If you are experiencing boredom and frustration in your current job, you might fantasize about the ideal career. But is there really a perfect job out there for you?
Probably not. Sorry if that shatters your dreams, but it’s not as negative as it might seem at first glance.
To start with, it’s pretty difficult to find all of the items on your want list in one single job and secondly, even if there was a job which was perfect for you, you might not find it because you are looking in the wrong places.
Let’s deal with these issues individually.
Your “Want List”
Have you got a list of things you want from a job? Perhaps you want the opportunity to travel nationally or internationally, the chance to use specific skills such as languages, computer expertise or training skills. You may want to work at certain times of the year or specific hours. And you could have some requirements regarding the size and location of the company, training opportunities and likelihood of promotion.
So to begin with, make a list of what you want. Then prioritize – if you could only get some of your preferences, which would be the ones you absolutely have to have and which would you be prepared to do without?
If your list includes very diverse factors, it may be that you need to think about a portfolio career, that is, having more than one source of income. This could include a mixture of self employment and employment or a couple of part-time jobs. This has the advantage of not only enabling you to do very different things, but also means you are not completely dependent on one source of income.
A Different Approach to Finding a Career
Some people have the good fortune to stumble into the perfect job. For example, they take a temporary job when they leave college or when going back to work after a break and find themselves in the ideal job. It may be that the employer offers them a permanent contract , but if not, they find something similar.
Of course, not everyone is so lucky. But you can find the job which is right for you by having an open mind and broadening your horizons. This has become a lot easier with the internet. You can simply chose the most important factors on your want list and search for jobs online. For example, jobs involving travel can be anything from nursing to teaching English, as well as the more traditional jobs in the travel industry.
And don’t forget that a job is not for life these days. This means that if you want to try different careers, you can do so. With so many possibilities for part-time study, it is not as difficult as it used to be to retrain.
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