Tbh I feel like finding a job you like is mostly self awareness and knowing that it’s still going to feel like a job
A few questions that Might help:
1. think about past work experience - who has your favorite supervisor been? Why? Same for least favorite - what did they do that you absolutely could not stand?
2. Think about morals - do you want to find ~meaning~ at work or is it more important to have stability and freetime?
3. Think about past coworkers - do you like working alone? On a team? Is it important to be around people during the work day?
4. Think about what you get satisfaction out of in your personal life - is your grocery list organized by aisle? are you the mediator in your friend group? While hobbies might play into this, try and think beyond them
try and translate some of your answers into something you’d find on a job description. Maybe this exercise won’t be helpful but thinking about work like this has helped me land in a job I like
Myself as example: I like organization, having autonomy, having my voice heard, and ~believing~ in the work I do. I also get bored at work quickly. This originally led me to social work where I quickly got burnt out With 24/7 work. I’m in continuing Ed administration where I work a 9-5 ~10 months of the year and have 1-2 very hectic months and that works really well for me.
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as someone in the creative industry, its hard bc sometimes all i wanna do is throw myself into my passions and work so hard i get myself sick. but i’ve realized im not happiest when i work 50-60 hour work weeks (even if im fulfilled and having fun) i need the time and space for the things that fuel being creative: exercise, hiking, being with friends, playing dnd. This work is like breathing, you should try to find balance between breathing in and out. Creatives are often told that their work should become their job, but sometimes, it’s truly better for it be a side hustle or things that operate on a project to project basis.
I found it helpful to get connected with people who I admired and see what their days look like. Are they running around 24/7? are they constantly making work they actually don’t like bc it makes money? or are they dedicated to things they love and are fulfilled? or are they practically controlled by their work? Their day to day can be very similar to yours, so understanding if that would be an environment you would be happy in is very important.
I agree that volunteering is a good place to start, also gets you connected to the people who work in the industries yr interested in! Museum studies might be broad enough for you to also access some internships across a few industries which really give you great insight what working in various environments can be like for real. I will say working in an arts environment has been incredible for me, i feel truly myself and able to be who i am with very few masks on.
Oct 6, 2024
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I don’t have any degree and in another life I worked in restaurants and at CVS. Customers would grill me about my career aspirations and straight up beg me to go to college. I got sick of it pretty quickly and sat down and asked myself what I would want in a workplace and what skills I had that I could use to do something else.
I had some freelance experience and used that to enter my current field and continued pursuing organic opportunities for growth and learning. About a year ago I started working at a company that prioritizes employee development and internal promotion and I’m in the process of gaining enough experience and connections to be able to do something new again! I definitely think it’s possible for people who don’t have a bachelor’s degree to find these opportunities; you just have to be strategic about it and get your foot in the door at the right places.
There are so many transferable skills you gain in retail and food service that are beneficial in other professional fields like communication, multi-tasking, attention to detail, etc. So you can take those and add them to whatever skills you may have gained at your current job.
Ask yourself what it is that you’re better at than anybody else, the things you would want and definitely not want in a workplace, the kind of tasks you like doing, and kind of guide your search from there. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re lesser than others just because you have less formalized education than they do and remember that people hire likable people they want to be around—even that will take you far! best of luck! 🍀
Sep 5, 2024
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Hi! I recently went through this as well. I haven’t been to an interview in three years, so I had to freshen up. I think researching the position within the company is so important. It’s important to ask questions because it shows how much more interested you are about them, like questions about your position that are not too obvious on the application page. You should pick some of the job objectives and show how your skills can contribute to that specifically. Make connections with that job and also have specific reasons on why you would like to work there. Also, three questions to ask them in the end! 1) What do they like about their job? 2) Why do they like working for this company? 3) What are they looking for in a person to successfully fill in the role you’re interviewing for?
Hope this helps!
Apr 28, 2024
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I work on a college campus where we have this statue of a rat with giant balls and it has become a regular phenomenon for students/people to offer their vapes to the ball rat. It is both so silly and so beautiful to me.
Jan 15, 2025
Feb 22, 2024
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sometimes they don’t mind!
Mar 5, 2024