Skip to main content

Step 2--Industry & Function--Ideal Job Description

So can you believe it? I have the treasured scheduled LIVE (vs phone screen) interview (which are now called "chats") on Monday. You know what that means: a day of company research. That's down the line in the process. I just know you'd want to do a happy dance by YOUR computer to celebrate with me. So far (since this all started November 4, 2009) it's been ONE phone screening and now one chat APPOINTMENT (which could get cancelled at any moment so I'm just saying it's scheduled.) Never count unhatched chickens. And, I'm going to officially start counting the number of positions I've applied to starting with the approximate FORTY.

Final personal note for today: lots of people around me think I should get a job soon. This is to track the story and see just how "soon" soon is, and keep up my spirits. Seriously Julie and Julia inspired.

OK, step 2:
INDUSTRY/FUNCTION

So now that you've written out your seven stories and you've seen a pattern that points to your passion, talents and the things you've done that demonstrate those, you're ready to map that onto reality.

What industry: medicine, law, entertainment, public service, government would be an ideal fit with your passions and talent? And given your favorite skillsets, what would be a good function for you? Think: Human Resources, Sales, Finance, Marketing, Compliance, Safety, Online (which now has several subcategories: design, video content production, sales...).

Start also to refine whether this would be with a small company or a large company, hierarchical or matrix, start up or mature business...The idea is to identify the ideal environment where you would thrive.

This is hard for most of us, since we immediately want to go straight for the job listings and start searching. The sad news outlined thoughtfully in "What Color is Your Parachute" by Bolles, is that combing the job listings and applying randomly to the latest postings is about the worst way you could go at your job hunt. Postings are still a part of the toolkit and we'll get to them. For now really work on the first two steps and get really good and clear about the ideal perfect place for you and the job description that will make you WANT to get out of bed on Mondays. Yes, at the tail end of a jobless recovery recession, we all need to be realistic. HOWEVER, you shoot yourself AND your potential employer if all you're doing is twisting yourself into some sort of I-can-do-anything employee. Because, Blanche, that's a lie.

Your ideal job is the place you start. From there, you can make some adjustments.

OK, go. And remember, life is more fun with a buddy. So pick one.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Gets Better

I spent some time watching the It Gets Better videos last night. Moving stuff. My favorite is the singing from the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus. It's wild how song works. The world needs all our talents. I'm good at storytelling. I'm good at helping humans align their being with their doing. To get really good at what I do, I constantly have to get better at aligning my own being with my doing. It's hard work. I think our careers help us focus on our deepest wounding as human beings, and as we get better, we develop power in that very area where we're broken. We get stronger than most other humans around that and we can GIVE that strength to others to help them along on the human journey. And that's our career. I think firemen saw some hopeless stuff growing up and are COMPELLED to run into burning buildings to do the impossible task of saving someone from fire. Nurses run TO broken bones and tend to them. I run to broken souls: I see someone struggling wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

I came home HAPPY tonight

Life will never be perfect. I left the office today with a pile of "to-do" on my desk that makes my head spin. And yet, I carved out time today to do the following: 1. have a powerful yet shortened work out this morning that cleared my head and got my blood pumping. When I hit the office this morning, I hit it hard and strong, muscling through an anxiety of mammoth proportion about how I was going to get ANYTHING on my plate done. 2. pause and do networking at an industry conference. That raised my sights, beyond my little desk and day to day concerns and showed me the bigger picture. Seeing folks at a career fair quickly snapped me back to reality: I'm lucky to have a job I love in the industry I am most fond of, and in the function I care deeply about, working with people on my team I love and with colleagues to serve whom I respect. Bollywog that it's overwhelming: I'll find healthy, collaborative ways to slog through this period. 3. I managed my netw...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Profitable Man

How do you define a successful life? I think, post-holidays, this idea of what this year should be comes to mind. What if it's in the quality of sleep each night, and the love you enjoy from those closest to you? What if any profit is really from having enough time, money, and other stuff to enjoy the love around you? Then, how do the actions you take this year, this month, this week align with that vision you have for yourself as a viable human being and then your career? Reminder: we spend the most time at work. How does work time move the dial forward for the total being of you. If it goes against, it detracts from what you want to be in the world. Is that a worthy sacrifice? Challenge. Write about it this year. Talk with trusted friends. If you need to adjust the work you do: mold the current work, find a new position within the current organization, or seek new frontiers, do it, for life is short and the years they roll along quickly. Happy New Year. Live and Work ...
Post a Comment
Read more