be incorporated into a portion of the day or once or twice a week? Are you dreaming big now? This can also look like a process of elimination, in many cases. That is, eliminating what you don’t want.
If you’ve ever done mind mapping, you can see how your creative thoughts are all linked – in the center would be “dream work life” or “dream career,” and extending out would be various thoughts and feelings about what that would look like. This is a great way to “dream” on paper.
Because so many things interrupt our imagination process daily, it may be necessary to be aware of the thoughts running through our brains and then catch the feeling we are having at the moment about those thoughts.
Is it sadness, anger, frustration, happiness, feelings of hope, love, anticipation, excitement? When we dream big about what our day would look and make it a point to reach for the better thought, we are on our way.
To have what we want we must first allow ourselves to imagine walking to and being IN our perfect work place. There cannot be any limitations on this – this is not a practical exercise. It is a free association exercise.
No limits. No holds. Go for it. Rock Star? Full time artist? Home office? Beach office? Philanthropist – all great. Just start by dreaming BIG! Who are you talking to, what are you doing and where are you at?
Would you believe for many of us, NOT doing this exercise may have a lot to do with why we feel trapped or are unable to land the job. There is time involved in this. Desperation creates more desperation. Take a breath, take the time and dream big.
I talk about identifying the skills you most want to use in a job as a critical part of this journey. While you are dreaming big, go ahead and notice what skills you are using in this scenario (or one of perhaps several). It’s a great start!
Enjoy!
Dream big career image from Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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