"Finding a job can be very similar to auditioning for a film or TV role, except that how your life will turn out depends on the answers you give your interviewer. " While you were still in school, you probably thought that the countless hours you spent doing subject matter related activities, examinations and studying is enough to help you score your dream job after graduation and you'll be merrily on your way to getting the good life, with each of your dreams fulfilled.
However, once you're in the real world and struggling just to be able to get one callback from about 200 resumes you've sent, you will be in for a very rude awakening. You thought you had all the answers and knew everything you needed to know but apparently, not so. Somehow along your quest toward "preparing" yourself, you forgot one other thing that could've helped you – getting to know yourself.
Finding a dream job is not just about finding a job that makes you a ridiculous amount of money or makes you look forward to going to work every day. It's also not just about passion and being able to do what you love to do. If passion was the only thing we needed, then maybe none of us would be out of work and joining the long lines of competitive job seekers because we would already have jobs.
The first thing we need to ask ourselves is will we be a motivational fit to the company or organization we want to break into. People actually have two ways to motivate themselves when it comes to work: one is aiming for all the achievements and advancements possible and the other would be trying not to lose everything that we worked hard for. You need to determine exactly what category you fall in.
Next, you have to understand that just like shopping for clothes, you have to know what assets you want to highlight and what negatives you want to downplay instead of just buying at a whim -- you could find yourself getting stuck and more and more dissatisfied as each day goes by. You need to see if you and your potential employer are a perfect fit and to do this, you have to understand how to find your purpose at work and what drives you towards that. Finding purpose in your career is what will make you wake up and look forward to going to work each day because you know you're creating an impact that will benefit the world.
You also need to ask yourself who you work for and why you work for them. You need to think about whether you want to work on an individual or societal level because for one, your preference needs to mesh well with that of your company's in order to be able to generate your purpose. You also need to make sure your ideologies fits with that of your employers as otherwise, it will affect your work negatively.
You also need to ask yourself how you work because again, how you solve your problems and engage in the creative process very much affects your working relationship with your colleagues and your boss. How things are done at work is important because if you don't really agree with how things are done, your work will fail to drive you to success.