How to Find the Job You Love: 15 Questions to Ask Yourself
Your job makes up a great deal of your life. You spend on average between 40 to 48 hours a week on your job, or a minimum of 36% of your waking hours each week. You also spend more than 4 decades of your lifetime in a job.If you hated your jobs, it would be a very miserable life for you. There are employees who are so miserable in their jobs that they have resorted to alcoholism, drug addiction and other vices to make their jobs temporarily bearable.
This is why if you are just starting out on your career, or are already in a career, it might be time to find a job you love, for your health and sanity’s sake.
Finding the job you love also makes you work harder and become knowledgeable of it, which are two important ingredients of success. Finding the job you love is one of the best keys to success in life, both financially and socially.
If you want to find the job you love, here are a few questions which can guide you:
Note: These information were based from my life as well as from online sources discussing how to find the job you love.
15 Questions to ask yourself regarding finding the job you love:
1. What is my personality?2. How were your previous jobs?
3. What do I do on my freetime?
4. What do other people know about me?
5. Do I need a career counselor?
6. Do I have a personal brand?
7. Have I found a mentor?
8. Do I know any successful people?
9. Have I used social media networking platforms?
10. What are dealbreakers to me?
11. How do the people feel about my dream company?
12. What would be my daily tasks?
13. Are my skills adequate?
14. What are my salary expectations?
15. What if I have no allusions of a dream job?
Final Words
The Details:
1. What is my personality?
You would still be an employee even if you find the job you love, and being an employee, you need to constantly interact with your coworkers and bosses.
You might like the job you’re doing, but if your personality clashes with your coworkers and bosses, you’ll likely hate your job very soon too.
Here are a few personality traits you should consider:
1.1 Do you like monotony?
Unfortunately, many jobs are monotonous. If you have a new job, you’ll probably be interested in doing it first, because you’re still in the learning stage.
Gradually, many jobs would become routine and dull to you if you want an exciting job. If you live for excitement and constant wonder, you should get creative jobs instead of routine jobs.
Some examples of monotonous jobs could be as a worker in an office or an assembly line worker. Some examples of exciting jobs could be as a scientist or an entertainer.
1.2 Is taking orders and following rules agreeable to you?
As an employee, you must follow company rules and the orders of your superiors. If you don’t, you might have an entrepreneurial mindset and better off working for yourself.
You might also like jobs where you are allowed to do your job as you please, like being a scientist.
1.3 Are you an extrovert?
You might crave constant human contact, like face to face, online and telephone interactions. In this case, you are better off having a people facing job like a salesperson, entertainer, politician, and so on.
If you are not an extrovert, then jobs that have minimum social interactions are the best for you like being a lighthouse keeper, writer, and so on.
1.4 Are you sympathetic?
Do you like taking care or listening to people? Then jobs that take care and listen to people are good for you. You could be a nurse, doctor, social worker, and so on.
If you don’t particularly enjoy taking care or listening to people, then you’re better off taking non-people facing jobs like being an office worker, technical engineer, and so on.
1.5 Can you handle stress well?
People handle stress differently. Some handle it better than others. Usually, stressful jobs are well rewarded like being a surgeon, CEO, lawyer, salesperson and so on.
If you want less stressful but lower paid jobs, you could consider such jobs as: office clerk, store clerk, and so on.
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2. How were your previous jobs?
Your past jobs are a good way to have an idea of your dream job. This is because you have actually experienced what you love and hate about jobs.
You would also by this time have a good idea of what working life is, what you hate and love about your coworkers, bosses, clients and so on.
But what if you only have a few or even one past job so far? Unfortunately, there is no going around this. You must experience a couple of jobs before you find or have an idea for your dream job.
But some people have taken an unconventional approach to finding the job they love. There have been a couple of young people who traveled the world and have tried on different jobs usually lasting only for a few weeks.
As a result, they have developed an impressive resume and a body of knowledge regarding the jobs they love. They are now either working on the jobs they love or are teaching people how to find the job they love.
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3. What do I do on my freetime?
When you have found the job you love, it is as if you’re not working at all, but it rather feels like you’re doing the things and activities you want and are lucky enough to get paid doing them.
Ask yourself this: “What do I always do when I have any freetime?” Do you love watching and reading about cars? Then perhaps you should find a job in the car industry.
Do you like reading and watching shows about earning money? Then perhaps you should find a job in the finance industry.
If you never tire about doing something or can’t get enough of something, then these are good directions to find the job you love.
For example, Do you always love to cook especially Japanese food? Then perhaps you should be a chef in a Japanese restaurant.
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4. What do other people know about me?
Often, we don’t realize what is the best for us like the job we love and need others to tell it for us. Your family, friends and even sometimes colleagues might have a good idea of the job that you would love.
You could ask them what they think your strengths, weakness and talents are as it relates to jobs, what activities they think you enjoy, who might help you get the job you love, what they think of a particular company, and so on.
In short, you would learn more by knowing what other people know, especially about the job you love.
Also, other people might have already experienced the job you love to do. This is especially helpful if you talk to old people who have decades of experience doing the job you love to do.
They can give you invaluable tips on how to succeed in the job you’re eyeing as well as its pitfalls and dangers, but most importantly, they can give you an idea of what would happen to you when you grow old doing the job you love to do.
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5. Do I need a career counselor?
The specialist knowledge of a career counselor is an invaluable aid in finding the job you love.
They can give you the complete breakdown of a job you’re eyeing like its advantages, disadvantages, pitfalls, opportunities, and so on.
However, it is to be noted that not all career counselors have real life experience on the job you love to do.
Many people have found jobs which they learned to love or love even without using career counselors.
If you have access to a career counselor, it would be best if you seek their assistance. If you don’t, you don’t have to despair about it. As said, although career counselors are an invaluable aid, they are not a necessity in finding the job you love.
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6. Do I have a personal brand?
In the age of the internet and social media, everyone to a certain degree have an online presence.
Your online presence is how people, especially employers and recruiters find you. This is why you need to develop a personal brand.
For example, if you love cars (presuming you love to have a job related to cars), you would likely talk about them consistently online, you would be known as a car expert and would attract people who also like cars or who have vested interests in cars.
If you love to have a job related to cars, it would be best to develop an online personal brand that revolves around cars, so people would associate you with cars.
The same is true for other things and activities you love. For example, If you like discussing current news online, you would soon be known online as a news expert and might even be recruited by a news media company.
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7. Have I found a mentor?
If you think you have found the job you love, you need to find a mentor who could teach you about how to get the job you love and how to do it.
You might find a job you love, but if you fail at doing the job you love, you would surely stop doing it or would be forced by others not to do it anymore.
This is where a mentor becomes an invaluable ally to you. A mentor can teach you invaluable knowledge regarding your job and even the industry you belong to. A mentor can make you successful in the job you love making you love your job even more.
But where can you find a mentor? First, identify the job you love and then look for someone in the company or industry that have a long experience, especially if they are successful.
A mentor could be a senior person in the company or industry, an industry expert or insider, or someone who knows the job, company and/or industry from an outsider’s perspective.
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8. Do I know any successful people?
It would also help if you network with successful people who either became rich, popular, influential and so on.
This is because successful people tend to be connected, and you would have an advantage when you are able to access their connections.
These successful people and their connections can give you access to the job you love that common people can’t provide to you.
This is not to insinuate that common people are worthless in giving you access to the job you love, but successful people have more capabilities and resources to do it for you.
For example, if you are an aspiring actor and wanted a part for a movie, you’re in better hands networking with the producer or director of the movie than the cameraman. As you know already, the producer or director is more successful than the cameraman.
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9. Have I used social media networking platforms?
You should also use networking platforms to find the job you love. As the name implies, networking platforms are full of companies and career professionals who want to network with each other.
Of all the networking platforms, LinkedIn is the undisputed leader. In fact, if you are a career professional, it is expected of you to have a LinkedIn profile.
But you are not just expected to create a LinkedIn profile or other social media networking platform account, you are also expected to be an active participant in the platforms.
Also, social media networking platforms have the ability to provide you insider information about a company, industry and/or career professional that you won’t find anywhere else online.
For example, you can connect with the employees of a company you love to work for thru social media networking platforms to find out unpublished job vacancies in the company.
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10. What are dealbreakers to me?
You might have found out a job you love to do together with a company you also love to work for. But before you take the plunge and apply for the job, you must also consider if there are some things about the job or company that you are unwilling to tolerate.
For example, would you tolerate long working hours and frequent travel in exchange for working in a travel agency that promises you that you could see the world?
Everything in life has a tradeoff. This includes even the job you love. It is up to you if you are willing to put up with the negative aspects of the job you love.
This is especially important in such issues as beliefs and morals. For example, a simple issue such as product pricing can turn the job you love into the job you hate.
You might love your job and company but can’t accept the fact that they make their poor customers pay high prices for the company’s products, which later forces you to abandon the job you love.
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11. How do the people feel about my dream company?
One of the best group of people to talk to when you’re considering a job at a company are the employees of the company themselves.
This is because the employees of the company can give you a clear picture of what your working life would be if you ever get the job in the company.
But don’t talk to one employee only, talk to as many people in the company as you can. This way, you’ll get a more balanced feedback to your query.
You can also talk to the clients of the company. They can tell you a lot based on their interactions with the company. You would especially know what the clients love and hate about the company and its products.
You could also talk to the suppliers, advertisers, contractors of the company and so on. For example, you would know if the company pays these people on time. The company’s payment pattern on them would reflect to their payment pattern on you.
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12. What would be my daily tasks?
You would probably know about this after you’ve gotten to talk with an insider in the company, especially with someone holding the same job as you are.
As already said, everything in life is a tradeoff, including the job that you love. For example, you might love being a movie assistant because you get to see the making of movies and meet actors and actresses.
However, you might despise doing errands for the movie director as well as the cast and crew of the movie, like buying or preparing them coffee and meals which you might find degrading.
You might also have a high status job and don’t have to do menial tasks, but might still hate the fact that you have to answer and send hundreds of emails a day.
Even in the job you love, there would be some parts of it that you would hate doing on a regular basis. There is no such thing as a perfect job, but there is certainly a job you would love to do that you can endure your daily tasks together with the parts that you hate doing.
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13. Are my skills adequate?
You might already know the job you love to do, but if you are not able to do the job, then you would not be able to get the job you love.
All jobs are earned, including the job you love to do. You must be eligible for the job you love before you can get it.
That is why you need to as much as possible expand your skillset so that you can cast a wide net in choosing the jobs you love.
There are people who try the “fake it until you make it” approach. To say the truth, some actually do make it, but these people already have the necessary skills to begin with and just need a little bit of education and training.
For the vast majority of people, the “fake it until you make it” approach simply doesn’t work. Most people learn the necessary skills thru hardwork and not via shortcuts.
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14. What are my salary expectations?
For many people, their greatest criteria for selecting a job is the amount of salary that they would earn from their job. Many people would work at terrible jobs in exchange for a good salary.
Perhaps you don’t have a dream job in mind, but is only attracted to a job because it promises a high salary.
There is nothing wrong with this mindset, a lot of people learn later on in life that money is more important than career aspirations.
Afterall, jobs have similarities in that you spend usually eight hours a day doing it, and you do mostly repetitive tasks, its only the variation of the tasks that differentiate a job from another.
The more money you have, the more power you have to do what you and your family want in your freetime. If providing for yourself and your family is more important to you than job conditions, be honest with yourself and look for high paying jobs.
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15. What if I have no allusions of a dream job?
As mentioned previously, there are people who would gladly choose a job not because its their dream job, but because it pays them the salary that they desire.
There are other reasons too why people choose a job besides its job conditions. For example, a person might choose a job because it allows them to be close to their family, nature and so on.
But for a majority of people around the world, finding a job that they love is more of a luxury or chance than a goal.
This is because for most people, finding a job in itself is very difficult and almost impossible that they would settle for any job that they can find. They are already very grateful that at least they have a job that pays them a regular salary.
If you analyze it, the job you surely love is a job that allows you to do what you love and makes you the money that you want, in short: being the owner of your own business, which you should aspire to be one day.
If you are a mere employee, you would be forever making tradeoffs regarding your job which can only be solved by two things: first, you could become the owner of your own business and do with your business as you please, or;
You can learn to love and be content with the job that you already have and accept the reality that everything in life is a tradeoff.
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Final Words
Finding the job you love is not easy but possible. It requires a careful analysis of your personality, past job experiences, what you like to do in your freetime, as well as asking your family, friends and even acquaintances for feedback.
You would also probably need the aid of a career counselor, mentor, successful people, as well as the people involved in the companies you would love to work for: like the employees, clients, contractors, and so on.
You would also need to develop a personal brand and connect with career professionals on social media networking platforms.
But bear in mind that for a lot of people, a high salary is more important than the conditions of a job. This is because for them, the more money they earn, the more they can spend doing the things they and their family really want.
Also, bear in mind that many people are just happy to have a job even though it might not be a job that they love. This is because many people already consider themselves lucky because they have a job no matter what it may be. They know how difficult it is to find a job these days.
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