Getting the job(s) you want - 2

I guide a lot of students that do not know what kind of job they want or what environment they want to be introduced in. Building upon the previous post, I would like to discuss the orientation process that one has to go through for deciding the best kind of job and the best environment to work in. Some of you already know what you want to do, and a very small part of those people already know where they want to do it as well. But there is also a proportion of people that does not know at  all what they want to do, become or pursue a career in. For those people, this post will contain some steps I use on a regular basis to advise and guide my students.

I assume that you must have at least had one person in your life telling you that you should choose something you like, and that by doing so the rest would figure itself out. To be honest, I always waved that off as if I knew better and should choose something that would make me a considerable amount of money. It was only in the last year of my Bachelor that I started realizing that the direction I was heading was not a path I would like to continue. What made it hard for me was that I am good at pretty much everything that involves learning, and that I am exceptionally good at Data analysis. I even helped PhD candidates with programming their data analysis algorithms at some point while I had not even completed my BSc. Although I was very good at it, my third year internship showed me that the future of a researcher was not a future that was destined for myself. I got so extremely tired and demotivated of the idea of me sitting at a desk 9-5 every day, scanning articles and writing a thesis according to some rules that have not changed since ages ago. I love being challenged, getting out of my comfort zone repeadetly, seeing the societal impact I make directly and making use of human knowledge to get what I want. I basically realized research was not the path for me.

The reason why I am telling you this story, is actually because the steps after my realisation are most important. I was struggling to find what I actually wanted to do with my life, as I was good at pretty much everything. I loved analyzing data, but I knew that I definitely did not want to become a Data analyst. Following this realisation, my quest to find out what I did like began. I took many online tests, only to find out that Data analyst was still the best job for me, which dissappointed me more. It was only then that I realized that if I really am that good at Data analysis, then why can't I use it within a profession that could benefit from it? Fortunately, being good at data analysis is almost applicable in any industry and any profession, and I learned that Projectmanagement and Strategy consultancy were fields that could definitely benefit from data analysts.

Okay, so at this point I knew that I wanted to use my data analysis skills in the field of project management and strategy consultancy. But another important part of the job was missing, which was myself. Where does the concept of 'Harry Thavaganeshan' fit within this whole story?  This led to me defining myself better. I came to the conclusion that I am an individual with the primary goal of helping people with a focus on building and realizing ambition through tackling complex challenges and taking others with me in my success by optimizing their self-knowledge. Following this definition, I started to profile myself better as I said in the previous post. I started profiling myself as the complex problem solver that has a lot of human knowledge, communication skills and a data-driven conscience. I immediately started doing important courses regarding projectmanagement and strategy consultancy such as Lean Six Sigma and Agile management. I would do these courses right after coming home from my internship every day for 4 weeks long, simply to increase my knowledge and thus chances on the job market. And the best part was that when I came home fully drained and demotivated by my internship, I would get extremely motivated to finish those courses because they made me happy, knowing that by making them I was changing my future.

So, at this point I knew that I wanted to be in Project management/Strategy consultancy that would tackle complex challenges using a data-driven approach with a preferred focus on realizing their ambition and helping people (maybe even including aid through optimizing self-knowledge of their clients). I realized that in my case, this was too specific and that it was morally too hard to include the people-part while also making money, hence why I made the choice to use that as a business plan for the future. This might make it seem as if all of my self-exploration steps were for nothing, but that is not true. If we take out the people part, you are left with Ambitious data-driven projectmanagement/strategy consulting tackling complex challenges. This description was actually interesting for me because it matched with the field I am currently most interested in: Growth hacking. This field focuses on making business grow as fast as possible using many tools such as digitalization, design thinking, project management and marketing & neuro-economics. Other than that, it also left me with other interesting options such as Artificial intelligence consulting, Data-driven marketing management and Change management.

So, by exploring who I am, how I can use myself in a field and what the added value of that field is to me, I found quite a lot of professions that I like better than data analyst. Sure, it might be true that data analyst fits me well, but that does not have to mean that I have to succumb to that conclusion. I expanded the concept of data analysis and even included it in my ambition by making it one of my primary selling points when applying.

In short, if you are still on your quest to find what the right job is, or what the right company might be for you, then try:

• Throwing away the idea of having to choose something that makes you a ton of money
• Turning the things you are good at into you main selling points
• Formulating your primary goal in life
• Formulating your intrinsic motivator regarding your career
• Broadening your scope, even if online tests tell you otherwise
• Being flexible as you should remain realistic in what you can do
• Being ambitious as your goals should motivate you to an endless extent

Which also brings me to my standard final quote:

"Follow your dreams and Never lose focus"

Good luck if you still are looking for what you want to become. Don't think that you are too late, because I have seen and helped many individuals (some even over 40+ years old) to get to a point they wanted to be at. It is not about the time you have lived, it is about the time and effort you are now willing to put in it.

If you want to talk to me about any of this, hit me up through the contact page; I love chatting about career development!