- Does the perfect job exist?
- Some would say yes, though the majority of workers and job seekers would have to disagree.
- The fact is the perfect job is rare if anything close to real.
- And yet there are actions you as a job seeker can take to make a less than stellar employment situation more to your liking and taste.
We dream about it. We pray for it. We will beg, borrow and steal to get it, but often it eludes us, escaping like smoke into the air. This, of course, is the proverbial dream or perfect job; a realization very few of us will ever know in our work lives.
Decidedly this dream job arrives to us with certain fantastical aspects to it – or really, only two fantastical aspects – those being the dream job has to be the right job, and with that offer us the right amount of money.
While it is difficult enough to find just a job that pays reasonably well (even in climates of job growth), the perfect job fills, for all intents and purposes, all the gray space between a fantasy and a crap shoot. To find it – if you ever did, you more than likely would:
- Drive yourself nuts as you seek out the pros and cons of any one job when measured against the much imagined perfect job.
- Drive yourself into a depression following false hopes and leads in search, again, for that perfect job.
- Give up completely on yourself because that perfect job simply does not exist.
Of course, yes, the perfect job can take on many forms.
For some, it’s all about the hours. For others it’s the locale. A lot of potential employees figure having cool workmates as the stuff of a perfect job, while others take pay into account – the more the better – as their job fantasy.
Heck, some people feel the perfect job is having no job at all.
This last option is a bit unrealistic. For the fact is, we all have to work. Another fact: there is no perfect job, so let’s just forget about that work notion.
If there are no perfect jobs, can we at least find a near-perfect job?
Now we’re thinking realistically. Yes, while there is no perfect job, we can very easily net a job for ourselves that can be near-perfect.
It just takes a little work, to which these steps will help.
- Plan early, and be truthful about what it is you want to do.
- Understand what and who will surround you at the job you want – nerds, scientists, language Nazis, etc., and ask yourself how this aspect of your job will affect your day-to-day work mood.
- Make amends with the workload, particularly if the job you want involves a heavy amount of work.
- Make an amends with the pay. It may not be what you want or think you deserve, so ask yourself how pay may influence your overall approach to your job.
- Consider the final benefits. Is the job as a whole worth whatever shortcomings you might find in it?
Shape, Shift and Substitute (and you may find you already have the perfect job)
Not all careers can be broken down into the five steps above. Some jobs may have real downer aspects to themselves simply because the hours are long or the pay is less than preferable. In other instances, your workmates might not suit your personality, which can be a fit issue.
Yet, if you’re willing to put up with a rather paltry second, third or fourth step in lieu of the fifth which are the job’s benefits, you’re not doing too badly toward netting the perfect job.
You are, in fact, compromising, which is a standard tactic in any job field. And with that, the shape, shifting and substituting that you are willing to make toward that job are mere adjustments that we apply to any career situation in order to make the job as applicable to us as we are to it.
In her article for Entrepreneur called The Secret to Happiness at Work Is the Right Job for Enough Money, Joanie Connell expands upon this idea by giving fruitful advice to managers who want to provide the most perfect job atmosphere possible for their employees. And while this is written for employers, the suggestions Connell gives can also apply to those looking for an optimized job within an equally optimized work environment.
According to her article, job fit is important, particularly as employees generally say that enjoying their job is more important than salary. This feeling among employees corresponds with the higher rankings of satisfaction compared to salary in job satisfaction surveys. A recent GMAC study further bolsters this realization in which MBA alumni ranked job fit as more important than salary for employee retention.
Connell’s article stresses that salary has an obvious importance, but only to a point.
Meanwhile, Daniel Kahneman, a professor emeritus of psychology at Princeton University, conducted a study which proved that once people earn enough, money does nothing for happiness. While people will endure a lot to make ends meet, no matter how high their salary is, they feel it is better to be happy at work than to suffer.
Unfortunately, much potential job place dissatisfaction falls on the shoulders of those enrolled in university. This is true simply because college students and recent graduates typically do not know what a particular job is really like as they have not worked in the field yet. They also are not typically aware of their own personality traits, work styles, motivations or how they match the demands of the careers they’ve chosen.
While financial reasons, academic interests, aptitudes and/or parental guidance, are strong factors students use to guide them toward their chosen career, these students never engage their experience with the job hunt for the sole reason of having no experience.
Connell states, that having no experience in the workplace is why students and recent grads might fail to consider is the “fit” component of personality, motivation and work culture, etc. The issue of being dissatisfied with a career and having to change that career can be costly, both financially and psychologically.
In short, sometimes it’s better to not take the job than to take it.
So to that end, people tend to fail at a new job because of a lack of fit within the company culture. Not only is this bad for the employee, but the employer also incurs great cost when an employee fails.
In fact, hiring experts maintain that it can cost employers as much as 2.5 times a person’s salary to replace them.
Actions job seekers can take to assure their own job fit.
Job seekers need to be honest with themselves during job previews. But at the same time, they need to be clear about the subject, tone or the type of questions they might have toward a company to which they might apply. Job seekers need to gain an honest flavor of what they will be doing in the job as well as during the interview process.
If possible, a potentially new employee such as you should take tours of the facility where the people are doing their job. Seek out opportunities to shadow more veteran employees who can give insight to the tasks at hand, and then refer to these employees while in discussion with interviewers about what a typical day is like inside the company.
You should also keep an eye out for internships at the company where you want to work. Try out the fit and feel of the office and pay close attention to what you are exposed to as to the work you’re doing now and what you imagine doing in the future.
As Connell states, even a short internship is better than none. It is also a way to assess potential job candidates. An internship program could easily pay for itself if the company feels you’re a good hire.
As well, and only if truly possible within your skillset for and beyond the job you seek, be sure to mention your flexibility to take on more responsibility if/when the time comes, or to even switch jobs within the company if necessary.
Leave that door wide open to help convince your interviewers that you are more than just a one-trick-pony who plans to do only one job if hired.
How college can help
There’s no doubt that colleges can help students find a good career fit by providing students with career assessments and counseling before they make their career choices, rather than letting students, parents and employers pay the costs after.
When on the job hunt, and if you are still in school, look into any career assessment tools your college may have available.
While it has been noted by many in the working world, that starting to think about one’s career early in college – in fact, before a major is declared – is very ideal, to that point, undergoing a career assessment upon graduation is also good, especially before you select a company of interest and begin applying to its open positions.
As Connell states, no matter how or when a career assessment is employed, a person can learn a lot about the types of jobs, environments, working conditions and cultures that best fit them instead of suffering through a mediocre day-to-day job that doesn’t meet their work standards.
Lastly, Connell suggests that while some colleges do more than others in the area of career assessment, it is still a good vetting tool for graduates who are about to enter the working world.
Remember, as Connell notes, the cost of changing a job, not to mention an entire career, far outweighs the cost of taking a career assessment.
Conclusion
Don’t think of compromise or shape, shift and substitute as a giving in or surrender. Knowing you are actively making adjustments to yourself that puts you in better odds of netting your perfect job, will be noticed by your interviewers.
They will see you as culturally prepared and ready to hit the ground running. Prove to them that the job you’ve applied to is the perfect job because of your assessments, preparation and reconnaissance of the company. Once your interviewers find out the copious amount of research you’ve done both toward the job and the company, it impress them all the more and increase your chances of getting your perfect job, or at least close to perfect.
All-in-all if things turn out this way, it’s a win-win situation for both the employee and employer. And that, in and of itself, is perfect.
For more information, look into these articles:
- The Best (And Healthiest) Jobs In The World Might Be Remote Jobs
- How To Apply For A Job From A Company That Isn’t Hiring
- 6 Questions To Bring To Your Next Job Interview
