“What is your dream job” is an important question in most job interviews. According to human resource experts, the concept of a dream job brews from an aspirant’s skills, interests, values and ambition.
At the core of a dream job is doing what one loves.
“Get the dream job” is also a common piece of advice. But the fact is many people are far from their “dream job” has many reasons.
There are many pathways to move towards the dream job with long-term planning and effort. A fresh graduate may struggle in developing a clear vision of what is the dream job. For many, survival is the basic step before sprinting to dream jobs.
In the USA, females’ dream career list has doctors, veterinarians, teachers, and nurses. In early adolescence at ages 13-15, the doctor was most popular for girls whereas in late adolescence (16-18) veterinarian, teacher, and nurse had been popular. Among teenage boys, the athlete was the most popular aspiration during and that ideal role changes in late adolescence 16-18 ages
A person employed in a 9-5 job and working below his potential may find the current job frustrating and the dream job is still elusive. However, no journey is final. With motivation and persistence, barriers can be broken.
For a dream job, there has to be a goal with a road map and timeline to reach the various milestones. A dream job may look unattainable in the beginning but the right amount of preparation can make the quest easier and achievable.
Acquire the skill sets and education for the dream job and improve chances of finally landing it. The goal must be clear as a dream job is not a traditional job.
The next step is exploring researching careers and industries that match your skills and aptitude and start the preparedness right away. A dream job quiz can add inspiration to the thought process.
In whatever you try make sure it contributes to the dream job plan. Then everything will fall in line. Keep adding skills, experiences, knowledge, and contacts until the resume is formidable enough to leapfrog into the dream job.
Do something productive every day while working towards a dream job plan. It can be doing a side jig or taking an adult-education class or attending workshops.
As billionaire Warren Buffett suggested the fastest lane to the top is not always a straight line. Daily retrospection is a must to identify missing skills and maximizing strength. So work on the weaker areas to bridge the gaps.
Once strengths and weaknesses are identified draw up an action plan to double your strengths. If communication skills are weak and the dream role calls public speaking skills join an online course to improve. If there is great domain knowledge about a field get an online certification to prove it before future employers.
It is the lack of initiative that makes many confident people stuck in unsatisfying jobs because they are wary of experimenting and taking bold or risky decisions on a career.
A survey by LinkedIn says 85 percent of plum jobs are filled by references from the network from people whose experience and kinship boost an applicant from a faceless applicant to a serious contender.
That calls for keeping contacts alive and also attending industry events or networking events to be seen with the right people.
While making your resume too, emphasize current skills and talents that deliver results. Experience is a great attribute but a resume is a platform to make a connection with a hiring manager, who handles hundreds of resumes a week.
A dynamic resume communicates results and project a picture of significant actions in the past and show what the outcome was.
For example, instead of writing about the experience in sales, make it compelling with details like: “I grabbed $300,000 worth of new business in the fourth quarter using my outreach.”
There is a piece of advice by Glassdoor to job seekers that they must be up to date on the company they are called for interview and know the work they do.
The question “What’s your dream job?” is an opportunity to show the interviewer the ambition and forward-thinking and skills that can make a great employee.
To frame the answers to the question what is your dream job reverse engineer it and prepare answers to expected questions.
The best method to prepare an answer is to write out a description of your dream job that you envisaged.
Despite all planning and work, if the dream job is still away, never feel dejected. Some realities in the job market are also responsible for that.
Some international researchers have reported the discrepancies between people's aspirations for dream jobs and the realities in the job market.
A researcher from the University of Houston says when it comes to career aspirations for teenagers, shooting for the moon is easy to land in the stars.
The findings in the Journal of Career Assessment say adolescents aspired for careers where automation is less.
However, there were huge discrepancies between aspirations and the number of jobs available in the labour market.
For females, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, and nurses are hot careers.
The doctor job used to be most popular in early adolescence accounting for 12 percent of all female aspirations at 13-15 age group, whereas veterinarian, teacher, and nurse were more popular in late adolescence at ages 16-18 years.
For males, the athlete was overwhelmingly the most popular aspiration during early adolescence but changes in late adolescence ages 16-18.
The study sums up that ambition is fine for a dream job and never be discouraged. At the same time, a good backup plan is key in reaching a high goal with a constant drive.