Nusrat Jahan
Almost all of us have the same life-plan growing up: get decent grades, get in to a good college, get a good job, earn money, die. When we are in school, we pack our routine with art classes, debate competitions, and various other this and thats to make sure our college applications stand out. Then after we get into college, we go through hours of torture more commonly known as “unpaid internships”, and partake in various leadership programs to make sure our job resumes are no less than perfect.
But here’s where it gets complicated. How do you expect your application to stand out when you are following the same plan as everyone else? Getting your dream job does not necessarily require you to have the best resume. Instead, it is all about passion, dedication, and the hard work you put into achieving what you want. You will just look like another small fish in the sea, if you look like the clone of thousands of other candidates, on paper, and otherwise.
Here is a few reasons why looking good on paper is not necessary to land your dream job:
Your degree does not really mean anything
It is kind of sad, but it I the bitter truth. Even though, a lot of us have worked really hard to get that partial scholarship to fund four years of study or are drowning in debt due to students loans or have done their best to stay at the top of the class, in the end, that little piece of paper certifying we studied 50 or so books on a particular skill set does not really mean anything.
Years ago, having a college degree made you elite and basically confirmed your spot at the best company as the highest paid employee. About 8-10 years back, a graduate degree made you stand out among the college graduates. Now, it is more of a basic thing you are supposed to have and is just not that big of a deal anymore.
Moreover, think about all the people in this country and abroad who work in sectors which has nothing to do with their hard-earned degree. Engineering graduates working in a bank, criminal psychology graduate teaching English at a school, English graduate doing business, etc. Even when you look at the list of the Fortune 500 CEOs, most of them are working in fields that have nothing to do with what they studied for in college. For example, Howard Schulz (CEO of Starbucks) has a degree in communications, Susan Wojcicki (CEO of YouTube) studied history and literature, and Richard Plepler (CEO of HBO) majored in political science.
Plus, if you are a Bangladeshi, you probably know how you do not even need a degree to start a business, or ehm…become a politician. You just need the hard work an the brains!
Goals vs Dreams
Almost everyone has a dream- some dream of becoming a best-selling author, some want to open up their own company, some want to become the CEO of a big multinational. However, there is a difference between constantly thinking about your dream, and actually accomplishing all the little set goals that lie in the way to your dream life. So, it is okay if you want to work full time at that good job you got, but also spending your off days working on your non-corporate issues. When you have written a best-seller, started the latest social media trend or learned Mandarin to aid your business fluency in your free time, no one will care what your resume says. Yours skills will be your plane ticket to anywhere.
It is not always all planned out
Gradually, your side projects may become your dream job. I mean, you never really know. No one actually knows what they want to be from the get go. You may just end up discovering yourself as late as when you are in your 30s. So it is very important to let your career evolve into its different phases. Do not fret when things do not go exactly as planned, because the unplanned events and your missteps make you who you are and might just be the key to unlocking your full potential.
I guess all I have to say in the end is that the thing that will land you your dream job is not something people will find in your resume; it is something they will find in YOU.