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Introduction:
Finding your dream employment takes persistence, will, and a special trained nose. Just like a true bloodhound. A dream job is about fulfilling all of your needs, not just passion. I’ve met hockey players, sales reps, construction workers and IT people who all loved their jobs at first. They had a passion for their work. Yet, they all crashed and burned after 18 months on the job because they were over-worked, underpaid, ordered around and forced to work in an environment that did not satisfy their core needs.
This is going to be a lengthy post on my take of what dream employment really is and how you can sniff out your ideal opportunity.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a “hierarchy” of core human needs that must be fulfilled in order to feel the highest level of satisfaction. Maslow’s theory is often portrayed as a pyramid such as this.
As we see from the pyramid, our metabolic needs such as food, water, sleep, air and excretion are the foundation of what humans need for satisfaction. Without satisfying our physiological needs, our bodies wither away and we die.
The next level up on the pyramid is our safety needs. Humans crave safety in the form of job security, financial security and shelter. When I was running my company Sky Billboards full-time, the job seemed like a dream in the beginning. I had complete freedom to run the company how I wanted, except I lacked my core need for financial security. It’s not surprising that company sales crashed and I had to blast through most of my savings. I’ve since learned (the hard way) that having financial security is a core requirement for dream employment.
Having a sense of belonging is the next level of needs. Do you fit in at your workplace? Are you friends with your co-workers? How well do you get along with everyone at your place of work? This is important. People lift us up, motivate us when we’re down, and can make our work fun. When time’s get tough, experiencing a strong team spirit really is fundamental for complete job satisfaction.
The second highest tier of hierarchy of needs is Esteem. According to Forbes Magazine, low self-esteem can cause employees to accept higher work loads than what is manageable. People naturally want to feel respected and recognized, especially in the workplace. You might love your job, but if your boss treats you unfairly, that is a good sign you need to start considering your options.
The negativity you feel at work can drag into our family lives.
Tony Robbins calls this “False Neuro Association.” Every time you have a bad day at work and take it out on your spouse/partner/friend, you connect those bad feelings with this person. After awhile, every time you see your spouse/partner/friend you will react negatively towards them because you’ve unconsciously developed the habit that this person is associated with your negative feelings from work.
Self-esteem is important. Finding your dream employment means experiencing a healthy level of respect, confidence and recognition from your job.
The final tier of the pyramid is Self-Actualization. It sounds a bit like a metaphysical term, but in fact all it means is to realize your full potential. Self-actualization is the feeling of being 100% alive. Time fades away and stress fades away. You experience living in the moment. Like bungee jumping for the first time, riding a roller coaster, or falling in love.
Self-Actualization is the corner stone of dream employment. When all of your core needs are met in your work life, you fully experience having a dream job.
This is why I stress passion so much, because if you don’t absolutely love what you do, you will never reach self-actualization in your work life.
Your Core Components:
What requirements do you have for your dream job? Write them down!
The first step of “sniffing out” your dream employment is to know exactly what you want. When you know what you want, it is easy to find what you are looking for.
Here is what I wrote for my dream job around 6 months ago:
Industry:
The company will be in the business of providing fitness services, as well as consulting services and products that teach principles of success.
Size:
The size of the company does not matter. What is more important is that each individual employee is recognized for his or her talents.
Location:
London, Ontario baby! There must be free parking too!
The people:
The employees are motivated! The sales team is energetic and positive, ready to do a full days’ work on any given day. When one employee is feeling down, the team pumps him up so not to bring his negative energy onto everyone else!
My position:
Sales Management. Having years of sales experience, I feel I have the training abilities to teach new people sales skills. As well, I want to progress my career by managing teams of salespeople.
My Salary:
$60,000 base, plus commission plus bonuses plus incentive trips for earnings upwards of $100,000 a year. I feel I truly deserve this money and can bring 10 times this value to the right company.
I love my job now, but there is always room for growth! I keep these core components in mind so that when the right opportunity presents itself I will go after it with everything I’ve got.
Sniffing Out Dream Employment Opportunities:
There are two methods to find your dream employment. I’ve given these two methods super creative names so that they stick in your mind long after you finish reading!
The Bloodhound Method
The Bloodhound Method is a hunter role. This is when you take the initiative to reach out to companies, apply for various jobs, or aggressively start your own business. Some of this information is fresh while other information I have taken out of my eBook The Black Book of Career Advice – 5 Steps To Getting Hired Now.
Search For Your Dream Employment Over The Web
This is probably the fastest and easiest way to find available employment. Here are websites you can use to hunt for employment:
- Monster.com
- Linkedin.com
- Careerbuilder.com
- Idealist.org
- USAJobs.gov
- Careerfuel.net
- Indeed.com
- Simplyhired.com
- Workopolis.com (Canada only)
- Simplyhired.ca (Canada only)
- Monster.ca (Canada only)
These websites allow you to filter through jobs based on keywords and location. They also give a description of the job, and sometimes even the salary is posted. If the job looks and sounds like it could be your dream employment, then it is definitely worth investigating further. The downside of using online job searches is that not all jobs are listed online.
Directly Apply To A Company That Can Offer Your Dream Job
This is another true hunter type role as part of the Bloodhound method. Simply put, you directly apply to companies that you think can offer you the dream job you want. For example, if you have a passion for travel and want to get paid to travel the world, try applying to a travel and tourism agency. A great way to get hired this way is to follow my 5 step system, as mentioned in The Black Book Of Career Advice.
- Get in touch with whoever makes hiring decisions
- Write a brilliant cover letter
- Dress exceptionally well whenever you meet with someone in the company
- Prepare questions and answers ahead of time for your interview
- Follow up professionally and consistently
Start Your Own Business
If working for someone else just does not satisfy your hierarchy of needs, then perhaps dream employment for you is starting your own business. North America has been built on the backs of small businesses. For myself, I love making money online because it offers me flexibility, freedom and location independence.
Starting your own business offers a lot of creativity and a lot of power. I highly advise that you start building your own business part-time until you are 100% certain that it is paying you enough to replace your full-time job. Otherwise, you may find yourself lacking financial security.
Summary
To summarize the Bloodhound method, there are 3 hunter initiatives you can take to find your dream employment. Search online, directly apply to companies, or start your own business.
The Magnet Method:
If the Bloodhound method is a hunter-based role, the Magnet method is a farmer-based role. Instead of seeking out opportunities, you let these opportunities come to you. Just like a magnet. By steadily building connections, you plant seeds that later develop into a full garden of job opportunities. Here is how you can build your connections:
Have A Great LinkedIn Profile
Linkedin.com is such a great website for connecting with other professionals in your field. It is like having a customizable online resume that the entire world can see. It is MySpace for professionals, except nobody wants to admit it.
As you make friends on Linkedin (called “connections”), more and more people will appear in your network that you can reach out to and connect with. Recruiters and Business Owners constantly reach out to people over LinkedIn because they can instantly see your resume and credentials.
The better you design your profile, the more people reach out to you. Take the time to describe each job you’ve been at. Write a clean summary and fill out your educational background and volunteer work. With the new updates on LinkedIn, you can now upload projects you’ve worked on and invite your connections to endorse you on your skills. Doing this will let people have a deeper grasp of your level of work ethic without even meeting you. That’s powerful!
Write A Blog About The Industry You Love
I recently wrote a post on how you can start a blog in the next five minutes. Get on Tumblr or Blogger and start writing articles about the industry you want to be in. Then take these articles and post them on your LinkedIn profile and in LinkedIn groups.
You will be instantly amazed how many people will start reading your articles! People will want to connect with you, share ideas, and exchange contact information. This is a fantastic way to start building connections with people who can offer you your dream employment opportunity.
Use Twitter As A Microblog
You may not have the time to write blog articles every day, so get on Twitter instead. Just like LinkedIn, you can connect with thousands of people in your city who share your passions.
Twitter posts, or “tweets” are limited to 160 characters. One thing I like to do on Twitter is post links to my blog posts or to articles related to my favourite subjects. People find my links, read them, and we naturally connect.
Get In Touch With Recruiters
Recruiting is a fast growing industry. Recruiters are elite business executives who know CEOs, Human Resource Managers, and all the lovely people that you need to land your dream job. The best part is that recruiters want to help you get hired!
Contact a recruiter and let him know that you are searching for a job that offers your written list of core components. Be honest and let him know that if your dream job comes his or her way to please pass it on to you. Recruiters get paid to help you get hired. They offer more expertise on career advice they I can ever offer. Check out my interview from Toronto-based recruiter Michael Allemano to see what I mean.
Summary
The Magnet method is excellent if you want opportunities to fall into your lap. Because it does take time to develop your connections, I don’t recommend using this method if you are currently unemployed or are looking for immediate change in your job.
Final Words:
Sniffing out your dream employment is fun and exciting when you fully realize the level of fulfillment you will experience when you find it. Life is just too damn short to not experience Self-Actualization in our work lives. My goal with this article is for you to take action towards finding Self-Actualization in your work life.
If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life. Start a Twitter account, write a blog, and begin to take action towards finding a job that makes you feel fully alive.
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