Most of us dont want to spend 40 hours a week or more doing something that we don’t enjoy, but for many people around the world, that is, unfortunately, their fate. If you don’t want to be like them, whether you’re returning to work after being a stay at home mum, or looking for a new challenge, it is possible to find a career you truly love, and below you will find some tips to help you do just that…

Think about what you really want to do

Many of us dream of being writers, teachers or scuba diving instructors, or whatever, but if we really think about it, we would hate sitting at a desk typing all day, the long days that teaching involves or the seasonal aspect of being a diving teacher. So, if you want to find a career you truly love, you first need to do some introspection, think about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your preferences, and look at options that would fit in with these.

Identify the obstacles

Unfortunately, there are obstacles preventing many of us from doing many jobs we would like, weather that be, the requirement to have a degree or the need for a spouse visa extension, or even the lack of childcare. It’s important you identify as many of the potential obstacles you may face as possible so that you can mitigate against as many of them as possible and position yourself perfectly for the role. If you really want something, there is usually a way to get it, even if it means putting in a lot of hard work in the meantime.

Network

Next, you will want to start making as many connections as possible with people who already work in the industry you’d like to break into as possible. This is easier than ever thanks to the likes of LinkedIn and other social media sites, but attending physical networking events can work well too, Oh, and engage authentically- people can tell when you’re simply connecting with them to get something and they don’t often like it. Ask questions, express interests and have fun, and you will maybe open up a few doors that will help you to the career of your dreams.

Try volunteering

This can be difficult to make time for if you have a family, but volunteering will enable you to work out if your dream career really is your dream career, while helping you to get some experience, and also enabling you to network with people in the industry, so it really is invaluable.

Tailor your CV

Tailoring your CV to the company you are applying for is a no-brainer that will show them you are genuinely interested, and that you know exactly what you’re talking about, so it is worth taking the time to do this for each application, even if it takes a lot of time because id it means you get the job of your dreams, it will be so worth it.

Doing work you love is possible, so go out there and make it happen.