Why your passions are more important than what you studied in college.

Ideal job listing cartoon

This is a guest post by Melvin Dichoso. If you’d also like to guest post here on JobMob, follow these guest post guidelines.

I know the word “ideal” varies from person to person but here in this article by saying “ideal job”, what I mean is a job that you want and you think you can enjoy.

In this guest writeup, I’m going to cover up why you need to define your ideal job first and foremost and how it’s going to make your job hunting much easier.

A little background about me first.

I’m just 20 years old with a degree in Computer Science. I’m running my own small online business which has something to do with community-oriented websites and blogs yet still I prefer to have a day job, working as online marketing staff in one of the companies here in the Philippines. Now you know me :)

How do I define it?

By reading the title of this article, this is probably the first question that popped into your mind.

As a general yardstick, this can vary (I know you hate to hear that) but I thought I can give out some tips on how you can really define it for yourself based on my own thinking and some that came from my friends.

You need to definitely answer the following questions first before you can determine if you really like a particular job specification or not:

  • Do I really want it?
  • Am I going to be comfortable doing this thing for the next six months (or more)?
  • What’s my ideal work environment?
  • What’s my ideal workspace?
  • How do I want to work?
  • Do I want to face a computer for the whole 8 hours?
  • My college degree and what I want to do, are they congruent?
  • What’s my main goal in working? (financial benefits or intrinsic benefits)
  • Am I good enough to follow my passion and the job I want?

Let me cite an example

I know a guy who has a degree that would enable him to become a software developer. As we know that job pays pretty well. That guy applied to several companies to be an entry-level developer, he passed some and failed some.

To make a long story short, the guy ended up having a job that has to do something with search engine optimization, writing content and running Pay-Per-Click campaigns.

And that guy was me.

Why did I move away from that?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pretty competent programmer who can code well and its not that I hate programming. Its just that I’m more satisfied doing things like the above rather than dealing with code. I have been running this online business for almost 3 years now; that speaks a lot about my enthusiasm in this field.

Why you need to define it

It doesn’t really take that much to figure out that 80% of people don’t really stay with their first job.

Here in the Philippines, most of my friends usually get employed by 3 different companies in a 2-year period, which is a pretty high rate. Sure, it may have something to do with the companies’ policies of not regularizing employees in the first place but still I believe its still mainly because most people don’t like their job.

And even though they don’t like it, they still take it anyway.

Another thing related to that would probably be the growth. If you’re switching companies quicker than anyone else, chances are good that your designation is not growing and neither is your salary. It’s simple math- if I stay for this company for 4 years, then how many salary raises would I receive as oppose to switching over and over after 6 months?

How defining it makes job search easier

Admit it, it’s hard to go outside wearing that funky eccentric dress while splashing that confidence if you’re not really sure you want what you’re going to do. Or in the case of a job search, most people just ignore so many job listings because they feel they aren’t ready yet, which is obviously related to not having enough confidence in yourself.

If you really think a job is ideal for you, why would you lack confidence? Why would you feel scared?

So here it is!

My belief with the whole job hunting thing is that people get employed more quickly depending on how much they like the job.

How is that so?

They’re more confident, they have the enthusiasm to exert more effort to pass all exams (if there are any), they have the exceptional confidence to answer all the interview questions.

No rocket science in my own opinion.

Another thing about following what you think is ideal vs. going with the flow of what you learned in college is that you are likely more experienced with the former one.

I myself didn’t have any formal education with marketing. I began doing internet marketing in late 2007, studied it myself and more importantly put it into work, implemented it.

So how about you? Are you following what you really want or are you stuck pretending that you want to be someone else? I’d definitely want to hear your opinion on this so let me know what you think in the comments below.

About the Author

Melvin Dichoso portraitMelvin Dichoso is your typical teenager, blogger, internet marketer and someone who has a day job. He blogs at MelvinBlog.com where he shares all his takes on things. Follow him on Twitter at @melvinblog.

This article is part of the 4th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest, which was made possible thanks in large part to our Gold Sponsor, Jason Alba of JibberJobber. If you want Melvin Dichoso to win, share this article with your friends.

If you liked this read, you’ll also enjoy The Secret To Finding Dream Jobs.

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--Jacob Share

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