CAREER FILES: Proven method for finding a job you'll excel at
What are proven methods for helping people find jobs that they will really excel at?
Working out what you enjoy and figuring out your strengths will enable you to excel in a role. If you really enjoy something, you'll be more willing to learn and go the extra mile, which is required if you want to stand out in any role.
You won’t know your exact passion until you actually start a job. For example, you may start a job in marketing and realise you don’t actually like marketing but you do like a facet of it, perhaps the sales component.
Likewise, you might get a job in finance and discover what you really like is the payroll side. Or you might get into finance and realise you never want to do finance, you want to do engineering.
Early exposure is helpful too. At uni, you might have a casual job in retail or hospitality. The more you learn about that particular workplace will help you determine either you never want to work in that kind of space again or you’re actually really good at X, Y, Z, and since you need those core traits to work in a particular industry, you’re going to give that a go.
Along with trial and error, chatting to people in that space and likewise, people currently in the role is very helpful. Asking them, how do you enjoy the role, what do you love about it? What don’t you love? The more people you chat to and network with, the better understanding you’ll get.
Gain an understanding of some of the key things that people actually enjoy about certain jobs and what they don't so you can decide if they might be true for you, too.
The more questions you ask and the more you drill the people who currently work there, the more you learn.
If you don't have any connections in the field you might be able to ask in the interview, is there anyone in a similar role I can chat to? Businesses often introduce you to people on a similar level and say, you know, so-and-so has been in this role for six months. She’s going to give you a good idea of the first few months in the role.
I think you're well within your right ask a line manager, for example, is there anyone I can speak to at a similar level to me to, to gain more information about their first six months in the business. The more questions you have to ask in the interview, the better your understanding will be.
You can reach out to someone on LinkedIn that you haven’t previously connected with: ‘Hi there, I noticed you’ve worked at X organization for six months. I'm currently in the interview process for a job opportunity and would love to have a chat with you to learn more about how your time is going there so far.’
Nine times out of ten, they'll get back to you or they might actually refer you on to a colleague who works in a more relevant team. And they'll be able to give you some insight. Particularly in Melbourne, the market is quite small. And reaching out just shows that you’re eager to learn and understand more about the opportunity.