Bummer! This is just a preview. You need to be signed in with a Basic account to view the entire video.
Start a free Basic trial
to watch this video
Before beginning the journey down any career path, you need to evaluate what that career will mean to you - in terms of a job as well as your work life balance. We'll start by taking a self-assessment that can help us answer these important questions.
Questions for Self Assessment
- What do you want to do?
- What do you want out of a career?
- What kind of company do you want to work for?
- How important is company culture and attitude?
- What kind of responsibilities do you want in your career?
- What kind of salary and benefits do you desire?
-
0:00
[Careers Foundations with Pasan Premaratne]
-
0:02
[The Job Search - Deep Dive]
-
0:04
People work for many reasons. There's the obvious reason.
-
0:07
We work to support ourselves financially.
-
0:09
But aside from that, we work to be part of something big.
-
0:12
We work because we're contributing to a cause, fulfilling our passions,
-
0:17
and changing the world in some small way.
-
0:19
Working at a job where you love what you do makes a big difference,
-
0:23
because then you're not working because you have to.
-
0:25
You're working because you want to.
-
0:27
Finding that job is not easy, though.
-
0:29
Nowadays, in a lot of industries, finding any job isn't that easy.
-
0:33
But before we start talking about searching and applying for a job,
-
0:37
I want to spend some time talking about you.
-
0:39
Now I love what I do at Treehouse, and it doesn't feel like a job.
-
0:42
But to find a job like this, I had to figure out what I wanted out of a job.
-
0:46
Lots of people think that things like work-life balance and company culture don't matter.
-
0:51
But you spend the majority of your life working, and you will definitely
-
0:54
enjoy life more if you enjoy your job.
-
0:57
Not every job is a perfect match for you, though.
-
1:00
Before you find one that's a match, you should complete an honest
-
1:03
self-assessment to understand what works best for you.
-
1:07
And this is nothing complicated, but it requires thinking about certain questions
-
1:11
and how they pertain to your situation.
-
1:13
Let's start with what seems like a simple question but is quite a loaded one.
-
1:18
What do you want to do?
-
1:20
Answering this question requires arriving at an intersection
-
1:23
between your skills and your desires.
-
1:25
Now since you're at Treehouse and watching a video about
-
1:27
getting a job, I'm going to assume you have some web design or development skills.
-
1:31
Now you may be able to code, but does that mean you want to code for anyone out there?
-
1:36
Are there certain things you want in life that your job can fulfill?
-
1:40
Suppose you want to change the world in some way.
-
1:43
Maybe working for a charity will fulfill that need.
-
1:46
Maybe you like helping other people start companies.
-
1:49
What about working for business incubators or companies like Kickstarter?
-
1:52
What if you want to have hospitals but aren't a doctor?
-
1:55
Maybe you can design or develop the systems to make hospitals more efficient.
-
1:59
If you watched our Careers in Web Design video,
-
2:01
you might remember that one of our teachers, Nick, got his first job
-
2:05
in a healthcare company doing just that.
-
2:08
He also raises an important point.
-
2:10
You can find plenty of technology jobs outside of the tech industry.
-
2:13
Now think about what you want to do that will give your life meaning.
-
2:18
This will directly help you by narrowing down the list of companies
-
2:22
or industries you want to work in.
-
2:24
What kind of company do you want to work for?
-
2:26
Certain people like to work for large, multinational corporations,
-
2:30
where they're part of a bigger team working towards a common goal.
-
2:34
Others want the feel of a smaller team, where you feel more like family than colleagues.
-
2:38
There are certain advantages and disadvantages to each one.
-
2:41
With a larger corporation, you're with a recognized company.
-
2:45
There's plenty of room to grow and maybe opportunities to travel
-
2:48
and work in a different part of the company in a different country altogether.
-
2:52
In a smaller company, you'll work a lot more closely with your colleagues
-
2:57
and might be expected to wear different hats.
-
2:59
You will definitely learn stuff outside of your job role and can venture into new areas.
-
3:04
What about company culture and attitudes?
-
3:07
Do you want to work at a place that that has a dress code,
-
3:10
or do you want to wear whatever you want?
-
3:12
Now these might seem like trivial considerations,
-
3:15
but in reality they affect our moods, productivity, and energy,
-
3:19
and you'll be happier as a result.
-
3:21
Other things you might want to think about are what kinds
-
3:23
of responsibilities do you want and what kind of projects do you like to work on.
-
3:27
Do you want to manage a team or individuals?
-
3:30
Do you want to manage projects?
-
3:32
Finally, you want to think about numbers.
-
3:34
What kind of salary do you need to live a comfortable life,
-
3:37
and what about benefits?
-
3:39
Does the company offer any perks for work-life balance?
-
3:42
Can you work remotely? This is a big deal nowadays.
-
3:45
For some people, this isn't as important, but if it is for you,
-
3:48
then you need to look for jobs that offer these benefits, rather than
-
3:52
settling for something less and being unhappy for a long time.
-
3:55
Once you have a better idea of the type of company you want to work for,
-
4:00
your job search should get easier.
-
4:02
You can narrow down your list of companies and focus on
-
4:05
sending tailored applications to each.
-
4:08
You will definitely get better results with an approach like this,
-
4:11
instead of mass-applying on job boards like Monster.
-
4:14
Take some time and answer these questions.
-
4:17
And once you're ready, we'll take a deeper look at other aspects of the job search.
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign up