Skip to content

Tag: values

Turn Your Current Job Into Your Dream Job

Published 08/26/2014

up

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. – Confucius

Sometimes I look back to where I used to be and where I am now, and while I still have a long way to go and many many more dreams to pursue, I have carved out my work situation in a way that I get to do what I specifically love doing for a living and I want to share with you how I’ve done that. Aside from entrepreneurship where we can start our own business doing what we love, there are some tips and tricks on how you can turn your current job, into one you will at least enjoy a lot more (that’s if you’re currently in a job you don’t necessarily like, or would prefer to be in a different job). Which will eventually lead to new opportunities.

I’m really only speaking from my own experience, but I’ve witnessed other people do the same, so I will share this anyway. And I’m fully aware that some work environments may not allow for any of these techniques, but if it helps one person, I am happy 🙂

Five Steps To Guide You Toward Your Dream Job

1. The number one rule you first need to adopt is to make decisions that are in line with your dreams and values, and do not compromise that. Check out this post on how to make difficult choices and this post on living according to our values. That means knowing what those values are and doing a little soul searching. Take some time to write out a list of what you value the most, what your strengths are and what fires you up.

2. Look at your current job situation and see how you can use those values and skills to enhance the current working environment or job role. For example, my value of connecting and developing people was important to me in a workplace. My first ‘job’ out of university was in Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). This is a quite technical, data oriented part of HR. Definitely not my interest or strong suit. But I had a passion for people and making them happy in the workplace. A few things I did to incorporate those skills were:

  • Get my entire team to do an “About Me” powerpoint presentation over a conference call to get to know one another (most of us were remote workers and we didn’t know each other at all). This brought us closer together as a team.
  • I joined the Events Committee and took part in creating fun company events or lunch and learns.
  • I became the Diversity Champion Lead of our Vancouver Location to help promote and celebrate the diverse cultures of our company and set up related events.
  • I had/have a huge love of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), so I set up a team building event to discover my team’s working styles so we could communicate and work better together

None of these were related to my actual job role. And I made sure they didn’t take time and work away from what I actually had to get done. Most of it was done on my spare time.

Another example is from a friend of mine who worked in the IT department, but had a huge passion for health and exercise. He created a company exercise team/program where employees could participate in various sports or exercises during lunch hour, or various monthly challenges like the Monthly Ab Challenge. This would build upon his passion of  helping people live a healthy lifestyle even though it isn’t directly related to his current job. Check out his blog here.

The main point is to keep building on your skills by adding new things.

3. Add these new special skills to your Resume. Now that you’ve got some experience under your belt related to what you love to do, add them to your Resume.

4. Connect with people who have similar interests and values. Through the power of filtering, when we obsess over certain things, we start to open doors that lead us in that direction. Someone, somewhere, will be looking for someone with your skill set. Meet lots of people. Join meetup.com and attend events and meet like-minded people. Keep your eyes open for job opportunities that allow you to grow your skills and apply for them. That’s where finding a good mentor can help you get there.

One note about rejection and failure. Try not to worry about it. As much as we hate it, it will happen at one point or another. But the opposite of happiness or success is not failure, it’s boredom. Just keep sticking to your guns, because the people who reject us aren’t a good match for us anyway. We want to be in a situation where our passion is appreciated.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4. Eventually you will keep building and building to the point that you’ve flipped your working situation around. You’ll either end up in a new job that allows you to build upon your strengths and passions, or if you’re lucky enough your current job will build a space for you to flourish. This might even lead you to starting your own side business because now you have actual ‘work experience’ to back you up. The road can go in several directions from this point, but that’s what makes life so exciting!

That’s it! I just want to mention again that Step number one is the most important, and you have to be really strict on choosing things that line up with where and who you want to be. Sometimes you’ll be presented with a shiny opportunity, but it won’t be related to where you want to go. Don’t get side tracked. Stay on course and you’ll eventually end up where you need to be.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear them. If you liked what you read, please subscribe!

4 Comments

Are Millennials Better at Living According To Their Values? (And How To Make Your Workplace AWESOME)

Published 08/10/2014

tumblr_n6erylTSnO1st5lhmo1_1280

I had a little spark of inspiration that I quickly wanted to write about.

I work in Human Resources, in an industry that hires a lot of Millennials, so I want to talk a little bit about Millennials and the workplace.

Millennials, aka Generation Y, are born anywhere from the early 1980’s to the early 2000’s. I guess that would make me one of them!

Older generations often complain about this generation.

They are so selfish, it’s always me, me, me! They’re so entitled, and expect to be paid a high paying salary right out of school. They think they can just get away with doing whatever they want. They have no respect.

This is definitely a generalization, as there is a lot of variation out there depending on how you are brought up, your nature, who you surround yourself with, what you’re interested in etc. But Millennials are typically misunderstood.

My argument is, maybe they have something that older generations are not used to seeing. Something that is actually inspiring and worth mentioning.

Millennials are probably better at living a life according to their values and not letting the status quo hinder themselves.

While Millennials tend to be more “me” focused that other generations, they may just be more vocal about what they want than past generations. That means being more expressive about being more conscious and deliberate about living meaningfully. Challenging the status quo and what has been the traditional mindset for so many years. Valuing authenticity and being true to themselves and being happy. (Again, I realize a huge generalization, as many people from all generations are very vocal about living a meaningful life, it just seems to be more ‘accepted’ to live this way in today’s world.) Today’s world encourages us to be our awesome unique selves, and not to hide that. There is a paradigm shift in this type of living. We can see it in the increase in lifestyle blogs and self-help books. I mean, look what I’m blogging about!

Millennials want to live lives that are in line with their dreams and values. They don’t want to compromise their dreams, freedom or happiness for security.

While potentially frustrating for older generations, below are some of the things that Millennials look for in a workplace which may aid in a shift in perspective (and make your company pretty awesome too):

  • Vision: Millennials look for meaning in their work, so having a company vision, and making that part of the company culture will motivate them to feel like they are working towards a purpose of the greater good.
  • Giving Back: Any opportunity to give back to the environment or community is a plus. Things like recycling programs, being green, toy drives, food banks, picking up garbage, feeding the homeless, and other charities that are of interest.
  • Career Development: Millennials want to see progression in their careers, so we typically see them moving around from job to job every 1-3 years. Opportunities to grow within their careers in the same workplace through title changes (even junior, intermediate, senior titles) are appealing.
  • Values: Making sure that the strengths and values of a Millennial match their job role is important, otherwise they may get bored, feel unmotivated or frustrated. Find something they are good at, and help to grow and support that skill, especially as the manager.
  • Flexibility: Flexibility is really important, in all aspects. A work/life balance is a huge value as personal time to be with loved ones and learning new things is becoming a higher value than slaving away at the 9-5. Also, personal and work life lines are becoming blurred, so a flexible work environment that allows for people to move around, work where they want (like having a laptop where they can take it to a lounge area). Time flexibility is also appealing and we see many progressive tech companies moving to an open schedule, as long as employees are there during core hours, and are trusted to work on their own schedule and get things done.
  • Training: Providing training and development opportunities for staff and leadership help motivate Millennials. It shows that the company cares about their growth and is a huge appreciation for having them work at the company. It will keep them there longer.
  • Fun: Incorporating fun and play into the work environment is a huge bonus. Things like Foosball Tables, Pool Tables, Darts, Video Games, Events, Team Building, and Parties.
  • People & Culture Person: Not to toot my own horn as this is my job, but having a designated People and Culture person who can focus on keeping everyone happy, whether it’s for the fun company stuff, or having someone they can talk to when there are issues, or want to develop their career. I see it more and more these days. This role is popping up in a lot of high-tech industries.
  • Food: Who doesn’t like food! Having it easily available in the office, with healthy varieties, is a great way to keep people happy.
  • Management Style: Do not Micromanage! Whatever you do, do not do it. It will only piss the Millennials off. It would probably piss anyone off. It’s so important to have a progressive view of management if the culture is to succeed and be appealing to Millennials. Go for the coaching conversations technique, versus the high-school dictator style. Treat Millennials like adults, not children. Trust they will get things done when tasks are due. Address behavioural issues early and often if necessary, but do it properly. That means motivating from within (coaching style). As soon as we tell them what to do like they are teenagers, they will automatically stop caring about the manager or the company. And that breeds a negative company culture.
  • Openness: There should be open communication at all levels, whether it’s the CEO or the cleaning person. Everyone should be treated equally and be easily approachable.
  • Health & Wellness: A focus on health and well-being is a plus when Millennials look for a workplace. Whether it’s health related lunch and learns, having sports or work-out groups/teams, showers, and a bike room.

Basically what it comes down to is that Millennials want to work at a place they are proud of working at. A place they can tell their friends and family about, and share how cool it is, and how much they are growing and giving back and contributing to the greater good. I even heard of BANKS trying to go this route. It makes for much happier people, who live a more purposeful life.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear them. If you liked what you read, please subscribe!
5 Comments