The way to a dream job

The bad mood starts early in the morning with the Weckererklingeln. In the shower, thoughts revolve around spending the next nine hours in a company you do not like, with colleagues annoying you, with a job that does everything possible with one - just not happy and satisfied.

If you feel that way, you obviously have not found your dream job yet. Maybe you have a job that allows money to flow into the account that secures your existence. But not the one who makes you happy. "So what?", You could say, "It's a lot of people, you should be glad to have a job at all."

Psychologists warn against this attitude. After all, most of us spend most of our lives at work. Those who are permanently dissatisfied with their job risk becoming ill. Dissatisfaction is one of the main causes of burnout, according to Lisbeth Jerich from the Institute for Organizational and Personnel Management at the University of Graz.

The better you know yourself and your wishes, the easier it is to find the right job. Dewegen is the first question: what do I really want in life? And the second: How much do I want to realize myself in the job? There are currently around 25,000 different professions in Germany. How should one find the right one in the selection? The one that really suits you?

Angelika Gulder

Angelika Gulder, author of the book "Find the job that makes you happy," has one Career Navigator developed. With it you can find out what kind of profession suits you. ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com has put together some of the most helpful tips and exercises by Angelika Gulder for you.

Checklist: Are you dissatisfied with your job?

Maybe you are not sure if you are really unhappy with your job or if it is just a phase? Then look at the following list. The more of the following sentences apply to you, the more likely you are to think about changing jobs.

You have to torment yourself out of bed every morning

On Monday you look forward to the next weekend.

They feel a growing sense of inner emptiness and meaninglessness.

At work, you dream of things you would rather do than work.

Actually, they only work for your next vacation.

You constantly talk in frustration with others about your current job.

You feel a strong desire to give more space to other parts of your personality.

They feel professionally under-challenged. But for fear of not finding a new job, you just sit in your job from your time.

Find the common thread in life

Angelika Gulder recommends that anyone frustrated by the job think about whether there is a common thread in your life, something that keeps coming back - in childhood, school, education, study, private life. An aid may be that you write down everything you have learned: from graduation to swimming lessons, from the Theater AG to the Italian course.

You should also take into account the things that are strictly speaking not real qualifications, but which you can do especially well. Maybe you cook well or like to work in the garden? If you go back to your previous life in thought, you may discover Talents that you had long forgottenor things that used to make you happy in the past but that you have not done in years. List all your ideas and compare them to your current job.

Three wishes to a fairy

She appears again and again in fairy tales and legends: the fairy godmother who fulfills three wishes. Imagine, you would really meet her. Which three things would you like to have? Write down the wishes and Try to find out what is behind your wishes, Maybe you want more time? Or you dream of having less responsibility?

What were your childhood dreams?

Can you still remember what you wanted to become as a child? Then write it down. Next, list everything that you liked to do as a child what you dreamed ofWhat your favorite TV series was, which game you liked the most.

This exercise is about finding out how many childhood dreams still play a role in your current life, Of course, not everything that has made you fun as a child, must necessarily be part of your dream job. But the journey back in time may help you get some "fun factors" back into your life.

What are your favorite interests?

Actually, the question of your favorite interests is a very simple one.And yet it is sometimes not easy to answer them. For example, who does not like to meet friends or go to the movies?

To find out for yourself, you could For example, take a closer look at your reading habits, Do you often encounter a topic when looking at your bookshelf? Or in which department of the bookstore do you particularly like to visit? Which part of a newspaper do you read first? Write down your ideas and try to find a common thread that gives hints to your dream job.

Brainstorm with acquaintances

Sometimes it helps to ask questions about the dream job outsiders. Career Advisor Angelika Gulder recommends that you proceed in a systematic way: Invite two to three acquaintances you like, but with whom you are not close friends. Friends could be biased. Write your five favorite activities on a large sheet of paper and hang it up for everyone to see. You can write anything that you enjoy - from reading to listening, from dancing to cooking.

Then you brainstorm with your guests. All make for about half an hour spontaneous proposals with occupationswho come up with the activities. One should write down all ideas. In the end, put away the written ideas and sleep for a night. The next day, look at the list and choose from the many ideas that appeal to you the most.

The implementation

So when you find out what your dream job might look like, you do not necessarily have to rethink your entire professional life radically. Sometimes a few fine adjustments to the status quo are enough. Maybe you can just bring more of your desires and unused talents into your current job.

One thing you should definitely do: you should formulate your dreams clearly and write down. In your mind you can imagine a lot, but that will not help you. On the other hand, you can always keep in mind something that you have written down.

Career Advisor Angelika Gulder advises to gather all information about the personal dreams and wishes and on this basis three concrete career goals to formulate. Be sure to answer the following questions: What do I want to do? Where do I want to work? What would I like to work with? And would I prefer to be employed or self-employed?

To answer these questions as clearly as possible, Angelika Gulder recommends the SMART method.

SMART stands for S - specific (as specific as possible) M - measurable (goal achieved or not achieved?) A - action oriented (act yourself instead of waiting for something to change) R - realistic (is my dream even attainable?) T - Scheduled (provided with a specific date)

If you have written down your information using this method, you can specifically search the job advertisements for them.

Time management for the dream job project

If you have found out for yourself which job exactly matches your wishes and abilities: Design a kind of battle plan! Like every important project, the dream job needs planning.

It may well be that you can not reach your destination immediately. There are certainly some obstacles that need to be overcome on the way there. You should definitely deal with it and then take it with a well-prepared jump.

In addition, Angelika Gulder recommends herself to set small partial goals, It is best to make a note of the calendar control dates. For example: Until July 26, I have selected job advertisements that fit my ideas. I wrote my first application until the 5th of August.