Land Your Dream Job — 5 Simple Steps + One Bonus Tip And A Little Pep Talk

Ready for your next adventure? Prepare with these full of actionable advice to help you navigate your next big job.

If you’re dreaming of “that” job and do not know what to do to land a role in your dream company, you’re at the right place. I am just going to give you five simple ways ( yes! you heard it right ) to land your next dream or even better “best” job of your career.

Did I get your full attention now? ( I hope, Yes!)

To be honest, you don’t need Harry Potter’s wand to achieve your mission. It is as simple as it sounds.

When searching for a job, you may feel like you’re not good enough or qualified enough to get it. So what you have to do to land your dream job? I have created a simple road map for finding your next role.

Here are the steps, you can start picking up as you like.

1- Start Defining What Do You Mean By “Dream” Job — Get your notebook or a piece of paper and a pen( don’t judge, I am old school!), start writing your points what is your “dream” job criteria. Write in 3–4 short sentences. Don’t go overboard, be specific on what you need from your next big role or job.

Maybe it’s money or company brand or the benefits ( health or otherwise ) or specific role or may be all. Whatever it is, sort that out and define in the top three-four criteria that you are expecting from your dream job or in your next role.

2- Start With The Company Names — When you get the idea of your dream job or role, you can start exploring the companies that can meet your definition.

Make a list of companies( maybe top 10–12 names). You can number them with your priority of interest or on the basis of pay scale or benefits they give to their employees or the work they are doing in their industry or anything you see right.

3- Resume Writing — This is time well spent. Start with your overall professional journey, your expertise areas, skills, domain or industry knowledge, and any major accomplishment in your career.

After that, start writing off your current project, previous assignments, education background, and other interest if you have. Make sure to write everything in a chronological manner ( means the latest assignment first and go from there).

With ATS and all, there is around 75% resume that gets automatically rejected because minimum or basic criteria is not matching in your resume.

So make sure to have a precise resume with key details and specific information about your overall career. Mostly 2–3 pages resumes are quite good if you’re an entry-level professional or mid-senior level. Make sure to highlight key achievements in your career and add what you’re good at.

The better targeted your resume for specific roles the more likely recruiter will call you.

You can hire Resume Writer or a Consultant to review or re-brand your resume. It’s money well spent actually.

4- Get the Active Open Roles And Start Applying — Once you have the company list and resume ready, check the open roles (of course based on your dream role or job) and start applying to them. Be more intentional and constructive when you’re applying to open jobs.

Look for the job’s Minimum Criteria and best fit for your skills and experience. Don’t apply blindly to all the open positions. Almost all the companies keep track of their job applicants and have a limited number of applications you can submit. So apply with the right intent and mindfulness.

Seek help from your friends, ask for referrals, update your profile on job portals to create your visibility in the job market.

5- Prepare for Interviews — While doing all the above, prepare yourself well for interviews. I have seen people start looking for jobs and hardly prepare for interviews. They prepare for interviews while giving interviews.

It’s a good thing to have actual experience and know what questions to expect, but you might not get time to prepare after you receive a call from one of your dream companies. In such cases, you may miss the opportunity that comes to your door.

It’s good to take one or two days time to revise your notes and get to know about the role and all. But be prepared to attend the phone screening at any time.

Now almost all the big companies have phone screening( technical or otherwise ) to see if you’re a right fit to present your resume to Hiring Manager or an online coding test ( if you are in Technology). Do your research before you start applying for your dream job.

Follow STAR Methodology ( Situation, Task, Action, Result) to prepare for answers. Make your answers are relevant to the job you’re interviewing for and be specific. Don’t go overboard with answers, the interviewer might lose interest. Be firm and specific with your answers.

Get a hint from how Bill Gates give 30 second answer to interview questions.

6-Bonus Tip — Networking, Networking, And Some More Networking— Having said that, enhance your network to learn more about open positions, reach out to hiring managers or your known connections to find the right fit for you.

Most of the good Recruiters and Hiring Managers post open positions online and they can help you to move your application forward. You can even try doing Cold Calls.

Last but not the least, be sure what content you’re posting on the internet. Most all the recruiters, Hiring Managers check your social media profiles to know more about you and if you’re a right fit or not. So be intentional about what you share on social media so that you are not burning your chances.

And last Repeat the steps from 1 to 6 until you get your dream job.

Now it’s time for a little pep talk. I know you’re smart and intelligent human being and don’t need this. But hear me out for a second.

See, there is no secret sauce to get a dream job or any job for sure. It needs hard work, perseverance, and smartness.

Companies are changing the way they used to hire earlier especially I have seen the trend in the last eight months and hiring has been changed drastically with ongoing unemployment and technology shift and overall mindset shift to find the right and culture fit in companies.

You need to understand that time has changed and you need to adapt to new insights- how quickly you can adapt to accommodate yourself to find your dream job- it’s up to you.

Now It’s not only about your core skills or technical skills but who you’re and how good fit you’re in the overall company’s culture. Also, how are you going to help the company achieve its own vision and mission?

You need to do things with intent and what are you good at. Learning and career growth go hand in hand and there is no denying the power of learning and growth mindset in any career.

Don’t get disheartened if you get a rejection or not able to crack the interviews at the first attempt or second. The key is to keep trying without stopping. And sometimes it’s okay to take a pause, stop your search and reflect on what you did right and what you can improve.

I could tell you all that and more, but it really doesn’t matter. Because everyone’s journey is different and there are no secret handshakes to land your dream job or a role. The things that worked for me may not work for you, and that’s okay.

Your path is going to look very different. You may end up at Microsoft or Google or Apple right out of graduation or it can take a few more attempts to get in. We all start somewhere.

You determine your dream. Don’t let anyone stop you. Some of us are a lot of further back from the finish line than others. Some are running a completely different race. No matter where you start. That’s not how I become the person I am today. It does get exhausting climbing the mountain but I never stopped. In the end, I am happy where I am and know what I want to do next.

Hope these points can help you to find your next job and if you have already landed your dream job, do share your tips with me to help people find their true passion and dream!

Be Bold

Be Courageous

Be Your Best