You shouldn’t have a ‘dream job’

As AT&T’s vice chairman of world expertise acquisition and human sources enterprise associate, Astad Dhunjisha is aware of a factor or two about profession development. And, via his expertise interviewing a number of hundred potential hires, he has recommendation for career-minded professionals, particularly these early of their careers: Cease having a “dream job.”

It’s not that you just shouldn’t have aspirations, Dhunjisha says. However while you elevate one job or position above the whole lot else, you’re in all probability slicing your self off from different alternatives and placing just a few substantial obstacles in what’s going to probably be an extended profession path. Now that he’s been via his personal studying curve—and watched so many others do the identical—he shares 4 the explanation why being singularly targeted on a dream job is a foul thought.

1. You would be setting your self up for disappointment

Dhunjisha’s ideas going after a so-called dream job even have their roots in his private expertise. After he graduated from faculty with levels in finance and accounting, he had his sights set on touchdown his personal dream job within the monetary sector. Members of his household labored in banking, and he had determined that following the same path was his dream. However after he despatched out his résumé and accomplished interviews, that job in banking by no means materialized.

“In hindsight, I used to be in all probability immature in some methods and one-sided,” he says. “I didn’t inform my potential employer what I was capable of.” As an alternative, he says, he was targeted on his perspective and targets, as an alternative of displaying the interviewer why he was well-suited to the position and will deliver worth. Dhunjisha in the end constructed his profession within the agriculture and monetary expertise sectors.

2. You don’t know what you don’t know

All of us have an thought of what a selected job entails. Nonetheless, really doing the job could also be fairly completely different than what we think about. “Many people have had the expertise of getting one thing be completely different in actuality,” Dhunjisha says. And when you’ve got dedicated your self to pursuing one kind of job and it finally ends up being completely different than what you imagined or understood, you possibly can find yourself following a path that leaves you unfulfilled. “Some persons are pleasantly stunned,” he says. “Others—particularly those that have very lofty aspirations—discover themselves disappointed and kind of burnt out on the finish of the primary couple of years.” As an alternative, attempt to educate your self about what potential profession paths entail and keep open to prospects, he provides.

3. You could be displaying your ignorance

Even in case you do perceive the job, you won’t perceive the obligations or position inside that individual firm, Dhunjisha says. “Some folks go into an interview with sort of cocky perspective, like ‘Oh yeah, I’ve bought this,” he says. But when the candidate is taking over an interviewer’s time and is mounted on an thought of what the job entails that isn’t appropriate, they could possibly be making a foul impression and speaking themselves out of a job.

4. You’re slicing your self off from alternatives

A 2023 survey by FlexJobs discovered that greater than half of individuals surveyed have been trying to make a profession shift. Even in case you begin out desirous to tackle one position, it’s possible you’ll discover that your goals change at different stages of your life, Dhunjisha says. “What an individual would need of their profession of their early 20s could be very completely different from what they’re pondering versus their 40s,” he says.

For those who’ve dedicated to a dream job and establish with it, you would possibly shut your self off from change that might lead you in new profession instructions, he provides. There are numerous jobs on the market that you just won’t even notice. For those who’re not seen as versatile and adaptable, you won’t be thought-about for development alternatives that might in the end advance your profession.

What must you do as an alternative? Look past the title and search for the components of roles that actually make you cheerful, he says. Perceive the weather of your character that make you well-suited for these roles. Once you let your expertise and character information you to the roles which can be best for you, you’re extra more likely to have long-term job satisfaction.

“Within the company world, one high quality that I really feel permits folks to succeed as a long run worker is adaptability,” he says. When you possibly can determine the issues you are able to do to make sure profession development, it’s possible you’ll simply be stunned at the place you find yourself.