How can I get my dream job?

Last day I met one of my many cousins. The usually pleasant guy looked depressed. When I enquired, he said that he had been searching for a job since he graduated but couldn’t find one. He was on the verge of tears when he asked me what he should do.

I rarely get an opportunity to advise someone, not because I don’t like it, believe me, I do. But no one ever asks me for my opinion, let alone advice.

So I decided to make full use of the windfall opportunity. I assumed the air of authority on jobs.

Why am I unemployed?

The more relevant question is, does obtaining a college degree guarantee a job? The answer: I seriously doubt that.

The higher education system—especially in India—does not supply the tools and skills required for most jobs. Well, the system cannot be blamed. How much can be crammed into a course spanning just three or four years? So do not consider your degree the key to a bungalow where you can live happily ever after, but rather as a foundation on which you have to build your career brick by brick.

Second, the staggering number of graduates the country produces (almost 6.5 million/65 lakhs —1.5 million/15 lakhs of which are engineers!) every year makes for tough competition. Let’s face it, even though the government makes tall promises about job opportunities, only a few exist. So the question becomes why an employer should choose you above the battalion of other eligible candidates. Once you can answer this question satisfactorily, you will be the chosen one.

The third reason for not getting a job, and I cannot stress this enough, is the lack of trying. You do not have the luxury of sitting back and lamenting when you fail a couple of interviews. Let me tell you my story. Since I graduated a decade ago, I’ve worked for five firms, completed seven courses, freelanced for 16 companies, and attended interviews for 45 positions!

I believe this constant struggle took me to where I am now.

Finding the right job

Ok, I will be blunt here, there is no perfect job, just like there is no true love. These are myths are perpetrated by sadists like Shakespeare who enjoy mortals desperately searching for soulmates—soul jobs in this case.

However, you can have preferences about the nature of work. If there is something that you love to do, there is nothing wrong with trying for it. I started my career as an electrical engineer and worked as a maintenance engineer, construction engineer, and nodal officer for the UN’s energy efficiency project. But when I stumbled up on writing, I knew this was something I would enjoy doing.

Nevertheless, do not abandon what you have in search of a mirage. It is better to start your dream as a side hustle. Then slowly build experience and evolve into a professional. When I unearthed my writing skill, I started this blog. I wrote articles for almost a year and collected opinions of my well-wishers. When I felt confident, I took one step further and started freelancing. Within a year, I became a full-time content writer for a small firm that paid peanuts. Two years later, I became part of Tata Consultancy Services, one of the giants in the industry, and started working for our client Microsoft.

Yes, it was slow progress, almost frustrating at times. But discipline and patience got me to where I am today; after more than four years.

Explore and Exploit

If you do not know what you love, try the ‘explore and exploit’ rule.

Do not get stuck in one job, especially early in your career. Explore new pastures. But try to stay in a job for at least six months, because the first six months are the most difficult for any job. If you do not enjoy the job even after that, start exploring new opportunities.

If you find something that you think is easy and enjoyable, start exploiting it. Dive deep into the possibilities of the career and get an idea of where you can be in ten years if you continue down that road. Thus the explore and exploit rule will equip you to find something you love.

Having said that, let me add that the first five years after graduation determine what kind of professional you will bud into. So do not jump from job to job unnecessarily. Choose wisely.

Keep working on your skills

After getting into a job we enjoy, we tend to relax. Sometimes work may be too hectic to allow us time for anything else. Thus we give up on developing our skillset.

This is a problem. Keep in mind that jobs and ever-evolving with the leaps in technology. Gone are the days when you do the same work every day until you retire. You have to learn new skills and adapt to changing job scenarios to keep yourself relevant in any industry. It requires constant evolution.

Do not forget that most of the jobs today will be gone tomorrow. More efficient algorithms or AI will perform them instead of humans. If we are slow to adapt, it is likely that we will be crying, ‘Who moved my cheese?‘ before long.

To Summarize

Your degree does not ensure you a job. You have to stand out from the crowd to get picked. Do not leave your quest for a job after a few failures. Keep fighting.

When you get a job, do not get too comfortable. Keep exploring until you find something you love to do. Once you find it, build a career, work on your skills and be one of the best in the business. Keep an eye out for the changes in the industry and upgrade yourself accordingly.

Yeah, now I see why people do not seek my advice!

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think in the comment box below.