In this video, I give you step 2 on how to get your DREAM job.
VIDEO SUMMARY
What I am about to share with you, I consider one of the most important lessons I have learned in my career. Here is the main concept: You have the power to influence your job description. This is a huge change in perspective for a lot of people. Most people think of their job description as etched in stone. But it is not. We are talking about getting a dream job. Well if you do not like your current job, you can change it into your dream job. You do not even have to look for another job. Just get your dream job right where you are at.
To understand this concept, we need to be clear on what a job description is. Job descriptions are very standard things. Almost every company uses them. Every job in the company has a job description that outlines the duties of the job. When you apply for a job, you look at a job description. When you start working in that job, you perform that list of duties. It seems pretty straight forward. But the situation we are talking about here is comparing two different job descriptions. You have the job you are currently in, and then the job description of your dream job. What I want to show you, is you can work with your boss to take some of the activities from your dream job, and move them into your current job description.
I want to share another story with you about working in Hollywood. This actually did not happen to me. This happened to someone I knew in the movie industry. My friend was in an entry level position working for the VP of Sales at a film company. He was basically in a typical entry level sales position, going on sales calls, which was not what he wanted to do with his career. He was very interested in PR (Public Relations). So if you do not know what PR is, it is a specialized area of Sales & Marketing, where you a responsible for the company’s image in the public. From a practical standpoint, that means you build relationships with newspapers, media, thought leaders, and the public, so when your company is doing something interesting, you can get the message out there in the press. This is a different approach than paying to place an ad. Using PR instead can be an effective way to get your message out and drive sales for the company.
So my friend wanted to get into PR, but here was the problem: the company did not have a PR position. It is not like he could get promoted. The job description did not exist. So my friend sat back and thought to himself, “What does working in PR look like? What would be included in that job description?” Well in Hollywood, that means going to a lot of parties. You want your company to be at all the right events. You want to know all the right people. You want your company’s name to be on the top of everyone’s mind when they are making decisions about future film deals. So every day, you are going to events and parties and getting your name out there. Now this is probably not a dream job for everybody, but it was to my friend. He thought to himself, “I like going to parties. I am good at partying. And I think my partying skills could make the company a lot of money.” Now I am not trying to diminish the skill level of PR. PR is a lot of hard work. But for the right person, it is a really fun job.
So here is what he did. He just started building his dream job at the company. He just started doing it on his own time and his own dime. He just started going to industry functions, networking, and building relationships with different reporters. He got the company mentioned several times in key media. And then he was able to have a conversation with his boss and show the positive impact of this. And he said, “I know this position does not exist, but here is what the job description could look like, and here is how it will make the company money.” And it worked. The company created a brand new position for him, and gave him a raise. And this all happened within the time space of a year. This guy went from taking sales calls to Manager of PR in a year.
So I saw all this, and I realized you have the power to influence your job description. You have ownership over what your job looks like, and you have the ability to change it. That job description is a living, breathing, changing document based on the conversations you have with your boss. And you can influence it. So many people sit back, and just do what their manager tells them. People even pride themselves on this. I have heard so many people say “I am just going to do my job description. Nothing more. Nothing less.” It is those same people who then complain that their manager does not give them their dream job. But it is not your manager’s responsibility to make your dreams come true. It is your responsibility to do that. You have to contribute to the conversation and tell your manager what you want to do, and back it up with proof of how it will benefit the company.
I want to take this concept a step further: Changing your current position into your dream job is not an option, it is an obligation. It is your responsibility to create your dream job because it is a win-win situation. It is not just good for you, it is good for your company. Here is the reason: You are more productive doing things you love. From a practical standpoint, when you look at your job description, let us imagine 75% of it are things you enjoy, and 25% are things you hate. Your goal should be to increase that 75% and decrease the 25%, because the 75% is going to be the areas where you are generating the most value for the company. If you are sitting there doing something you love, you are going to be more productive. For that 25% where you are saying to yourself “I hate this,” you are probably not being all that productive. When you hate something, your mind is trying to tell you “You are not good at this, and you are wasting your time that could be spent generating real value.” There is probably someone else in the company who can do that 25% and do it so much better than you. So that is an example of what you can communicate to your boss. Think about how you can do more of the 75% and less of the 25%. And ultimately everybody will be better off.
So I realize I gave a pretty extreme example about creating your dream job out of nothing in a year. But it should give you an idea of what is possible. It is simply about communicating with your company at how you can create the most value. At this point when I talk about this subject, people tend to still come up with excuses not to do this. For instance, it just might not be possible to create your dream job at your company. A company may not be able to afford to just create a new manager position, but you can certainly participate in more job duties in that direction. This will help you gain experience if you want to move to a different company. Another excuse people give is that they are afraid that their boss will not like it, and it will penalize their career. I say, “You already do not like your job, what do you have to lose?” And I have actually found that most bosses appreciate this conversation. We are all business people, and we are all here to make money. So if you can show your boss how you can make the company money, they will probably jump all over that. And after all that, if they still do not listen to you, maybe you should look for another job.
The general theme is here that you have ownership over what your job looks like. Do not wait around for your boss. You have the responsibility to make your job meaningful. Have these conversations with your boss. I bet your boss would love to hear you talk about what you like and dislike about your job. And if you are successful, you can start creating your dream job right where you are at.
Next week I will release step 3 of how to get your dream job and it has to do with Limiting Beliefs.
Thank you for watching. Leave a comment down below letting me know what you think! The best way to supercharge your business is through accounting and corporate finance. I release a new video every week, so come back and check out next week’s video.
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Neither Zach De Gregorio or Wolves and Finance Inc. shall be liable for any damages related to information in this video. It is recommended you contact a CPA in your area for business advice.