Over the course of this semester, I have been reflecting on what I want my next adventure to be. I have enjoyed my time with The Carter Center, had many amazing opportunities (including traveling to China, Ethiopia and Ghana) and honed a lot of skills (developing a strategy in a new field for a 20-year old program, designing and executing events, coordinating travel logistics around the globe, researching and writing…a lot, et cetera, et cetera). But I think my time to move on is nigh. In terms of functional skill set, I think I have learned everything that I will learn here. More time at TCC will mean further honing these skills, and continuing to learn more about China. But, those are both things that I can do elsewhere, too.

I have looked through a couple resources for job-seekers that want a clearer way to evaluate multiple paths one can take. Thus far, I have found Forbes’ ‘ideal job algorithm’ to be the best balance of being comprehensive, and straight forward. http://www.forbes.com/sites/brettnelson/2013/02/28/how-to-find-your-dream-job/

The algorithm uses the following parameters to guide you in your evaluation of your next step:

1. Compensation

2. Satisfaction

3. Opportunity

4. Commitment

5. Culture

6. Health

7. Location

8. Teamwork

9. Number of hats

10. Business or retail

And the beauty of this algorithm is that you can adjust the weights depending on what is more valuable to you. Naturally, you can also remove some variables if they are of no importance to you at all, and you can add variables that the author has left out. For example, are you in a phase of your life where location is really important (you just had child, and want to be around your support network)? Do you have some debt (….student loans, perhaps?).

When I shared this with others, they commented that there is no such thing as a “dream job”. Or maybe there is, but searching for jobs is so reliant on timing (mutual availability) and other factors that it is unlikely that we will ever meet up with our dream job. What do you think? I guess this is the same thinking that people can apply to the chances of finding “the one.”

Others have said that we cannot hope for/aim for dream jobs, but should think in terms of “dream careers.” This approach would offer greater feasibility and flexibility. While it may be difficult for each job you have to be “a dreamy job,” certainly there are some valuable take-aways from it that you can use to create a larger dream.

I very well may be too idealistic–do you think it is unreasonable for your job to bring you some sort of higher satisfaction? I have heard that critique of our generation–that we expect our jobs to provide us with some sort of higher purpose, and we are often disappointed when it does not live up to that. Instead, it provides a place for us to go and be busy every day, and a way to pay the bills.

This is a very broad question, perhaps the broadest question you can ask about work life/careers in general–what is the ultimate goal? I’d be happy to hear your two cents.