Summer Job Hunt - The Key To Happiness

By Matthew Jennings

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The sun is shining and the World Cup is about to start. All is right in the world, except you feel that your career isn’t filling you with joy. It’s a nagging, persistent feeling, ranging from the ennui of office life to outright dreading going into work.

Most people fall into jobs, without really giving it a lot of thought. A vacancy is recommended to them or a career adviser points out the field they should be in, based on exam results. No one really knows what most jobs entail on a daily basis, until they start – and then it’s too late. Armando Iannucci sums it up beautifully in his Happiness sketch, where people wake up screaming – because it has dawned on them that they work in Halfords.

It always strikes me as amazing that the vast majority of people work in jobs they don’t like. According to CBS News 84% of people are dissatisfied with their career choice. If you are dissatisfied with any other aspect of your life you change it, including your house, your partner and even your toaster. So why don’t people change their careers?

Is it fear of the unknown? Is it fear of not being able to replace the salary? Or is it that we just can’t be bothered?

It’s quite simple to change your job and quite simple to choose a career you like. It’s not rocket science (unless you want to be a rocket scientist).

You need to find out what you enjoy doing. Chances are you know what you enjoy doing, because you enjoy doing it already.

The Career Bible team has worked out a really nice way to find a job based on things you like doing. Get yourself in front of a computer or any device with internet search (you probably already are). Make a list of five things you genuinely enjoy doing, that are quite similar. For example: the woods, animals, walking, camping, countryside. Type these words into a search engine (e.g. Google – other search engines are available) and add the words ‘job’ ‘jobs’ ‘career’. You will find some nice job ideas and a few links through to blogs and people who like the same things you do. It works just as well for computers, games, apps, etc. You just need to add jobs, job, career to the end of your list. It doesn’t even have to be five words long, but it does have to be what you really enjoy doing. The plan is you will spend the rest of your life doing it.

Changing career might involve some extra training, qualifications, which you will need to do in your spare time. You might want to think ‘What can I do today that will pay dividends in three years time?’ You don’t have to quit your job today. You need to start planning.

Once you know what you want to do, get some voluntary work experience in that industry to check it out for real and to meet some people and to get experience. After that it’s easy. Grab yourself a copy of The Career Bible or take our 7 Day Career Challenge and we will walk you through it.

There is a proverb I really like. I think it’s Chinese.

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.

 

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