What is your dream job?

Kristen Nelson
SSHA Career Consultant
Career Services Center

Is this a question you have asked yourself? Maybe you are still asking, and searching for the answer. In my opinion, this is a pretty big question and one I don’t quite yet have a definitive answer for. I have had to recently think a lot about this question because this past week I was invited to hold the first part of a workshop on “Dream Jobs.”

I met with my supervisor who helped me prepare some ideas and also gave me a really great activity to carry out during the workshop. I found the activity particularly inspiring. The purpose of it is to help you develop a clearer sense of what’s most important to you in life.

It starts with a list of about 400 values, going all the way from “Abundance” to “Zeal”. You scan the values and the ones that you naturally notice and stand out to you, you circle. Afterward, you go through the values you circled and pick out the ones you feel are extra meaningful. You then reflect on why these words stood out, how they translate to the values important to your life, and in this case, your dream job.

It sounded so interesting because my idea of a “dream job” and of what I have heard from others always seems to sound like the jobs we came up with when we were little: doctor, astronaut, superstar, etc.  It is flashy and too often its origins are based on money and status. We focus on the job and what it means to others; and less about what it means to ourselves. Perhaps our dreams jobs should be stripped of its connotation of our childhood and the “make-believe” and given a new meaning.  Shouldn’t our “dream job” be a reality, and a goal for a career that makes us happy and supports who we are?

I think that is why I found myself so curious over this list of words, because it showed me I was looking at the idea of dream jobs all wrong. I thought it would be fun if I did the activity myself and shared the results. The list was pretty long and it was fascinating that some words stood out much more than others. Looking over the list, I saw some patterns and differences in how some sections I circled a lot and others not so much. I decided to narrow it down to three values that I just couldn’t ignore. My results were: Balance, Connection, and Inspiration.

These words definitely resounded with me and I could see how they would make me happy in a future career. “Balance” is important because I know I could not have a job that took up most of my life. I need something I could devote my time to and also be able to manage my other responsibilities, like family. “Connection” really stood out to me because I automatically enjoy my time whenever I engage with people.  “Inspiration” was interesting to me because there were other words on the list that were important, but for some reason I kept looking back at it. I think this is because I need to be inspired by what I do. If I don’t have inspiration, I won’t have passion for my work, and will most likely not be very happy.

These words didn’t exactly give me a clear answer of a particular profession, but then again, it wasn’t meant to. It showed me what I find important and if I choose to base my life choices towards being balanced, making meaningful connections with others, and finding inspiration, my dream job will find me.