DREAM JOB – Myth or Truth???

One of my great hobbies is to interact with people from different course of life to gather and share knowledge. As a Human Resource Strategist, I am fortunate enough to get the chance of interacting with people very often. While interacting with job aspirants and clients of my present and previous organizations, I came across the phrase “Dream Job” many a times. Most of the job aspirants and professionals think of dream jobs! But once they land there, the illusive search for another begins. If this is reality, then why do they still crave for a dream job? Is the concept of a dream job a mirage or a myth?

Different people have different criteria to decide on their dream jobs though they aren't meant to fulfill your needs or make life smooth. Some think good money is important while some rate the job description highly. I feel dream jobs are in our mind. A dream job is a dream as long as we like everything about it: the money, the job-description, the ambiance, colleagues, designation, and it will go on and on….. The reality check:

I will land a dream job eventually and I will be happy – A person could be happy doing a lot of different jobs. So the dream job concept is just an illusion of mind or a state of mind. Out of experience, I have realized “You’ll be happy only if you know your skills/potential and can align yourself with reality”. Yes you need to follow your passion and engage in work that draws you in, holds your attention, and gives a sense of flow. Have you ever thought how an hour spent editing a spreadsheet can feel like pure dull work, while an hour playing a computer game can feel like no time at all. Why are computer games engaging while office spreadsheet isn’t? Because a work becomes engaging due to the below factors:

a)     The freedom to decide how to perform your work.

b)     Clear tasks, with a clearly defined start and end.

c)      Variety in the types of task.

d)     Continues Feedback, so you know how well you’re doing.

Till the time the work is engaging it remains your dream job, any alteration to the above factors can make you look for another. So make your job a dream one by taking responsibilities of jobs assigned to you, decide how to execute different projects and keep asking for feedback from your seniors, so that you can grow.

My dream job will pay me well – Our needs changes with time. With these ever changing needs our concept of good pay also changes. As a human being we always crave for more and more. We all set a monetary target for us in life and once we reach the target, we again set another. No job can fulfill your monetary needs till the time you decide your satisfaction level. For me finding passion in a work that makes you happy irrespective of money is more important. All the successful people in the world have always run behind their passion of work and money has followed them everywhere.

For an example you might dislike clerical job of a post office, where the incumbent slogs every day from 9-6 and yet calls it his dream job as it supports his family and takes care of his future when he retires. Again, a scientist who says researching is his dream job as he always wanted to do that, even though he/she spends more than 20 hours at the laboratory. So it’s plain mental perception. What really matters is not your salary, status, type of company, etc, but rather, what you do day-by-day, hour-by-hour to create excellence in your work.

Life is all about creating value for our own selves as well for people in our surroundings. It is always worthy at the receiver’s end. What is valuable for others, may not be worthy for us and the same is vice-versa. To create value, it is we who needs to put in some degree of sacrifice......