Deciding what you do professionally means getting clear about what gives you FULFILLMENT AND SATISFACTION, in the short-term and in the long-run.
You want to be able to answer these questions:
- When it comes to work, what is most important to YOU?
- What gives you satisfaction and will continue to be motivating to you as you go back day after day and give it your all?
Now drill down, do you care deeply about:
Who you work with? What you’re doing? What the organization stands for? Whether you contribute to social change or drive innovation? Whether you have room to risk (and fail), or whether you have a clear upward career path and benchmarks for success?
A job search is a process of discernment. It takes research, both online and in person. As you talk to people and visit organizations, you will develop a keen sense of what resonates and speaks to you (and what doesn’t!). It’s important to pay attention to what’s MOST important to you, and what doesn’t matter that much. Ultimately, you will create job satisfaction criteria that’s unique to you, so that you can decide what’s a fit and what’s not. It’s best to prioritize so you know your MUST HAVE’s, your yes’s and your no’s and where you will compromise.
These are key categories for your criteria:
- What you’re doing – skills used, types of projects, results vs process orientation, contact with people, short or long-term projects, on a career path with clear mobility, providing a stand-alone service, part of core mission or in a support (more admin-like) role
- What the organization does– its mission, who it serves, what it values
- How the organization measures success – concrete products, building things, profit, non-profit, intangibles/changing attitudes, influencing policies
- Organizational culture- innovative or tried and true, institution, start-up, public service, private sector
- Who you work with – your managers and co-workers, the demographic, their background and skills
- Internally focused job (work with others not with clients or partners)
- Externally focused job (work with clients, partners)
- Autonomous? Managing? In a team? With one or two key staff?
- Measurable outcomes – how does organization define success? What is success in the job? Are there deliverables? Is your performance based on billable hours and deliverables?
When you take time to discern what’s most important to you, your job search will be easier, you will present yourself clearly and effectively, you’ll be a more competitive candidate- and most important, you will be a happy, successful employee!