How to find your dream job: good advice from a "bounty hunter"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

After another trip to London, "bounty hunter" Jennifer Gresham realized that the expression "home sweet home" (home sweet home) can also sound like "work, sweet work". If you can find a home to live in that you always want to return to, then you can find the same job! The job search strategy is somewhat similar to the search for housing in a huge metropolis.

How often after being fired do you swear to yourself that you will no longer buy into the promised solid annual bonuses, words about a close-knit team of professionals, interesting projects, a beautiful office, and finally for free coffee and mountains of office cookies? !! Usually, if the “dream business” did not take off immediately, the former office samurai rush to return to their alma mater - a large cozy office with cute smiling employees.

But literally after a few months, the feeling of euphoria from the return passes, and you again start looking towards the door, sighing about the dream that never happened. And your resume is replenished with another beautiful point about the place of work, and the place of work loses one more professional. And so it can go on forever, until you get tired of looking for that perfect job (or your own project).

Headhunter Jennifer Gresham shares how to stop rushing between the offices of various companies and, finally, find a job that will suit you in everything.

Ignore good advice

As we know, the road to a not very pleasant place is paved with good intentions. For example, you found a job in one of the metropolitan areas and are now looking for an apartment from which you could quickly get to work, for example, without the help of a car.

The search criterion can be any, but it is your personal, so it may seem strange and not entirely correct to someone.

And you start asking people living in different areas near your future place of work about how they live there, etc. And they begin to convince you that their area is the best, because they live there and know where it is good. And you gradually begin to doubt your initial choice, thinking that it might really be worth buying a car and settling in the area that was advised to you.

It's the same with work. People begin to convince you that the company (or industry) in which they work is the best choice! Maybe for them everything is so, but it is not at all a fact that your criteria are the same and the same place of work will be just as ideal for you.

Don't be confused and think about what's good for you and not for someone else.

Ask adjectives to describe the job

When you read a description of an area in a guidebook without seeing it, you already imagine its buildings and streets, simply trusting the adjectives with which it was described. Or try asking a friend about a place and imagine the area. And then go there on your own and understand what associations it evokes in you.

It's the same with work. Ask someone who works there to choose the adjectives that best describe her and reflect her essence. For example, the adjective “promising” can easily be replaced with “competitive” or “tense” - it sounds not so tempting anymore, right? Consider whether the job is right for you.

Get to know your employees as best you can before making your final decision

How often do you hear that a company is one big friendly family, where every employee is valued and his opinion is taken into account. It is customary to say that they do not leave the company, but the bad boss. But in reality, this is not always the case.

If it is not customary in your team to cover each other's backs and employees are often in a state of permanent war with each other, think carefully about whether your nerves are worth such work.

No matter how big the reward is offered to you and no matter how sweet your boss is. You simply will not be able to do your job efficiently and on time, or feel calm.

It may take you years to understand what a “strong family” means to you, whether you need this feeling at all and, of course, find just such a group. So if you come for a trial period, try during this time to get to know your employees as best as possible, not only in a work environment, but also on vacation - go to lunch with them, attend general trainings, etc.

Be honest with yourself

Imagine that you have to choose from two apartments. Inside, they practically do not differ from each other, but one has a wonderful backyard, while the other does not, but has a view of the cute neighbor's garden. Naturally, the one with the backyard is much more expensive. Therefore, you need to collect your thoughts and understand what you need more - a backyard or will it be quite a beautiful view? Especially if in the previous apartment you had a backyard that was simply not used. Is it worth overpaying just because it seems to be accepted and exactly the same yard you had in your old apartment?

The same analogy can be drawn with finding a job. Be honest with yourself and figure out what exactly you don't like, what is annoying. Maybe you don't like the work itself, but only some of the moments that you perceive as a waste of time? Conflict with your ego and try to understand the true causes of unpleasant feelings about work.

Beware of the zone of indifference

If you have to choose between two apartments, one of which is very good, and the second is two heads below the first, your choice will be obvious and not difficult. But if the apartments are almost the same and each has its own nuances, which can be both pluses and minuses at the same time (as you turn), the choice becomes more complicated and you begin to suffer moral torment.

With work, everything is exactly the same! If one has many more benefits than the other, your choice is clear. But if the job offers are almost the same, you start to get into trouble. You compare and contrast everything, write down all the pros and cons on a piece of paper, compare, write the lists again. And so it can continue until a nervous breakdown or the choice of a job with a coin (heads or tails).

The longer you think and compare, the more regret you will feel about the unselected job - what if it would be better ?!

In this case, your agony of choice is absolutely useless, because both of these jobs are the same (neither better nor worse). Calm down, take a deep breath, and just pick one of them.

Working Conditions Checklist

All people are different and each has its own criteria for the desired job. The list of criteria may not be all that complete, but answering its questions will make it a lot easier for yourself to find your ideal job.

Physical (what your job is like)

• Indoors or outdoors?
• City or countryside?
• How long does it take to switch?
• How will you get to work (car, bike, public transport, on foot)?
• How often do you travel?
• How many hours do you work?
• A separate study, office or common area (i.e. laboratory, classroom, kitchen)?
• Noisy or quiet?

Emotional (the feelings your job evokes)

• What is the pace of your work?
• Content or exciting?
• Cheerful or demanding concentration?
• Relaxing or Stimulating?
• Stable or demanding initiative?
• Predictable or Unpredictable?
• Structured or not structured?
• Can you be yourself or do you have to adapt?

Social (with whom and how do you interact)

• Do you spend most of your time with clients or colleagues?
• Are you a leader or a follower?
• Do you work as a team or on your own?
• Is the work in the nature of a partnership or, on the contrary, is it competitive?
• Horizontal or vertical relationships between employees?
• Large or small organization?
• Liberal or Conservative?
• What is the demographics of your colleagues?

Not all of these factors will be important for you when choosing a job, but they will help you significantly narrow the range of job choices and, perhaps, you will stay on it for a long time.