Equipped For Success

Dream Job Help – Get a Strategy

Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part1

Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part 2

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Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part 2

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In my post Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part1, we listed these components of a strategy to find and land your dream job:

Identify the gap between the skills and talents you have… and those the dream job requires.
Determine what jobs will fill the gap… and if there is an optimal order to pursuing the jobs (so you can acquire the skills and develop your talents.)
Start your search for the first intermediate job.
Package yourself appropriately in your job search.

We explored the first two in that post. In this one we will cover the next two.

Start your search

Having identified your most likely job and best-chance industry for that first stepping-stone job, start actually looking. This can be difficult to do. Most often, the issue is not about knowing what you need to do, as much as finding the inner resources to do it.

But, just to make sure, let’s cover the what you need to be doing. Get your resume out there. Tell people what (specifically) you are looking for. Ask them to ask their circle of friends and acquaintances to be on the lookout for you (network). Apply for appropriate jobs. Keep looking. Be persistent. Go to networking meetings.

Make sure you are surrounding yourself with more than just other job-seekers. Keep yourself visible to potential employers. Note: if you are doing this job seeking while already employed, be discreet about it, but keep looking. While employers have no qualms about looking for your replacement without ever telling you that they are about to replace you (in whatever fashion), they get seriously bent out of shape if you do the same to them. Yeah, it’s a double standard. When you own the business you can do it differently. Until them, be wise and discreet.

While you are in that stage between searching and landing the job, keep preparing for it. If your job search appears to be a long one, this is where you might consider training that will give you a leg up on the skills needed for the dream job… or one of the intermediate jobs. It is not a substitute for searching and applying for jobs, but a complementary process.

Also take advantage of any trade shows and conferences that you can attend that is in the field you are trying to find a job in. There are a wealth of contacts to be made there… just remember the previous two paragraphs about being visible… and where necessary, discreet.

Package yourself appropriately

In your resume, in your applications, in your cover letter, in your networking, in your interviews, remember to package yourself appropriately. You are marketing yourself. Make sure it is an appealing package.

Highlight your strengths. Since you are going for a job that you are a good candidate for to start with (we covered this in previous post), this shouldn’t be hard. Your strengths should be a significant feature of your candidacy.

Make sure your resume “sells” you properly. (Marketing… remember?) There are tricks you can do on your resume to spotlight your good points while minimizing your weaker points. These are easily found in books and on the web, so I won’t go into them here. However, do plan on having a resume “template” that covers all the ground you want covered for whoever you might be applying to… but never send it out. Always customize your resume to the job you are applying for. Packaging.

When you apply to a specific company for a specific position, point out how your strengths create value for the company. Show them how you are an asset to this company in this job. (If you don’t know that much about the job, then you haven’t done enough homework.) Remember, employers aren’t looking to give you a job… they are looking for solutions to problems… and the right employee is a solution. Make sure they can see how you are the right employee… the solution.

In the interview, dress appropriately, act appropriately, speak appropriately. I can’t give you rules for what apppropriately means because it is context sensitive. You wouldn’t dress the same way for a position as an apprentice machinist as you would for a bank clerk position. Nor for a corporate executive postion. And different still, as a programmer with a Silicon Valley start-up.

You want to match your speech, actions, formality (in dress and manner) to the job and company. But remember, it always better to be one notch more formal than required than to be one notch less formal.

Do you think that packaging is a pain and that it shouldn’t matter? You are not alone. However, experience shows that you ignore packaging at your peril. Since part of my goal is to help you be successful, in good conscience I can’t advise you to do anything but make sure your package is the most attractive one the potential employer sees.

Studies repeatedly show that packaging is important for several reasons (all that have to do with the way our brains are wired) but in this case, primarily because it helps demonstrate your value before they hire you. You might as well stack the process in your favor as much as you can.

Now, with your strategy mapped out, and your search moving forward, you should be well on your way to your dream job. I would love to hear how it’s working for you.

Is there a particular strategy or tactic that you have found effective in your pursuit of your dream job? Share the wealth (of knowledge) and tell us about it.

Don’t forget, if you need help right away, take a look at my coaching program. I have recently put together a package for job seekers that draws upon my years of experience both as a hiring manager and as a job seeker (during 3 different recessions). Your age and experience matter less in your job search than your attitude and drive. We will define your dream job, map out a plan to get there, and create a track record of success.

Other posts in this series:

Dream Job Help – Get a Strategy

Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part1

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Your Dream Job Success Strategy – Part 1

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In my post Dream Job Help – Get a Strategy, I talked about the likelihood that you aren’t ready for your dream job, yet. I also mentioned that you may need a First Aid job so that you can pursue your Dream Job… or at least the stepping stones to that job. And I promised that we would talk about components of a successful strategy and then some tips to implementing it.

Some of the components of a successful strategy in pursuing your dream job?

Identify the gap between the skills and talents you have… and those the dream job requires.
Determine what jobs will fill the gap… and if there is an optimal order to pursuing the jobs (so you can acquire the skills and develop your talents.)
Start your search for the first intermediate job.
Package yourself appropriately in your job search.

Each one of those could easily be the subject of its own post (or many posts)… and might be, one day. But for today, let’s just cover it at a high level.

Identify the skills gap

For this you need to be able to know what your skills and talents are. There are exercises and assessments that can help you discover these if you don’t know what yours are. (My Mission Discovery program covers this ground.) Also, you need to be able to identify the skills and strengths your dream job requires. (We covered this ground in the previous two posts.)

When you have those two sets, the requirements of the dream job that are not on your skills/strengths list is the gap. List those out. This is your working list of what you need to acquire in order to be the perfect match for your dream job.

(You might ask if you have to have all the skill requirements in order to land your dream job. The answer, of course, is maybe. It depends on what your dream job is. If the economy and the world in general will only support 5 people in that job… and a bunch of people would like that job, then you will need to be a perfect fit for it.

If, on the other hand, there are thousands of openings for your dream job and only hundreds applying for it, then as long as you have the critical skill set, you are likely a shoe-in for the job. This strategy will work no matter which end of the spectrum your ideal job falls. The more it falls to the scarcity of candidates side, the more likely you can skip an intermediate job to get there.)

Determine how to fill the gap

While school or more education might be required, most of the time formal education is not a requirement. There are exceptions, of course. If the dream job is being a surgeon, I certainly want you to have the required schooling… and the experience. And, by coincidence, so does the state. But if that is your dream (or similar pursuits), you already know that and can easily find strategies and help to accomplish that dream.

That said, most jobs really don’t require the formal education or training in order to get there. (Although, sometimes, formal training can shortcut your path to the dream job, it should not be the first plan on your list. Going back to school doesn’t bring in money while you are pursuing your dream job. Too many times, people think that more education is the answer. It is the answer only if you are fully utilizing what you have already learned and are still coming up short. Don’t rule it out, but don’t think it is the magic key… it isn’t.)

Most often, having a series of jobs (usually more than one… thus the series) is a surer path to the dream job. Identify the job that you are a good candidate for with your current skills and talents, but that also holds the opportunity to develop one or two crucial skills you are lacking. That is your likely candidate for your next job.

While you are planning, try to identify the job after that that you would be a good candidate for (including your newly soon-to-be-acquired skills)… that also holds the opportunity for growth toward your dream job. Do this over again until your “gap list” have been covered.

At this point, you will have a plan for getting to that dream job… and being in a position to get it and excel in it. Don’t forget that many skills cross industries…. so if one industry isn’t hiring, look for a similar job in an industry that is hiring.

In the next post, I’ll cover the last two points.

Other posts in this series:

Dream Job Help – Get a Strategy

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Dream Job Help – Get a Strategy

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In my post, Looking for that Dream Job? Here’s Help, we defined what your dream job is. We looked at the different aspects of it (what the work is like, where it can be found, who it done with, and (implied) what it takes to do the job.) If you didn’t list what it takes to do the job, then write that down, too. You will need it as you map out your strategy to achieve it.

Review the list. Do you already have everything you need to successfully do that dream job if it was offered to you today? If the answer is yes, then your strategy is to find the job and land it.

If you don’t have all the skills and strengths to successfully do your dream job, then your strategy is to set up a path that will both lead you to the dream job and equip you to do it. That path may take more than one intermediate job in order to acquire all the skills needed for that dream job.

May I be frank, here? Very few people actually have the skills and strengths required for their dream job. The younger or less experienced you are, the greater the certainty that you don’t have all the requisite items.

As an experienced hiring manager, I can tell you that if you had all the skills, talents, and abilities (and able to demonstrate that ability… either through experience or live demonstration) to do your dream job, you would be hired on the spot. Why? Because hiring managers have to hire compromises all the time. They seldom see someone who is a perfect fit… and when the find that perfect fit, they snap him/her up.

So, the likelihood is that you are going to need to move through one or more intermediate jobs to position yourself for your dream job. What that means is that your next job may not look much like your dream job. And, depending on what other skills you need to acquire or talents you need to develop into strengths, the next one might not either.

I’m sorry to have to break the news to you that your next job may not be your dream job… or even the one after… or even the one after that. It all depends on how much “shoring up” your skills and experience need in order to qualify you for the dream job.

The good news is that by conducting your job search/career path with intention and with a plan, you can shorten the process considerably. If you are doing this right, every job will fill in some portion of the needed experience and skills, resulting in being one step closer to your dream job.

Now, you don’t have to do it this way. You could continue the way you have been… working without a plan… being blown by the wind and drifting with the currents of the job market… settling for whatever career path your current employer has in mind for you. Or maybe you are “in transition” (a wonderful euphemism for between jobs… out of work.) Wouldn’t it be nice if your next position moved you a step closer to your dream job?

A warning…

If you don’t have a job and you don’t have adequate savings to allow you to play the job market, then you don’t have the luxury of searching for your dream job… or even for the right intermediate job. You first need to get a “First Aid” job. This is a job that stops the bleeding (money going out with nothing coming in) and “stabilizes the patient” (restores a level of mental health and self-worth.)

It doesn’t matter that you don’t particularly like the First Aid job. It’s purpose is to give you breathing room to pursue your dream job, not to be the dream job (or even an intermediate step.)

One good thing about having a First Aid job, is that contrary to intuition, it makes it easier to get the intermediate job. It is ALWAYS easier to get a job when you have a job. (Not easier from your convenience standpoint, but easier from the standpoint of convincing a prospective employer to consider you.)

Another note on the First Aid job. It doesn’t necessarily have to provide full replacement income. (I have seen people refuse jobs that will provide 80% of their subsistence requirements because it “doesn’t pay enough”. So, they sit around with NO money coming in and get depressed because they can’t find a job that will pay them “what they are worth.”. Don’t be one of those people who sabotages yourself.) If necessary, get two First Aid jobs (part time.)

In upcoming posts, I will address some of the components of a successful strategy and some specific tips for your search. I want you to be able to take back control of your life and of your income… no matter what the economy is doing.

In the meantime, if you need help right away, you might consider my coaching program. I have recently put together a package for job seekers that draws upon my years of experience both as a hiring manager and as a job seeker (during 3 different recessions). Your age and experience matter less in your job search than your attitude and drive. My goal is to equip you for success.

Other posts in this series: