How I Landed my Dream Job, And You Can Too

Todays post is a guest article from Glen Allsopp from PluginID that disappointingly offers no advice whatsoever on becoming a zookeeper. So if that’s what you’re after I suggest you move along because there’s nothing to see, the rest of you can read on and I hope you enjoy it and can take the time to comment.

Common areas of life where we wish to improve often include our health, our relationships, our wealth and our happiness. Being a 17-year old college student, I often focused on finishing college, going to university then ending up with a job in IT. I didn’t love IT; I was just good at it.

Choosing a career just because we are good at something is a trap that many people fall into. If I’m completely honest though, I didn’t manage to see out my goals. I failed at something that thousands of people around me were succeeding at; I completely failed my first year of college.

With a little determination I went back and restarted the first year, but with 60% attendance I was far from being a model student; I certainly didn’t have enough knowledge to get decent grades. After scraping through this second year, with one year left, I dropped out. I didn’t drop out because I couldn’t handle it anymore, I dropped out because I had just been offered a flights-paid job in the industry of my dreams, half way across the world in South Africa as a Social Media Marketer.

I arrived back in the UK after 16 months of doing a job I love for some of the biggest clients in the world, now that I’m back and ready to ‘be my own boss’, I want to help others get on the path I was fortunate enough to walk.

Getting the Skills

Before I go into this, I do want to say one thing. I realize that it isn’t everyone’s dream to work for someone else, right now, it isn’t mine. However, in some dream jobs it is necessary for there to be people higher up than you and others in the system (lawyers, policemen etc). Not only that, but being able to get a job in your dream industry can provide excellent experience and reference points for when and if you decide to go it alone.

Having a job in the industry can also confirm to yourself whether this is what you want to do. If you really struggle to do it for someone else, then question whether your chosen industry is really your dream. In the following points it’s unlikely that I’m going to mention your dream job specifically, that should be a given due to the fact that there are thousands of career options out there. If that is the case, use common sense and take the fundamentals from my message and apply them to YOUR situation.

On top of that, no matter how lucky or creative you think you are, 99% of the time you are actually going to need the skills your job requires in order to get employment. Willpower and determination might get you far in life, but they aren’t going to open all the doors. So, how do you get the skills you need? Let’s see shall we…

Work Out What They Are – This should be common sense, but often the simplest things are the ones that are overlooked. Speak to advisors from your schools, colleges or workplace to see what advice they can offer. Go to job centers or student offices (where applicable) to find out the exact skills or qualifications you need to get hired. It’s no use going out there for the skills if you don’t know which ones will apply to you.

Immerse yourself in Communities – When I wanted to get into internet marketing I joined lots of forums and spent hours soaking up all I could, testing everything and getting feedback. The community participation was vital to my success. Although your dream job may not be internet based, it’s very likely that there are online communities out there in the form of blogs, forums or social networks where you can follow others on the same journey and learn as much as you can.

Take Any Courses You Can – You might think it’s too late in life to get the job of your dreams, but learning is flexible these days. You can get courses that will fit into your working schedule by offering learning times late at night or early in the mornings. It’s also possible that there are work at home or online courses out there that can provide you with the skills and information you need to progress on this journey.

Find Others on the Same Journey – I actually got my dream job through someone I had been interacting with online for a number of months. They were able to get a job doing what they love and they knew I was on the journey as well so they recommended me to their boss. This is why I think getting involved in communities is so important. Even if you can’t find someone to give you a foot into the door, it’s likely you’ll hear of ways to get the qualifications you need or the areas to look in order to find available jobs in your industry.

99% of the time, having the skills necessary is crucial; but not to worry, these are also very possible to attain. Don’t let your own limiting beliefs get in the way of you going out there and getting what you want. Unless, of course, you are 83 years old and looking for a career as a personal trainer.

Getting the Job

In the tough economic times we have now, simply having the skills to do a task might not be enough. There are countless people with MBA’s and other top-class qualifications that are unable to get the types of jobs they would have been able to get previously. Just because the credit crunch might make things more difficult, it certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

How to get the job:

Realize Your Shortcomings – Only a few of these will apply to your situation, but look at general areas of your life you may need to improve to land that contract. Do you need to be more social? Improve in job interviews? Increase your efficiency? Become more productive? Look at your situation and improve in the areas that may let you down when it comes to the crunch. In situations like the one our economy is in now, every little helps.

Get Out There – Unless your dream job is internet based or video games all day, you aren’t going to get it by sitting in the house. I once shared a story of a homeless man who went to the same shop every single day for over a year and asked for a job, to which the owner declined him each time. With enough effort he was able to get a start as a cleaner, and he eventually worked his way up to owning the business. Of course, you don’t have to go to that level, but you get the picture.

Never Give Up – You probably hear this advice time and time again, but there’s a reason for that: it works. If you are ready to give up at the first hurdle then you should re-evaluate how sure you are about this career prospect being your dream. As Randy Pausch once said: “The brick walls are there so we can show how badly we want something. They’re for the other people“. It took me two years of learning, testing and becoming known in the Internet Marketing industry before I got asked to move across the world. That might seem like a long time, but I don’t regret it for a second.

Generate Relationships Along the Way – This is a little different to interacting with others to get the skills you need, and more about keeping all doors open. Even if a company rejects your application, don’t make things ‘worse’ by sending them an unfriendly response in reaction. You never know, opportunities may arise where they need more people for a certain position. For every avenue that your journey for your dream job takes you, create as many contacts and relationships as you can on the way. You never know where they will take you, for me they were the most important thing.

That’s it! Like I said, I’m afraid I can’t give specific advice to every single industry; there are far too many career options out there, from author to zookeeper and everything in between. If you would like to leave a comment to ask about your specific situation then feel free to do so and I’ll try my best to help. Hopefully this post has given you some solid guidelines to follow and inspiration to realize that you can actually achieve your dreams, even if you are a college dropout.

Glen Allsopp is a Personal Development blogger over at PluginID. His site aims to help you ‘Plug into your Identity’ and realize you CAN be the person you want to be.

Once again I’ll be submitting myself to public ridicule with my Ustream broadcast this Monday 16th February at 4.00 EST (9.00pm UK). I hope you’ll join me as I talk about values.

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10 Comments So Far.

Comment by Glen Allsopp on 12 February 2009:

Thanks for this Tim, I love your intro ;)

Stumbled and Reddited, hopefully this will inspire a lot of your readers as well.

As stated, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I’ll check back here! :)

Glen Allsopps last blog post..The Most Inspiring Video You’ll Watch This Year
Comment by Jay on 12 February 2009:

Well, never giving up, while said often by the successors in life, is still not ingrained in the majority of noodles so I say keep saying it! I know for me, I think of giving up on my dreams from time to time because it is unrealistic in a societal fashion. It has no 9-5 aspect, no retirement plan, and I certainly do not have any stock options. However I do have a dream, and I plan to strive to achieve it everyday until I have no breath left, because quitting is the quickest way to fail! Thanks Glen!

Jays last blog post..Life Lessons from a Japanese Tea Master
Comment by ninadelamorte on 12 February 2009:

As one currently on a journey to get back into a field I left years ago to raise a family, I found this post very inspirational.

I’ve allowed myself to stagnate through the years falling back on “well, my kids come first” but I realize some of that was just self-sabotaging on my part. I could have easily kept up with at least my skills through those years. Now I’m playing catch up at a time when things are tough all over. I always did like a challenge!
Comment by Colleen on 12 February 2009:

This was pretty helpful because I’m currently in college and about to graduate. I’ve been undecided and worried about life after college, especially preparing resumes, getting ready for interviews and even finding certain careers.
Comment by Laurie on 12 February 2009:

Developing relationships is extremely important. Who you know can make all the difference in the world. You give great advice here Glen. As a teacher, I got my first teaching job by subbing. It was a way to get to know people and show them how competent I was.
Comment by raju on 13 February 2009:

Jobs in India

http://www.postjobs.co.in

In order achieve success in their job search, job seekers must target a wide range of Job sites and use all the available resources. Yes, its time consuming. However, dedicating the time and energy will pay off with more and better job leads, more interviews and more job offers!
Comment by Glen Allsopp on 13 February 2009:

@Jay – Excellent comment, I can see your passion and energy coming through strongly. I’m the same, no 9-5, no stocks, no retirement plan. I’ll sort those out when I’m in my ideal situation ;)

@Nina – Great, inspiring others is one of the three things in life I focus on the most. No matter how long something takes, you’re going to live through that time anyway, make that time productive! :)

@Colleen – Thanks, I’m glad it helped you

@Laurie – Thank you!

Glen Allsopps last blog post..The Most Inspiring Video You’ll Watch This Year
Comment by Tim Brownson on 13 February 2009:

Firstly I apologize for bailing out after this post went live. I could give you some excuses but you probably don’t care ;-)

I just wanted to say a MASSIVE thanks to Glen for a great article. I know it’s not written how I normally write, but it’s good to have a different take from time to time and he is a lot more sensible than me!

Thanks also for the comments and making him welcome and if you haven’t I’d urge you to check his site out.
Comment by Diane on 13 February 2009:

Hi!

I am loving your style and just got back from checking out your site! Awesome….

I love your life story!

You have a gift and I for one am glad you are sharing it!
Comment by Tumblemoose on 14 February 2009:

Glen,

At 48, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

What I can say is that whenever I’ve developed a passion for something, I immerse myself in the topic and can spend days gathering information. This has also held true for any job I’ve decided to go after. And that is part of the key to this. Don’t wait for the job to come to you – get involved and interactive.

Thanks for the words o’ wisdom, Glen.

Cheers

George

Tumblemooses last blog post..Who reads your writing?