Are you tired of drudging along in a boring office or labor-intensive job? Believe it or not, there are people out there who love their job and don’t merely tolerate it. Imagine waking up on Monday morning without a heavy sigh. This isn’t an unattainable goal. In fact, you can join the ranks of the happy working elite by following the five tips below.
1. Assess Your Strengths – There are more than one dream jobs out there, but you must first assess your strengths and determine which career is right for you. While you may have always fantasized about being an opera singer, that clearly won’t be attainable if you are tone deaf. Start your research by completing a PeopleMaps personality test, then you can decide which career path is right for you.
2. Make Contacts in the Field – Sometimes, it really is who you know that lands you a dream job. Luckily, networking has become a lot easier since the advent of Web 2.0. Starting a professional profile on Facebook and LinkedIn will help you get a foot in the door with certain contacts.
3. Know Where to Find Jobs – Certainly you aren’t still circling want ads in the Sunday paper? You need to step into the 21st century and put the Internet to good use. Meta job search engines like Jobster, Indeed and SimplyHired will do much of the legwork for you. You should also consider the possibility of relocation for your dream job, in which case you need to find out where the best jobs are to be found. Indeed some will actually provide an interactive map that shows where the highest concentration of your dream position is.
4. Develop the Perfect Resume – Your resume should be crisp and free of errors. If you have any doubts about your resume, then it would be very beneficial to hire a professional writer to polish it up. Affordable resume writers can be found through sites like Get a Freelancer, Guru and Elance.
5. Train Yourself for Interviews – Once you land a desirable interview with a company you really want to work for, you must conduct some research. Find out more about the company and, if possible, the person who will be interviewing you. Come prepared with your own questions, make eye contact, be professional and (perhaps most importantly) be relaxed. Tell yourself that you don’t need this job, as the desperation will put you at an immediate disadvantage.
** This article has been contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of job descriptions. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: [email protected]
