CAREER PROFILE: In the pursuit of your dream career

No matter how old you are, deciding how to get the career of your dreams is a huge, scary step. Whether you’re 15 or 45, it can be one of the scariest decisions you’ll ever make. If you’re currently debating whether or not you should follow your dreams, you should just do it! You don’t want to live with that regret, no matter how old you are. Once you’ve decided to follow your dreams, follow this list on how to get the career of your dreams to keep you headed in the right direction on your new path!

Come up with a plan: Every success began with a plan. If you don’t know which direction you’re heading, how will you know what you’re pursuing? Come up with a plan, however loose or strict as you want it. However, don’t be afraid for your plan to deviate a little as you go along. You can’t expect everything to go as planned!

Get started early: Don’t let your age or education level hold you back. Get started early so that when you’re at an age where most people are just starting or have just finished their education, you’ll have years of experience under your belt and will stand out from the rest of the crowd! It’s never too early to start doing what you love!

Don’t listen to the haters: What is it that most people have against following your dreams? When you’re vocal about what you want, especially if that goal seems far-fetched, some people are probably going to hate. Don’t listen and don’t let them get you down, though, because they’re not benefiting you in any way!

Get the courage to leave something that isn’t your dream: If you’re currently doing something that won’t help you get to your dream, stop doing it. I don’t mean quit a job that’s financially supporting you, because financially supporting yourself should be a big part of your dream. However, if something is hurting you instead of helping you, leave.

Don’t take no for an answer: Don’t back down. If you’re turned down or rejected, don’t just hide away and accept your fate. Ask why, ask what you could change, and if you could get a second chance. You’d be surprised just how many companies and people will be impressed by the initiative you take!

Educate yourself: Learning about your dream is one of the most important parts of being successful. You don’t necessarily need to get a ton of different degrees, but you should read about people who are doing what you want to do, and how they got to where they are. You might as well learn from people who have already gone through what you’re going through and have survived!

Live without regrets: If you’re really living out your dream, you won’t live with regrets. If you’re living with regrets, you didn’t try to pursue that dream. You don’t want to look back and wish you had done something differently. Living without regrets is one of the most important parts of pursuing a dream!

Cultivate a proactive perspective to accelerate your career: Despite what you might have heard about millennials, 80 percent of them claim that they would prefer to work at the same company for much of their careers. But if that’s true, then why do nearly half of all young professionals say they want to leave their current jobs?

Most of us are presented with this very conundrum: We don’t want to job-hop, but we have a hard time seeing how to advance in our current roles. This is a problem because if we don’t see ourselves growing, we devolve into comparing ourselves to others and competing for salaries instead of considering the company culture, perks and potential skills we could gain in each successive role.

Still, and though it may sometimes seem like employers enjoy rigid and specific role definitions, many businesses are moving away from overspecialised roles and placing more emphasis on recognizing employees who can handle a number of job duties that contribute to the business’s success. The key is for employees to get out of this “role-specific” mindset and focus on how they can motivate and maximize their value to their team.

By using your current role to understand, define and qualify for your next position—either as part of your company or outside of it—you can start taking control of your career destiny.

Practice good goal setting to identify skill gaps: I’m aware that everyone tells you to set goals, but there is a reason for that. If you can’t see progress, you will give up far sooner than you should.

In this case, the goal-setting process will also help you define the skills and job responsibilities you want to move toward. Look up job descriptions or talk to others at work to identify the skills and responsibilities you may need in order to advance. Then undertake an honest assessment of your own skills and deficits.

Assessing your own strengths and weaknesses and asking for help from those around you can help you identify how external factors like classes or opportunities create a path for growth.

Once you have a good list of which areas to pursue, you can set reasonable goals for the next quarter. Are there courses on learning sites that will help you gain a basis for more advanced projects? Are there any local community college classes you can enroll in? Start your search by homing in on a few simple tasks, like completing one course in HTML coding or assisting with two extra team projects. After three months, review how much you got done, then set more goals accordingly. This process will help you focus on what you need to do to be successful and will push you to grow.

Adopt a “how can I help?” attitude, and stick to your word: Walking into work every day and asking yourself how you can help will offer two main advantages: You’ll be exposed to new projects and tasks, and you’ll develop a greater sense of satisfaction and positivity about your career.