It’s spring time. The deer are looking for green food. You’re looking to make more green. First there’s you, the graduate, finishing school and about to nail down your dream job; and with today’s economy you’re fortunate if it actually has something to do with your major. Then there’s you, the employed single guy or girl, wanting to transfer into something a little closer to the dream job, but $400/month heating bills during a Siberian winter kept you from making any sudden moves. But now, for all of us, the time has come to send out resumes before the sluggish summer hiring months. Well, if you only knew where to send the resume.
A common approach is to ask all-knowing Google where to find the dream job. It will give you something like the top 10 job list on US News and you’re thinking, “Bingo, just have to choose from one of these.” That’s if you feel comfortable with letting magazine editors who’ve never met you tell you what’s best for you; not to mention that the top ten job reports influenced by the economy and politics may easily change with, well, with the economy and politics. What may have been the top job when you were deciding on a major or even interviewing may not be so by the time you’re hired. Take nursing, for instance, hugely popular in 2013. A thing called Obamacare came along, for better or worse, and almost overnight, hospitals across the nation began laying off thousands of nurses. Don’t get me wrong, nursing can still be a dream profession and I personally have a thing for nurses. However, it will be a dream job for other reasons, not because US News says it is. Of course, magazines and Google are not the only career opinions out there. You can ask someone closer to you, like your significant other.
It’s in trend; let your boyfriend or girlfriend in on your life decisions even before you’ve been bound by the band. Ask me my opinion….you can’t see me but I’m raising my left eyebrow. You see, the problem is that the loveless world of business and finances doesn’t understand love based choices. It only understands contracts. Try explaining to the bank that you broke up and no longer want to be on your girlfriend’s Honda-loan; try explaining to your boss that your performance reports are terrible because this job had been your boyfriend’s idea but now he’s not with you anymore and now it doesn’t make sense. It’s safest not to make contract choices together if you’re love isn’t first in a contract (i.e. marriage).
Now for some clarity. Whether you get Google’s opinion or your girlfriend’s you can also imagine your dream job at a four-way intersection. That’s right; four roads will converge on the perfect career. Leaving out three for now, we’ll focus on the first of them: passion. If you’re single and working this will be the best opportunity in your life to do what you’re passionate about. With only one mouth to feed and one heart to please it’s the time to do what you love doing and learn how to do it well.
People will tell you:
“It’s hard making money that way.” It’s much harder making money at a job you feel mediocre about.
“It costs a lot to get certified for that type of work.” It costs more to switch jobs once you get bored of something that you were never excited about.
I’ve seen a guy become perfectly content on a modest income drawing pictures and I’ve also seen a friend become a happy millionaire in the business of stocking restrooms with toilet paper. Neither of them were on the US News top ten career list. Neither of them chased after money but both are happy. We know you want the green. We all do. But in the end, you can chase after the green with passion or you can let the green chase after your passion. It’s spring time, love is in the air, go for the passion.
