GooD Tip of the Week: Go to the career websites of your favorite companies and research what it takes to be in your dream job.

I know that sounds silly right?  Dream job.  It’s one of my favorite questions to ask people when I’m starting a conversation with them.  I will usually get one of two responses:

1. I Know What I Want – this person has done their research and through vigorous coursework, inspirational role models, or just great passion for a purpose in life.  They’ll tell you right away what their goals are.  They may not sound 100% confident, but they have a vague idea on what they need to do to get there.  These are the future doctors and lawyers | engineers and scientists | artists and visionaries.
2. I Don’t Know – or I never thought about it. People today get so stuck into a grind or they follow a path that was written for them.  They’re just doing what they need to do – what they are told they should do to live a good life.  Go to school.  Find a job. Get married.  Have a family.  Or they’ve never had the opportunity to think about what they want in life.  They haven’t found the time to research or ask themselves what they would enjoy doing.

That’s where this tip comes in.  I’ve always convinced myself that I want to work for a great entertainment company like Disney.  But the truth is, I didn’t even know what that entailed.  Would I just start working as a sweeper at Disneyland and hope I can make my way up?  Some people do.  Job placement can be a lot about luck and who you know.  But I would like to share another secret.  These days, a lot has to do with whether or not your qualified.

My resort right now is probably hiring for 200+ positions right now (granted a huge amount of that is because we’re staffing for the upcoming pool season).  The point is there are jobs out there.  Tons of them.  In Vegas, the turnover rates are a bit crazy.  It’s a crazy business and not everyone has the stamina to keep up.  But that’s another topic in itself.  When I’m interviewing these candidates, it doesn’t take very long for me to realize whether or not they are even qualified for the position.  Most companies will pre-screen and it kicks out those applications, but every now and then you still get people on the bubble.

HERE IS WHAT YOU START DOING TODAY TO GET YOUR DREAM JOB TOMORROW:

Go to your favorite company’s career website.  Disney. Apple. Google. Vogue. Sony. Deloitte. Whatever it may be.  If you’re right out of college, you’re looking for entry level jobs with titles like “Associate” or “Coordinator”.  Perhaps some hourly positions that will get you in the door.  Go a couple steps further.  Look up Vice President of Operations.  Or Vice President of Marketing.  Director of Entertainment. Vice President of Finance, CFO.  If you look hard enough, you’ll find a handful of these top ladder jobs posted.  As awesome as these top executives are, they move around quite a bit or are let go due to performance issues.  As yourself if you’d ever want to be in their shoes?  Is that your dream job to be in control of a multi-million dollar division making big decisions for a company you love?

If so, you need to read up on what it is they’re looking for and learn to connect the dots. Let’s take a look at one of my dream jobs: Food and Beverage Director.  In this example, Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii is looking for one.  Let’s read what it takes and pay close attention to my commentary after each item:

• Current status role as Food and Beverage Director or Assistant Food and Beverage Director of a Luxury brand resort – I’m not a director yet.  Only a manager.  But I am working for a Luxury brand resort now (something I changed just this year).  My VP has told me I have strong potential to be a director in the company.
• Current or previous Food and Beverage experience in Hawaii – Nope. No F&B experience in Hawaii…
• Minimum 10 years Food & Beverage industry experience in progressive leadership roles, including the areas of quick service, table service and catering/conventions – I’ve been familiar with all of these areas, but for only about 2 years.
• Minimum 5 years Merchandise and Retail industry experience – No years of experience with merchandise or retail which tells me that this position also oversees related retail areas.
• Minimum business volume responsibility of $30 million in multiple locations – Woot! I oversaw $60 million in my last job and over $200 million in my current job.  Check.

Okay, so I’ve only hit one of the five main things this position is looking for.  Notice that they don’t go into detail on what the responsibilities of this person is.  That’s because when they say they want 10 years of F&B experience – well by then they hope the person applying already knows what they’re looking for.  Also they want someone that’s already been in leadership.  They’re looking for a current F&B Director.

The biggest eye opener is of course the years of experience.  As young professionals we are hungry and eager.  It’s common for us to believe we can gain the needed experience earlier than the 10 years they are requesting.  And we may be right.  So I’ve had 4 years of Resort experience.  2 years of F&B experience.  What do I want under my belt and on my resume by the time I hit 10 years?  Well, according to this if this is one of my dream jobs:

1. I need to become an F&B Director of Assistant Director for a Luxury property.  Being in Las Vegas, there are TONS of luxury properties.  I could stay here for a bit longer and work my way up.  Especially if I’m currently loving being here.
2. I need F&B experience in Hawaii. Okay.  This one is tougher.  I will need to relocate and it’s not a small relocation.  It’s huge.  Off the main land.  Do I see that happening this early in my career?  Maybe not.  Someday.  I’ll need to keep this in mind if I want this job.  Eventually, I will need to live in Hawaii prior to apply to this position.
3. 10 years of F&B experience.  I’m at 2 years.  Plenty of time. No need for me to stress over the fact that I can’t be in my dream job yet.  It’s all about connecting the dots.
4. Merchandise and Retail experience.  Where the heck am I going to get that?  I should be asking my current bosses now.  Find out how ways I can get involved with F&B merchandising and retail.  Take opportunities to hang out with management in these areas.  I still have time to get into this, but now that I know now instead of 10 years from now.  Well, you see my point.  This is a dot that I need not to lose focus on or forget about.
5. Responsible for $. This one I got!

Talk to people.  Read things online.  You are talented in some way and out there could be a position that fits you perfectly that you haven’t discovered yet.

The new job that I am in now popped up on my radar randomly.  I was looking at jobs for my unemployed mother and saw that a larger property was hiring a manager.  After reading the description, I realized I had every single bullet point listed under my belt.  Every single one.  Had this been an accident?  No.  It had been a calling that this position is built to be a step up to what I had been doing.  It was just up to me to apply.  I was very hesitant at first.  I still was in that “I don’t know what I want to do” phase.  But I applied just for kicks.  I got the job.  It was because looking back, I realized I had connected the dots to this new position with my company. Moving on up.

If you haven’t done so already, watch Steve Job’s commencement speech at Stanford University.  He talks about connecting the dots and being in a career you are passionate about.  A great source of motivation.

If my tip has you thinking, feel free to leave a message!  We’re always looking to spur conversation here at motivate2inspire.  Thanks for reading.

Paul Nguyen

Dream. Captivate. Inspire.