Are you thinking about waiting for your dream job or taking the job you can get? This an intriguing question you must ask yourself.
There have been different opinions about whether you should wait for your dream job or take what’s available. Aside from the stress of looking for a job, going on interviews, and finally accepting an offer, it can be stressful if you can’t decide whether to take a good but less-than-perfect job or keep looking for your dream job.
This problem can be more stressful for recent college graduates who want to use their degree and education right away after spending 4 or 5 years in college.
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Here are some suggestions that may help you make a final choice:
1. Where to start
A lot of people stay at home for a year or two before they realize that their first job won’t be their dream job, but just a step in the right direction. A lot of people avoid low-paying jobs, internships, volunteer positions, and even marketing jobs because it’s not what they want and it might not pay their bills. They forget that taking on these roles improves their employability, gives them experience and brings them closer to their dream job. If you haven’t found your dream job yet, you might want to take that internship or volunteer position, or even better, start with that marketing job.
2. Don’t try for or accept every job.
Even though your first job gets you one step closer to your dream job, you should keep this in mind: “You must not accept every job.” It’s important for job seekers to take jobs that will help them grow. If working in Lagos will keep you from getting your master’s degree in Abuja, there’s no reason for you to apply for or take a job there. Every job you take or apply for should help you grow as a person. If you aren’t happy in a job, you won’t be as productive, and you might never get that dream job you’ve been hoping for. So make sure you are happy no matter what you do.
3. Get ready for the job of your dreams
Having a dream and getting ready for the real world are two different things, but many people only dream and never get ready for the real world. If you think about the first step above, you might also want to get ready for reality, which means getting the right skills for your dream job, knowing the right people in the industry you want to work in, and being the first to apply when positions open up . It’s important to get to know people in the field you want to work in so you can figure out what they did or what you could do differently to get a chance. Follow the industry leaders on LinkedIn and learn what’s going on in the industry. If you want to work in a bank and don’t know the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, that’s a bad sign.
I hope that these three tips will help you figure out what to do when you have to choose between your dream job and something else.