How To: Craft Your Dream Career

January 1, 2021

Throughout the month of December, I teamed up with my friend Yamini over at Hallo to put on a series of virtual events all dedicated to Leveling Up Your Lifestyle in 2021. One of the events was all about how to craft your dream career. In this workshop, we discussed a wide range of topics, all related to how to identify possible career paths and how to get started with turning those dreams into a reality.

In this short post, I am going to highlight some of the key points and major takeaways from our discussion, as well as provide links to the presentations and to the virtual event itself so you can watch it later, in case you missed it!

Craft Your Career

Key discussion points

The term career is quite a broad one.

Generally, it is the part of your life that is related to employment, and the sum of the various jobs you have held/will hold throughout your life, and it’s completely what you make of it.

A great starting point for crafting your dream career is to lead with your strengths. This means:

  • Making a list of your strengths along with areas of improvement
  • Being sure to consult colleagues, professors, friends, and family for unbiased opinions on where your strengths lie
  • Keeping in mind that your strengths and weaknesses can include things such as personality traits, mindsets, and soft skills (not just hard skills!)

Key questions to ask yourself in relation to your career and goals:

  • What do you enjoy? This should include hobbies and what you do in your free time.
  • What are your priorities? Some people prioritize money, others prioritize work-life balance, job security, or career advancement. Decide what yours are!
  • What are your wins thus far? What have you accomplished in your life to date? What are you proud of?
  • What subjects did you gravitate towards in school? Trips down memory lane can be very telling of what you may or may not enjoy in the future.

What makes a “dream” job?

While each person’s dream job or career might look different, these are some of the generally agreed-upon components of any dream job:

  • It’s engaging. 
  • It helps others. 
  • You’re good at it.
  • It lacks major negatives.
  • Supportive colleagues.

Ways to explore career pathways can include:

  • Using the Internet - network on LinkedIn, attend Hallo sessions, read up and watch videos on different industries/career paths
  • Talking to people - informational interviews, job shadows, etc.
  • Seeking exposure - take career assessments, search for jobs, just because!

It’s super important to be constantly searching for ways to build upon and upgrade your skills to be the best you can be.

Some ways to do this include:

  • Take academic classes that fall in line with your interests
  • Supplement your academic learning with outside courses or boot camps
  • Take on all the work experience you can get
  • Read up on topics you’re interested in by subscribing to newsletters and blogs
  • Consider starting up a relevant side hustle

Networking is...

the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.

  • Why it’s important - can lead to business and professional opportunities, and can help you learn more about an industry of interest first-hand
  • Where to start networking - LinkedIn, family, student organizations, campus events
  • With whom - role models, people who work at organizations or in positions you are interested in

At the end of the day…

Do what makes you happy - even if you don't know what that means for your career yet!

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