Dream Job— 2
In my previous blog I had talked about my dream company. This is next part to that where I want to talk about my dream job. A company may be dream company by the parameters you have chosen but what if it does not have a job fitting your skill set and dream position?
The question then is what are the parameters for my dream position and in answer below parameters come to my mind:
- Pay scale
- Designation — Role and responsibilities
- Skill set fit
- Career progression
- Passion
- Job Security
I will go into more details of why the parameter is important and how much it is important?
1. Pay scale
a. 99.9% people do the job to get the pay which will enable good life for them and their family.
b. It becomes only insignificant in cases where
i. There is parallel income stream set up
ii. Rich family
iii. The passion for a particular type of work is greater than the need for pay
c. It also becomes a matter of prestige and it matters because my peers are getting this much so I should at least get that or more is better
2. Designation (Role and responsibilities)
a. A designation is linked to social position. If you are in same position for certain period of time you are considered a failure by majority
b. It’s also part of career progression that you must reach at some level in certain period
c. For most of the people management is the next step in career ladder and it gives them a sense of accomplishment to say that they manage a team so and so large etc.
3. Skill set fit
a. Most of the time this is most neglected part
b. You always have to acquire skill sets required for the job and do not get job that requires your actual skill sets
c. There are two types of skill set — Soft skills and technical skills and every position requires a mix of these to certain extend. Some jobs require more technical skill and some require more soft skills.
4. Career progression
a. A job that offers a clear path for career progression is actually dream job.
b. There should be clear parameters/ metrics to define career progression
c. This is difficult to happen internally and most often when people do not get internal promotions go looking for external promotions resulting in loss of talent for the company
5. Passion
a. A person can do a good job even if the work involved is not according to liking or interest.
b. But when the work matches with passion of individuals then the person does job which goes beyond the definition of good. The results will be great.
c. It also ensures that the person will stick with job and company even if other factors are not favourable
6. Job Security
a. Some organizations are very eager to hire people as well very eager to fire at the slightest market issues
b. The company should be able to hold on to the people in difficult times at least for a certain period
c. A person will stick for long time with a company if he is sure that the company won’t fire him at slightest opportunity
A person should ask specific questions to oneself to understand what is exactly he wants from a job for life. Below are the sample questions I asked myself:
1. Pay scale
a. What is the importance of pay scale to me in comparison with other parameters?
b. How much minimum salary I require to maintain the lifestyle?
c. Are there any other adjustments I can do to reduce dependency on salary?
d. How much salary increment will I need in next 5 years to sustain and is this job capable of giving that to me?
2. Designation
a. What’s the importance of designation with respect to other parameters?
b. How difficult to get the next designation?
c. What is career end designation you want?
3. Skill set fit
a. Does the required skill set matches with your current skill set?
b. How big or small is the gap between required and actual skill set?
c. Is it possible to bridge the gap in short time or is it going to require extensive trainings?
d. Do you have bandwidth required to put efforts required to bridge the gap?
e. What is the value of the new skills for your future?
f. The skills you have — how hard or easy to find the similar or more skilled people in market?
g. What is your specialization and does job require or nurture that specialization?
4. Career progression
a. How much average time for person joining on similar level to go to the next level?
b. Is the next level the one you want to reach in similar time frame?
c. What are the benefits of next level in terms of money, timings, perks etc?
d. How much responsibility increase it will mean?
5. Passion
a. Does the job offer work that is aligning with my passion? For example, if I love coding does job gives me opportunities to do coding or just requires me to do documentation etc.
b. How big is the gap between my expectation and reality? Can this gap be reduced or bridge? What will it take to do that?
6. Job security
a. What is importance of monthly salary in my life?
b. Can I survive with less salary or no salary for few months?
c. If I get fired today, what will be impact on my life?
d. How is my alternate source of income doing if I have one? To what percentage it can support?
I will talk in my next blog about how to do combine the dream company and dream job to get a perfect life
