Perk Up: Six Steps to Getting Your Dream Job

One of the greatest challenges of landing your dream job is not convincing the interview panel that you are perfect, but convincing yourself.

You, after all, know yourself inside out, while to the company you are usually a perfect stranger, with all the dimensions of the paper your CV is typed on. Often driven by a need to fill a desk - or a burning desire to get back to their game of Solitaire - the interviewers have a different agenda to your own.

But for you this is it. This is the platform for your perfect career – or at the very least it is the work space in which you will spend the better part of every day for the next five years. So the responsibility for finding a job that will meet your needs is yours.

1. Know What You Value

A dream to one of us is a curse to another, so be very clear about what you are looking for in a job. Often people define their dream job by the “perks” it offers, but in reality what gives us most satisfaction is a job that aligns with our values. This might sound a lot less interesting than free gym membership or Friday night sundowners, but if you’re an avid environmentalist, all the perks in the world won’t keep you in a company that logs old growth forests.

An important part of this step is also knowing what you don’t value. The best way to determine this is by working out what you didn’t like about your previous places of employment. Try to look beyond the slave-driving manager (that’s often what they get paid for!) or the decrepit coffee machine in the staff lounge and think about travel time, performance reviews, training opportunities and employee participation in decision-making.

If you’ve not had much work experience, try reading through job advertisements and position descriptions for companies you are interested in joining. If they cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end, then avoid at all costs.

2. Remember it’s Your Job, Not Your Mother’s

Given that we are required to make decisions about our career when we are still in our teens, it is no wonder that we are often swayed by what our parents, friends or siblings expect of us.

But just because your mother has been buying you button-down shirts and miniature briefcases since you were six, does not mean that your future as a lawyer is set. If you’ve always wanted to be a zoo-keeper, to the extent that you aced biology, keep pet iguanas and have a lifetime membership to every animal park in your state, then pursue your dream. After all, it will be you and not your mother who is either shoveling crap – or shoveling crap!

(Apologies to any lawyer readers…To the law students, read point one again carefully!)

3. Think like an Investor

As the saying goes, your time is money, so find out as much as you can about different industries and different companies before you commit to your dream job. When you’ve narrowed your search, look at both the company and the role as if you are about to buy a chunk of it. Research its past press releases and if it has a high profile, find out if it has been involved in any litigation or if it has received any awards. Also investigate the CEO or any Board Members. Their track record will provide an insight into the future policies of the company.

4. Get Recommendations

If you are heading for a job interview, don’t rely upon the recruitment agent’s spiel or the company’s glossy brochure to tell you the truth about your future work experience. If possible, talk to an existing employee. Ask for both the pros and cons of working in the job and then decide which list sways you the most.

This will also provide you with a good indicator of the way the company treats its employees, for if your contact insists on meeting in an alleyway in the dead of night and sweats bullets throughout the Q & A process, you can probably expect a less than desirable working experience if you take the job.

5. Check the Jobfit

The jobfit works two ways. This is not a pair of skinny jeans that you can squeeze into despite its protests. You have to fit this job and it has to fit you. In other words, be honest about your personality style and the type of job it is suited to. As a guide, there are four different types of personalities, suited to particular job types:

1. Dominant Directors: People-oriented and task-focused people. Direct, impatient, assertive, and results-oriented. Good jobs: company owners and incentive-driven sales staff.
2. Steady Relaters: People-oriented, yet rarely shares their feelings or opinions. Good listeners, steady in a crisis and likes to get along with everyone. Good jobs: administrators, customer service reps and middle managers.
3. Cautious Thinkers: Introverted and task-focused people. Reserved, good with detail, cautious and logical. Good jobs: accountants, engineers and IT professionals.
4. Social Influencers: Highly extroverted people. Friendly, talkative, inclusive, yet mindless of details. Good jobs: sales and PR staff

6. Say ‘No’

Getting your dream job also means avoiding the mediocre. It can be disheartening to go through the interview process, only to find that the job on offer is not what you had hoped. Having expended huge amounts of energy, time and money (think new suit, haircut, shoe polish, parking etc), you can find yourself looking for reasons to say ‘yes’.

Take a deep breath, smile politely and walk away. While this may be painful and scary, it is much worse to wake up six months later and find yourself unable to get out of bed at the thought of going to work.

NOTE:
A seventh step needs to be added, given that jobs are really about what happens once the interview is over. For some of us getting the contract in the mail sends us into a swoon of delight, but for others it is the realisation that we now have to “get up and go to that job every day for the rest of our lives!”

To keep a balanced view of your new job, and to ensure the dream doesn’t disintegrate into a nightmare, add this seventh step to your list:

7. Take your Job’s Pulse

A lot of companies promise many things, but once you’ve become part of the fabric of the workplace, those declarations can be archived along with last year’s staff newsletters.

After all, the company is also on trial at the job interview and it is a rare company rep who will discuss such things as “employee productivity”, “downsizing”, “staff rationalisation” or “the dismissal process”!

If you have serious concerns about the job meeting your expectations, use the formal avenues to make them known, such as performance appraisals and staff meetings. Just don’t expect your manager to champion your case. After all, when they took their job they were probably promised a Vice Presidency within three years! Instead, work out if you can live with the reality of what the job can offer and see if you can negotiate a middle-ground. If not, be prepared to start the hunt for another dream job.

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