Are You Struggling to Find Your Dream Job?
Making this mistake might be why.
The big pay raise. The fancy title. The corner office…
The American dream.
These are some of the accolades sought by many from a young age; often working entire careers to attain.
Yet are these the career qualities you need, or are they actually more indicative of what you want?
Without investing time into the identification of your specific needs and wants, you’re risking years of floundering through choppy professional and personal waters.
However, there is good news; by prioritizing needs before wants when job hunting, you can discover career happiness and a lifelong pursuit of joy in your next career chapter.
Needs vs Wants
So what’s the difference? Let’s cut right to the chase.
Needs are best understood as being absolutely necessary.
- I need food, water, and shelter.
- I need a steady paycheck.
- I need access to healthcare services.
Wants should be viewed through the lens of desire.
- I want to make $xxx,xxx annually.
- I want a boat and a truck to tow it.
- I want a vacation home on the beach.
An easy way to remember the difference; needs are necessary and wants are wishes.
Wait, is it bad to want?
No, it is not bad to want, so long as wants are prioritized after needs.
Say you’re debt-free, financially set, and in the mood for a new car. It’s okay to want a Porsche when you really only need a Volkswagen. Go ahead, buy the Porsche.
Now if you happen to be fresh out of school and up to your eyeballs in student loan debt, you can certainly want a Porsche, but you need to buy the Volkswagen (and a used one, at that).
Easy enough to understand, right?
But what about needs vs wants when on the prowl for a new job?
Well, it’s not so simple.
The Difference Between Career Needs And Wants
For many, career needs are loosely defined (and more fittingly categorized as wants). This is more of a product of decades-old career culture than a fatal flaw that one has. Even so, the one ultimately responsible for your career satisfaction is, well, you.
Start taking responsibility by first understanding the need vs want career conundrum.
Example 1: Needs First Focus
Joe is currently a VP at a global bank. He has begun to struggle with issues of stress, anxiety, and excessive burnout at work. Joe has a difficult time spending time with his wife and kids due to work obligations and it’s taking a toll on his personal life. Though Joe currently makes $120K annually, he and his wife determine that they would be financially okay if his annual salary was only $90K.
Given Joe’s particular situation, what does he need in his next job?
- To make a minimum of $90K/annually
- A position that provides a solution to his stress and anxiety issues
- Enough flexibility to improve his work/life balance
If Joe can focus his job hunt on obtaining the above needs, odds are he’ll be a much happier person with a more solid career foundation to further build upon.
But what if, despite Joe’s circumstances, he focuses on thing things he wants in lieu of his needs?
Example 2: Wants First Focus
Joe’s boss at the bank, a Managing Director, has announced his retirement. Prior to the recent work-related issues, Joe has been striving to become an MD. This role comes with a hefty raise, stock options, a corner office, and a defined step forward in his career. It also carries additional travel obligations, a much larger team, and a significant increase in responsibility.
With this added detail one can assume that Joe may think he needs the:
- Increased salary
- Managing Director title and career progression
- Associated fringe benefits
It can also be assumed that Joe may feel that the above positive attributes will adequately cover for the more stressful, less flexible issues that come with the Managing Director title. However, by taking this job Joe effectively commits to:
- More stress/anxiety
- Less time with family
- Unnecessary pay and benefits
By leading his career through the lens of wants before needs, Joe risks undermining his: wellbeing, long-term career stability/satisfaction, and overall happiness.
Have you made the same career missteps as Joe?
How to Get Intentional About Your Career
Much of the above narrative can be eliminated in your professional career through one of my favorite concepts:
Intentionality.
Getting intentional about your professional needs and wants will provide a profound level of clarity. You’ll be able to remove the cultural noise from your career journey, and instead focus on what is necessary for you.
So how does one get intentional you might ask?
Step 1 — Assess Your Needs
Needs are difficult to decipher because of how individualized they are. What you need in a job will likely differ from what your closest family and friends need. A need for you may be a want for them and vice versa.
Exercise #1: If you’ve reached this point it’s likely tied to a place of pain. A good place to start is with a pen and blank sheet of paper. Begin writing down all of the pain:
- I’m stressed beyond belief.
- I never see my family.
- I am always on the road.
- My job isn’t paying the bills.
Picking up what I’m putting down?
Now start asking yourself, “Why is this painful?” Write down the why.
Your needs are hidden within the why’s of your pain. Case in point:
- Pain — I’m stressed beyond belief and it’s detrimental to my mental health.
- Why — I have an exorbitant amount of responsibility on my plate and I can’t handle it.
- Need — A job that permits me to focus and is narrower in scope, thus helping to restore my mental wellbeing.
If you invest the time into this exercise, you’ll soon have an exceptionally clear picture as to what you truly need in your current or future role. Your list of needs should pass the, “Is this necessary or is this a wish?” test without issue.
Step 2 — List Your Wants
Wants, while easier to grasp, are harder to let go. This is tough because they often must be let go, at least in part or in the short term.
Exercise #2: Same pen, new sheet of paper; write down everything you want in a job:
- Annual compensation
- Title
- Location
- Fringe benefits
- Etc.…
Reflect on this list and ask yourself: are these wishes, or are they absolutely necessary aspects of my next job? Chances are if you put the right intentionality into these two exercises, your “wants” list will really be a “wishes” list.
Step 3 — Plan Your Job Hunt
Now that you’ve identified your necessary needs and your wishful wants, you can intentionally plan your job hunt. Remember…
NEEDS COME BEFORE WANTS!
So how does one put all of this together while on the job hunt? You must be super intentional about the jobs you decide to apply for.
Exercise #3: Intentionally analyze job postings against your needs and wants:
- Thoroughly read the job description
- Determine if the job meets all of your identified needs
- Note which wants of yours are met
- Apply or restart the process with a new job description
- During step 2, if the job does not meet all of your needs, it’s likely best to move on to a new job description at this time.
This exercise is meant to serve as a guide for your job hunt. In many cases, you won’t be able to tell from a job description alone if all of your needs are met. That’s okay, you always have the opportunity to conduct further research or learn more during a job interview.
The point is to have an exceptionally clear picture of what you need and want in your next job. Having this insight will serve as a guide that you never had before, providing a compass that points towards the right opportunity for you.
Final Thoughts
Finding a career you like, let alone love is… difficult. We’re asked to: choose our path at the age of 18, fit in with the “normal” timeline of career development, take on an enormous amount of debt, and do all of this before we likely know exactly what we want to do.
While you may have already long committed to this path, there’s still good news; it’s never too late to get intentional about your career journey; it’s never too late to understand what you need and what you want.
Much like digging out from being buried beneath an avalanche of debt, the sooner you commit to a solution the sooner you’ll find peace. Considering that the average person will spend one third of their life at work, you best try to find a way to love those 90,000 hours.
If you’re not loving those hours spent right now, I hope the exercise detailed above gets you headed in the right direction. If you need additional help please reach out to me. I’ve found a career I love in the world of recruiting, and I’d be happy to help you find yours.
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