Job Search Aid

How can you increase the chances of finding that career opportunity you have been dreaming of? Here are some practical steps that will send you on your way to achieving them.

1. Look for upgrades.

Upgrades are roles that act as stepping stones towards your dream opportunity. They move you forward. Maybe not all the way but at least to a place that adds something to your career and resume. Think of them as steps on the ladder to success.

2. Keep up your eagerness.

If the right career opportunity comes up, you need to be ready. That means building your resume and polishing your track record to make you the obvious choice.

It also means being on top form, whenever chance hands you the golden ticket. You cannot fake enthusiasm. If your motivation sags, you would not have the “get up and go” again.

You need to keep building yourself into the kind of person who gets that dream job. Read. Train yourself. Focus on the positives. Do whatever it takes to keep your enthusiasm for life on the boil. No one likes depressives.

3. Focus.

The trouble with dreams is that they are fuzzy. That is just fine for day-dreaming, but it would not work to get results in the real world. You need to know exactly what you want and in detail, if you are going to see how to get to it.

A lot of so-called career opportunities are simply fantasies and hallucinations. Even the dreamers do not really believe they will ever turn them into reality.

So if your dream job is not a practical and hard-nosed possibility, set it aside and try a few others on for size. Do not fixate on a single dream until you have proved that it is possible in the real world.

4. Look for career opportunities that others have missed.

Life is uncertain. It is unfair most of the time. It can also downright cruel.

It is easy to get depressed and lose heart. Other people seem to be on the fast track into the future, while you are still stuck in a dead-end role with a boss who blocks you from going anywhere.

But there are hidden career opportunities in almost every situation. If the fast track looks inviting, remember that obvious opportunities attract the most competition.

Find a less obvious path where there is no one competing with you.

5. Keep an open mind.

It is easy to buy all the hype that proclaims certain kinds of jobs as the only ones that anyone sees as desirable. But that is simply fashion.

You are looking for your dream job, not whatever the media have decided to push this week.

Focus on what is best for you. And if that is unfashionable or not in vogue today, all the better. Less competition makes landing this job all the more easier.

6. Find a mentor.

This is probably the single most effective action you can take to land that career opportunity. If you can find someone who knows the ropes who will take you under his or her wing, you have suddenly improved your prospects.

A mentor can smooth the way for you, help you avoid the pitfalls and show you how to show yourself to the best advantage. All without exposing you to the kinds of career opportunity risks you might have to face on your own.

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