If there’s one thing that most of us can agree on, it’s the fact that the modern world, and the modern business world, in particular, has been almost entirely dominated by technology. However, one of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people make when they look at the world of work is that they assume that the innovation stopped with the rise of the internet The truth is that how we think about and interact with our careers is constantly in a state of flux and thanks to technology those changes are coming thicker and faster than ever before. With that in mind, here are some industries that technology is still impacting in some seriously significant ways.
Medicine
If there’s one industry that you can guarantee to be right at the cutting edge of any recent technological advancements, it’s going to be medicine. The ways in which medical professionals are incorporating technology into everything from diagnosis to treatments is truly astounding. From new DNA testing methods to equipment like the GE Lunar, there are more ways to treat patients and understand illness now than ever before. And let’s face it, could there ever be a better place for technology to be used than in the act of saving lives?
Marketing
Marketing has always been one of those things that is quick to embrace new technology, even if practitioners don’t know exactly how best to utilise it for a while. The internet has been around now for more than two decades, and yet marketing experts are still finding ways to use it to their advantage. This has been made even more complicated by the rise of social media. After all, the way that average people interact with their online technology now is completely different to even a decade ago. From understanding Google’s algorithms to the use of dedicated tech to monitor and interact with customers, digital marketing has been undergoing something of a revolution over the last several years.
Education
Teaching is one of those jobs that has basically looked the same for the last century and change. However, over the last decade, there has been a quiet revolution going on. The truth is that kids are now able to find pretty much any information that they need right at their fingertips. Think about how often you were told by a teacher that you wouldn’t always have a calculator on you, and now most of us constantly carry in our pockets a computer more powerful than the one that put a man on the moon! The key for teachers now is to be able to teach young people how to find and understand new information, rather than just teaching them straight out of a textbook.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that things like a classic brick and mortar business aren’t going to be a viable option in the modern era. No matter how important technology becomes to us, the desire for hands-on work is always going to be there. The best thing that you can do is to try and combine the two and develop as many skills for yourself as possible.
Summer is quickly fading—what strides have you made towards landing your dream job? Before the sun sets on the magnificent summer days, you should do something (anything!) to strengthen your chances of landing the job you want.
Finding your dream job is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. You have to prepare for it. Visualize it. Make small, consistent efforts to position yourself in the right place at the right time and with the people with the power to give you the job you want. There’s still time to take small actions this summer that will pay off big later.
Make a Definitive Career Decision
We all go through times when we aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives. It’s part of career exploration, and it’s completely normal. If you are still in this part of your career path, you aren’t exactly ready to pursue your dream job because you don’t know what your dream job is.
You know you’re ready to pursue your dream job when it’s all you can think about. When you find that perfect career, you know it. You see it in your mind’s eye. You talk about it with everyone you meet. You look for opportunities to get closer to your goal, and opportunities continue to present themselves for you.
If you aren’t there yet, spend your time this summer researching potential dream jobs. For example, if you love sailing, look into yacht jobs. If you love singing, look into jobs at theme parks or local theaters that will allow you to express your passion. Take a personality quiz and see what jobs are recommended for your personality type. Volunteer with different organizations and try a variety of jobs on for size. Keep searching until you find something that feels right to you.
Create a Sparkling Resume
A sparkling resume alone is not going to snag you your dream career, but it’s certainly going to set you in the right direction. If you’ve chosen your dream job, start researching resumes for other people in that industry. Look at their LinkedIN profiles and figure out what the people doing the job you want have in common. Likely, they have similar education and a similar skill set.
To make your resume stand out from the crowd, ditch Word’s standard templates and buy a unique, inexpensive template on Etsy. Artists there create resumes with color and professional formatting that will make you look like you know exactly what you’re doing. All you need is good word-smithing and you’re well on your way to your dream job.
If you know exactly what your dream job is, the best thing you can do to ensure you land it is to network. You should be making an effort to meet at least two people who can help you with your career every week. You should be following people on LinkedIN who already do your dream job. Heading to job fairs and landing interviews is an important part of this process, too.
You can network anywhere. If you’re still in college, network with your professors and students in the same major field. Ask them to make introductions for you. Don’t feel like you’re imposing by making this request—you will return the favor later when you’re in the position to help someone in your industry.
Jarell and I have even networked at the grocery store. You never know when you’re going to meet someone who can help you along your path. Always be ready. If you have an online portfolio, spend a few dollars to have business cards made with your contact info and a link to your portfolio so you can hand them out during “surprise” networking conversations. Always be ready to make a connection.
Be Persistent
The concept of GRIT is making its way in the conference circle right now, so make sure you are persistent and know what employers want from their employees. You will face setbacks—they are part of life. How you handle those setbacks largely determines how successful you are in life and your career. Persevere over your obstacles at every opportunity.
This summer, to work on your persistence, find an inspiration of some sort. Find a role model who was successful and beat the odds. Having this will help you keep focused in the tough times.
If you want a career in healthcare, but don’t want to go to school for eight more years to be a doctor, or don’t like the idea of being a nurse, you have options. The medical field is huge, and it has jobs for just about every personality type. Here are a few options you might consider:
1. Medical Transport Services
The ambulance service is extremely important. Paramedics, ambulance drivers and others help provide emergency care to the population, saving lives every day. While there is training involved to work in the ambulance service, it takes place in a community college or trade school, so it’s significantly cheaper than a full university education. If you like the idea of a fast-paced career where you’re on the front line for saving lives, it’s worth investigating what’s needed to become a paramedic.
2. Midwifery
You don’t have to be a doctor to deliver babies. In fact, in most developed countries, doctors are only involved in high-risk deliveries. Midwives deliver healthy babies everyday.
Midwifery is a challenging profession, enabling you to work closely with people on a daily basis and provide care and support to expectant mothers and their newborn children. There are several reasons to become a midwife, and while you can expect long hours and some tough days, it can also be an extremely rewarding role within the healthcare industry. It’s a career that goes back centuries, and one that is still very much needed in medicine today.
3. Phlebotomy
Phlebotomy is the practice of drawing blood, and is carried out every day in hospitals and doctors offices across the country. It’s an essential profession, and one that doesn’t require years at college to qualify. You can undergo phlebotomy training in a matter of months, enabling you to work at hospitals and other practices once you’ve completed your training. Phlebotomy is a great career if you’re interested in medicine, and could provide a good foundation before you apply for other roles such as nursing or working in medical research.
Hospitals have many people working behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly, and there are many opportunities for you in hospital management. You could start with an administrative role and work your way up, while some hospitals have management programs to help you secure a management position sooner. Working in hospital management can be a fast-paced and exciting role, allowing you to be a part of the hospital environment and ensure that it continues to function. You can move into hospital management from other industries, giving you a change of scene or pace from your current role.
Working in medicine is a great way to work with people and be a part of an essential service for the community. If you want a career that helps people and makes a difference, but don’t want to train to become a doctor or nurse, then exploring other avenues in the healthcare industry is worth your while. It’s a necessary service, and one that can open up a lot of doors in the future. Explore the opportunities that exist near you and consider working in healthcare for your long-term career.
Some people simply aren’t cut out to do regular jobs. And these are generally the people who gravitate towards the more unusual career paths. If the beaten path isn’t working out for you, it might be a good idea to start thinking about some of the more unusual career paths that might interest you. Switching your career and doing something you’ve never even thought about before could be exactly what you need right now.
1. Voiceover Artist
This is one of those jobs that not many people get to do, but if you think that you’re the kind of person that can instantly capture an audience with your voice alone, this is definitely the career for you. To get started in this career, you will need a crystal-clear microphone, like the ones we use from Plantronics. You should create a demo reel that showcases the range of your voice talents, and then post it one voiceover sites like voices.com and voicebunny.com, as well as freelance sites like Fiverr.
2. Ethical Hacker
If you love working with computers and you enjoy breaking down code and finding flaws in it, ethical hacking really coupe be the career for you. Companies increasingly need to know where the weak links in their armor are. And these days, their cybersecurity is just as important as any other aspect of security.
To find a job as a hacker, look for “computer security” jobs on Indeed and other job search sites. Most employers will expect you to have a 4-year degree and some coding experience.
3. Chocolatier
Let’s face it; we all love chocolate, and making it yourself can be a lot of fun. If you’re working at the highest-end of this industry, it can be very creative and incredibly intricate. You’ll need at least a few culinary courses, and most high-end chocolate makers require a full culinary degree. On the small side, you can apprentice a local chocolatier and use your talents to cater weddings and parties.
4. Professional Pilot
There’s something incredible about the prospect of taking to the skies and simply being in control of the plane. Of course, if you do decide to enroll on aeronautical programs, you will start with smaller aircrafts and work your way up to commercial jets. If you love flying, this could be an amazing career choice!
You don’t necessarily have to be the person standing in from of the camera breaking the news to everyone that it’s going to rain next week, but being a meteorologist can be fun. It’s a fascinating aspect of science, and if you do want to eventually want to appear on camera, that’s something you could pursue too.
Meteorologists have at least a bachelor’s degree, and more often than not, they go on to earn master’s degrees. With the right credentials, you could work for television and radio stations, NASA, or even the government.
Helping others is one of the most meaningful things we can choose to do with our lives, and there are lots of options. Whether you’d like to work directly with people who need help, or you’d prefer to look at the bigger picture, a career helping others can come in just about any shape or form.
If you want more of an idea of what you can do for your people-focus career, you’re in the right place. Read on for some suggestions and explanations that will help you to make this all important decision!
1. Nursing
As a nurse, you can work with people in a wide variety of settings. You might be working in theatre assisting surgeons, GP surgeries, or even in hospital wards. You could choose to specialise as an adult nurse, children’s nurse, mental health nurse, or another kind of nurse depending on where your interests lie. You can help a niche sector of people, or work with a wider group of people depending on the setting you want to work in and who you’d like to meet on the job. There’s nothing stopping you from starting out as one kind of nurse and then switching later on either, if you realize that it isn’t for you or you want a change.
2. Medicine
Working in medicine, i.e. becoming a doctor is a great option if you want to work closely with people and see the direct impact you are having on their lives. You could perhaps even get involved in medical research, working on finding cures for diseases.
You can work in a number of settings, including surgeries, hospitals, clinics, and more. You may also offer onsite services for corporate industries, just as coal board medical do. Getting a degree in medicine can be tough but it can be more than worth it. You could even do a bit of both, and work in research as well as a general practice.
3. Psychology
There are lots of different routes you can take to get into psychology. You may deal with people having mental health issues, those suffering from brain injuries, and perhaps even those who are looking to give up smoking and do other things to improve their physical health. You will need to be open to learning about why people do the things they do so you can understand their motivations and help them to stop the things they’re doing and thinking that are slowing them down. You’ll help people to improve their lives in a variety of ways, sometimes by giving them strategies and other times by simply talking to them.
4. Teaching And Education
As a teacher, you’ll be working directly with your pupils, helping them to develop and grow. You could work in primary or secondary schools, or other further education establishments. Some teachers even choose to work in hospitals and young offenders institutions. If you’re not committed enough to train for this, you could also look into things like childcare and becoming a teaching assistant.
5. Social Work
Social work is basically working with individuals and families who need support. You could be working with elderly people, adults with mental health issues, those learning difficulties, or other types of difficulties. It may be your job to help these people to live independently. Your role might even be to help children who may be in danger. Some social workers help people with the adoption process, or work with offenders. What you focus on is entirely up to you.
6. Emergency Services
The emergency services cover things like the ambulance service, and the fire and rescue. You need to be skilled and able to work under pressure in these situations, often risking your life and sacrificing break times for the sake of others.
7. Public Service
If you work in public service you could be working within the local government or government agencies. Your job will be to make decisions based on what is best for the good of the country and its citizens. You could help millions of people if you choose a public service role – you just have to make the right decisions.
8. Law
There are lots of different jobs in law, although all of them don’t help people directly. Those that do include criminal defense and immigration law. There are two main roles in law; barristers and solicitors. Barristers are often based in court, while solicitors are more office based. It takes time and a lot of study to land a role in law, but if you’re interested in this kind of thing, it could be the perfect way for you to help people.
9. Philanthropy: Careers in Charity
With a career in charity, you could be helping people or even animals. It is usually an office based job, although you may take on tasks outside of the office to spread awareness. You might be taking care of things like fundraising, marketing, or campaigning for the charity. You’ll become an ambassador and it’ll be your job to raise as much money as you can.
A career in therapeutic holistic health such as massage therapy, obtaining a Yoga Teacher Certification, becoming an acupuncturist or working as a chiropractor is another area in which you can certainly help people. Not everyone has the knowledge or ability to know when the mind and body needs to relax in order to fully recover from stress or injuries. A career in one of these fields is certainly beneficial if you find this subject area interesting and have the patience and willingness to help teach others in this field. It can be an effective way to deal with the everyday stresses that life brings.
What Are Your Other Options for a People-Focused Career?
The above are just some of the jobs that you could choose in a people focused career. Other options include Radiotherapy and oncology, where you will be treating cancer. You could choose a career in optometry, which covers the visual system. You could become a paramedic, look into midwifery, or even help people by sorting out their finances. There are no end of ways you can help people. There are always going to be options for you depending on what your interests and passions are. There are jobs researching drugs, the environment, food, and other science related topics. There’s also engineering, where you might be working on things like clean water, and renewable energy. Management consulting roles involve helping people to improve their businesses, and this is helping people just as much as the other roles listed here.
We all hear a lot about “following our bliss” and pursuing our dream job in today’s world of upbeat songs and Instagram inspirational photos.
This is, of course, a good thing. Everyone wants to do something that they enjoy and find meaningful, with their lives, and it’s definitely better to put yourself out there and to try your best at a worthwhile goal than to leave it alone and forever wonder if you could have made it up.
But what does it take to really pursue your dream job, anyway? If you wanted to know how to become an air ambulance paramedic, or a successful author, what would you need to know? And how would you go about turning those dreams into reality?
Here are a few traits you’ll need to pursue your dream job and have a good chance of achieving it, too.
Awareness and Insight
The first thing you need in order to achieve your dream job is awareness and insight.
You need to spend a good deal of time thinking about what exactly you want to achieve with your life, and how you want to spend your time. This has to be something that is deeply personal to you.
If you think you may kind of want to be a millionaire, because you know that millionaires can buy a lot of nice stuff, then you’re not approaching this exercise with the right mindset.
Once you’ve identified your dream job, analyze yourself. What character traits will you need in order to achieve this dream? And which negative habits and traits will you need to let go of in order to make it work?
Courage and Commitment
Pursuing something big, ambitious, and statistically unlikely to succeed, is a daunting task. In order to keep your spirits up, and to drive on through and win against the odds, you’ll need courage and commitment.
You’ll need to remind yourself on a regular basis why you want to achieve this goal, and you’ll need to visualize and feel it, deeply.
You’ll also need to have enough grit to push on through when the days are grinding, and when progress seems slow or nonexistent.
In other words, you’ll need the courage the venture out into the unknown, day after day, and the commitment to keep moving towards your goal when the road proves bumpier than you expected.
Various life coaches, productivity gurus, and self-help figures will use the term “beginner’s mind” to refer the kind of mindset you should adopt to have the greatest possible chance of success in your undertakings.
The idea here is that you’re humble enough to assume you don’t know everything, and to be open to learning, both from other people, and from your experiences themselves.
This kind of humility is essential in pursuing and winning your dream job, because you will always be journeying from a place of less competence to a place of more competence, and leaving behind some of your preconceptions en route.
You will also need the patience to absorb the learning experiences presented by mishaps and unexpected events.
What is a “dream job” to you? Is it the ability to work doing something you love, or is it just a job that provides financial freedom and stable income to you? Everyone has their own idea of what a dream job is, but what people often don’t realize is just how simple it can be to obtain it.
We’re not saying that it’s necessarily easy to land yourself a dream job. However, the steps you take to achieve it can be rather simple as long as you have the right plan and motivation. In this article, we’ll be discussing how you can achieve your dream job as long as you’re willing to work towards it.
1. Define Your Dream Job
Your dream job should be a part of your dream life; it’s something that you can do without thinking “ugh, Monday mornings” and it’s something you can integrate with your lifestyle. Think about the people you want to meet, the skills you want to use and the things that interest you. Brainstorm them if you have to and connect the dots to find what could be your dream job. If you don’t have an idea of the type of work you want to do for the better part of your life, then it’s going to be hard finding a source of inspiration for your dream job. In short, have a good think about what you consider to be a fantastic career opportunity and keep a note of it.
2. Start Clearing Hurdles
Once you’ve identified your dream job, it’s time to start thinking about the hurdles that are preventing you from achieving it. Is it because you don’t have the right qualifications, or is it because you have a criminal record that is preventing you from being hired? When dealing with a lack of qualifications, it’s simply a case of studying hard and learning new skills to help you find your dream job. This can involve online lessons or you might be able to land an apprenticeship in your industry of choice.
For criminal records, you can consider services such as DuffyLawCT.com/state-crimes/expungement/ to help you clean your record. Expungement will help you find better job opportunities and will make it easier for you to pass initial checks that employers typically carry out on new employees.
Once you’ve identified and cleared the hurdles, it’s time to look for support. Support can come in a variety of different forms. For instance, some people consider emotional support to be the most important kind, and others believe that networking can help you find better job opportunities and can help you get your foot in the door. This guide at HelpGuide.org can teach you how to make use of networking opportunities to actually find new jobs and build relationships.
While getting a dream job is in no way easy, it’s also not the hardest thing in the world assuming you have the right support and mindset to achieve it.
In a lot of cases, you can transform your passion into a career that pays. How you do this is another matter entirely because it won’t always be simple. You have a long road ahead, and you almost certainly won’t start off at the income that you’d probably want.
Take being a writer for instance. If you love writing, you might adore the idea of being a published author. However, do be aware that the average payment for a first novel is fifteen thousand dollars. Not everyone becomes J.K. Rowling, and not everyone gets a book at the center of a Hollywood bidding war. So, let’s look at the right ways to transform your passion into a career.
You have Talent, but Can You Prove It?
You might know that you have a talent with your passion. You could have a way with words, fantastic skills in the kitchen or an awesome knack for comedy. Great, but you also need to be able to prove it, and we don’t mean in person. We mean you need something that you can put on your CV or resume that will stand out and make people take notice. This could be anything but let’s take cooking as an example. You might want to become a chef. You don’t need to go to college to do this, but you should have some qualifications. You could attend a natural food cooking school and immediately have something that shines and stands out when you’re applying for jobs.
Put Yourself Out There
The next step is making sure that you are confident enough to say: “hey, here I am, now hire me.” One of the best ways to do this would be to just set up your own website. You can use a website as a personal platform to sell yourself and what you can offer. This could be absolutely anything, but here we can look at photography. If you love photography and want it to become your new full career, set up a website to show off your photos.
But don’t stop there. You also want to make sure that you are offering people the chance to see your art. You can do this by promoting your pictures on every form of social media imaginable from Twitter to Facebook. Doing this is a great way to get attention.
Don’t Be Proud
Don’t be afraid to work for free when you’re just starting out with your passion. Work for free is a great way to get experience and make sure that you are getting some interesting work positions under your belt. This is going to make it a lot easier when you begin applying for jobs. In other words, don’t just sit it out until your dream job comes along.
Finally, don’t be afraid to use contacts. Passion careers are often notoriously difficult to find success with because they tend to be competitive. If you have contacts and use them, you’ll have the upper hand.
