Spring 2008
Dear Jeff,
Welcome to the Spring 08 issue of SWOOSH, Liaison's
quarterly newsletter created to help us stay in touch
with our favorite creative talent: you! Every few
months we offer our perspective on the job market,
advice on applying to jobs, profiles of some of our
valued talent, links to career resources and completely
random thoughts. We hope you find it helpful, and
we welcome your feedback.
Sincerely,
The SWOOSH News Team
www.liaisonresources.com |
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by Dave Claunch,
Owner, Liaison Resources, LP
We've written a lot on this site about how to
find a job,
how to network, how to interview, and what to do between jobs. But we haven't written much about how to find the perfect job - the kind of job you look forward to each morning. How do you find that kind of job?
Its easy to fall into a career because it was a fun major in college, or because it was something that just sprang out of a random opportunity and you stuck with it because you liked the money (and with enough coffee, you can get enthusiastic about almost any job). But what if there's another job out there where you could really outshine yourself? Getting a job like that doesn't seem easy. Figuring out what that job would even be can seem hard enough. So here's a fun and useful five-step process that can help get the juices flowing.
Step 1: Make a list of all things that you're really good at. Writing? Great. Drawing? Sure. Waterskiing? Write it down. Include everything you're good at, even if it's not really a part of your daily routine or your conventional work history. You don't need to be "practical" in this part of the process. The point here is to give yourself a solid inventory of all your strong points. Plus, it can be a great self-esteem boost. You're likely to find yourself thinking: "Wow, I'm good at a lot of things." Take plenty of time with this. Don't be modest and don't edit yourself- make a long list. Don't just say "work well with others," but what do you do well with others? Do you plan projects well with others? Do you connect on a personal level quickly with others? Do you collaborate creatively with others?
Step 2: Now look at your list and rank your skills based on how practical they are in the work world. How likely it is that someone would pay you to do it? There are professional water-skiers out there and I'm sure some get paid, but maybe that one should be lower on your list. On the other hand, if you're good at organizing and motivating people, or you're good at figuring out new technology, you'll want to put those near the top of the list.
Step 3: Next, make a list of things you really enjoy doing. Reading? Crossword puzzles? Connecting with new people? Checking out new technology? When you make this list, try not to think about nobility, money, or duty. There's nothing wrong with putting "watching Entourage" on the list before "spending time with kids". No one is judging you.
Step 4: You guessed it. Rank the items and see how they line up with what you're good at. Especially look at how much overlap there is with the things at the top of your "good at" list -- the things most likely to make you money. By now you'll start to see the "intersections" between your two lists. You'll see a number of things that you're good at that you enjoy doing where you could conceivably make money. Good stuff.
Step 5: Make two more lists: what you're bad at and what you hate doing. Rank these by not just how bad you are at them and how much you hate them, but also by how unrepentant you are. At the top of the list, put things you could never get good at and could never put up with. Maybe repetitive tasks are intolerable. Maybe you will never ever be any good at outside sales. But go easy on yourself. If you think of something you could get better at or could learn to tolerate, keep it low on the list. Some of these negatives might be inevitable. Dealing with unreasonable people? Maybe that's something you can sometimes handle. Time-management? Maybe you could get better at that. Determine which things are an absolute no-go, and which things you could be willing to change about yourself.
Now that you've made your lists, the real work begins. Your next task is identifying what job best matches your abilities and interests (and steers clear of your biggest weaknesses and dislikes). I recommend a multi-prong approach:
First: Scan online job postings, and see how many of the soft-skills line up to your lists. Go to any of the job boards listed here in Swoosh or in the resources section of Liaison's website. Some people think the soft skills in job descriptions are fluff, but they often do point to genuine criteria. You'll start to see which job descriptions best match your personality. You may not have all the hard skills and experience for these particular postings (so you may not want to apply to them just yet), but you'll be learning valuable info on the best types of jobs for you. You'll also get a sense of which companies and types of companies value the qualities you can offer.
Second: Locate others with similar interests. Meetup.com is a great way to network with people with similar interests. So are Door 64, and Freelance Austin, just to name just a few. Whether you're an enthusiastic member of political activism group or an Adobe Flash animation group, chances are some of the other people in the group like their jobs. In Austin alone, there are hundreds of associations, clubs, and networking/events where you can meet with people who have similar interests. Talk to people who love talking about their jobs (If they like talking about their job, they probably like their job). Interview people in careers that you're interested in. Find out if they get to do any of the things on your "enjoy" or "good at" lists.
Yes, some people are lucky. They've always known exactly what they want to do and how to get paid for it. For most of the great careers out there, it's not that simple. With a more deliberate and self-exploratory approach to job-hunting, you can not only enjoy the process a little more, but you can end up in a career that is so great that you'll be happy to get out of bed in the morning. You may not even need coffee.
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