Picture this:

You’re interviewing for your dream job at a great company and you know you’d be perfect. You’ve practiced in the mirror, are wearing your lucky blazer, you have your nerves under control and are ready to showcase the 5 things any employer must know about you. But the interviewer never asks the questions you prepped for.  What do you do?

1. Blurt out the 5 things in the last three minutes
2. Politely ask if you may provide additional information even though the interview seems to have wrapped up
3. Use your follow-up thank you email to include the things you weren’t able to share
4. Have a plan ahead of time for introducing your strengths no matter what questions you’re asked

Obviously, any of these are good solutions but the last one – having a plan and taking control in these situations — is going to be the most effective.

The same rings true for your career path. Or as BAVC career counselor, Patty Leeper, says: how you do one thing is how you do everything. You can bob along, willing to explore whatever opportunities present themselves to you or you can have a plan for getting hired at your dream job at your dream company (even if that company’s CEO is you).

At BAVC, we hear an overwhelming amount of people claim they want to work at Pixar or Google despite the fact that it’s damn hard to get hired at either of those places. They have no idea what it takes to get in (research, networking, tech skills, LinkedIn profile, effective communication, portfolio) but the chances of getting hired at either place is akin to playing the lottery if they don’t have a plan for getting inside. What does work, however, is designing a career blueprint with realistic milestones and a commitment to giving yourself the very best chances you can.

Let’s look at that list again: research, networking, tech skills, LinkedIn profile, effective communication, portfolio. These are the top reasons people find their dream careers and learning how to leverage them is essential to taking control of your pathway. Want to find out more? Check out BAVC’s career workshops: always free, always valuable.
 
 

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