How To Land Your Dream Job

Some people land their dream job before graduating college while others spend their entire lives just trying to figure out what it is. I fall somewhere in between. After seven years of college and grad school, I landed my dream job last year, but it wasn’t easy getting there. Here’s a look back at how I got to where I am now and what I learned along the way.

1. Figure out what your dream job is.

Like most college students, I had no idea what I really wanted to do when I showed up. I enjoyed using computers, but that’s about as much as I knew at the time. People always say that college is a time of experimentation, and it’s true. However, you shouldn’t limit your experimentation to drugs, sex, and alcohol. Take as many different classes as possible.

Chances are you’re going to get a little bored with all of the classes you have to take for your major, so take some completely unrelated classes for fun. You may even discover that what you really want to do is something other than your major or maybe a combination of your major and another field. That’s what happened for me.

2. Do your research.

By my third year of undergrad, I had finally figured out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to work. The next step was to do some research. Find out what skills or degrees most people have at your dream job, and find out if the company recruits from particular schools. Your chances of landing your dream job will increase if your dream company has a good relationship with your college, because they will come to you looking to find new talent for their company.

After doing the research on my dream job, I realized two things — I needed more skills, and I needed to go to a different school. This is why and how I ended up in grad school. Of course, I applied to grad schools based on my research and ended up getting into a university that my dream company recruits from on a regular basis.

3. Apply for it.

So I made it to grad school and started learning the rest of the skills that I needed to land my dream job. I was finally starting to feel that I had what it takes to land the job, so there was only one thing left to do — apply for the job. Since my dream company sent recruiters to my grad school on a regular basis, I didn’t even have to go anywhere. They came to me.

In fact, a lot of companies came to recruit, and I applied for those jobs as well. Even though those jobs and companies weren’t at the top of my list, it’s always good to have a backup plan.

4. Keep trying.

I got a first round interview with my dream company the first time, but that’s as far as I got. I got rejected the second time too. Oh, and let’s not even talk about the third time. To make matters worse, I had to watch as some of my friends landed jobs at the dream company and moved away.

People say that persistence is the key to success. I believe them now. Most people probably would have given up after three rejections, and to tell you the truth, I was tempted to throw in the towel. Instead, I updated my resume and application one more time, and I finally landed the job.

5. Network with everyone that you meet.

I can’t even remember how many recruiters I met with when I was in grad school. I do know that I have a huge stack of business cards. Every person that you meet has the potential to be a doorway to the place you want to go.

I’m not just talking about recruiters either. Some companies may ask recent hires from your school for opinions or recommendations on who else to interview or hire, so choose your friends (and enemies) wisely.

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