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