Transcription
Hey folks, and welcome back to my channel. If you're new here, my name is Aaron McGoff, and I'm a filmmaker and content creator living in New York. And today, we're talking about how to find your dream job.
Now, if you clicked on this video, I'm going to assume that you're not super stoked with your current job. Maybe it's boring, maybe you're burnt out, or maybe it's just not what you thought it was going to be. But now you feel stuck. Well, my hope is that after this video is done, you feel more optimistic, clear, and hopeful about the future of your career. So let's talk about how to find your dream job.
"But Aaron, I don't have a dream job. I don't dream of labor." Okay, listen. I'm not going to get into this now. Maybe I am going to get into this now. I am literally, maybe possibly, not at all for sure, writing a book about this exact topic. I believe that humans do dream of labor. We love to garden, we love to dance at concerts, we love to do puzzles, we love going fishing. That's all labor. So if you can find a labor that you naturally love that's also going to pay for you to live, like, you won the game. You hit the jackpot. Like, I wake up every day and I don't think about what I do with work. I just think of it as a new creative challenge that I can't wait to overcome. I like to do it. I like to work. But, you know, eventually, everybody figures this out. So anyway, I digress.
Step one: Find your dream job. Everyone's dream job is different. No two people have the same dream job. Bob's dream job is a stable, consistent nine to five. He has a desk at an established company, a nice 401k, and a short commute. He's home every day at 5:30. He gets to cook dinner with his wife, play with his kids, do his hobby, watch TV. Those are all the things that make him happy. And that job allows Bob to do those things, supply for his family, be home, not spend a ton of time at work. That's his dream job, and that's great for Bob.
Now, Rachel might have a different dream job. She might want to be a big corporate lawyer working in New York. She wants a job that's challenging, that's prestigious, that makes a lot of money. That's Rachel's dream job, and that's great. We're not talking about your best friend's dream job. We're not talking about your sibling's dream job. We're not talking about your parents' dream job. We are talking about you. You are stuck with you, and you are the person who actually has to live with the choices that you make. So let's find out what's good for you.
Step two: Make a quadrant. I love quadrants. On the left side, put things that I like/I'm good at, and then things that I don't like and that I'm not good at. And then at the top, put things that don't make money, and then things that make money. So I'll do this with you. Something that I'm not good at and probably wouldn't make money doing is acting. Something that I'm not good at that would probably make me a good amount of money is software engineering. Something that I'm good at and like, but probably won't make a lot of money doing, is directing. And something that I'm good at and I like and will make money doing is editing. That's my quadrant. But I want to see what your quadrant looks like. This is a fun little exercise just to kind of see your baseline. It's okay to acknowledge that you may not be good at certain things, or that certain things really aren't going to make you that much money, or to see how much does it really matter if I like to do something? How much does it really matter if that thing makes money? If you're having trouble with this, I recommend grabbing somebody who knows you really well to sit down with you and do this exercise with you.
Which leads me right into step three. Step three is to talk to people who care about you. So many people spend so much time in their head thinking and worrying, "Well, can I do this? Can I do that? I'm not that good at that. Oh, I guess I'll just give up." Yet, if one of my friends or siblings came to me and they were like, "Hey Aaron, what career do you think would be good for me?" I would have a million things in my head. I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, you are so detail-oriented. You are such a good writer. You'd be such a good ghostwriter. Oh my gosh, you have such a sense for justice. Have you ever thought about being a lawyer or detective? Or you can read so quickly and absorb so much knowledge. Have you ever thought about being a writer or researcher?" And who knows, they might even hook you up. You know, they'll be like, "Oh, actually, my aunt works in the film industry and she's looking for an intern right now. Maybe you could intern for her." You need to get out of your head. You need to get out and actually talk to other people. Talk, talk to them. Listen to them. Hear what they have to say. Because it's really hard to have perspective on yourself. But other people who know you and they hang out with you and they're close with you and they care about you, they are going to have more perspective on you. And that perspective can show you blind spots that you didn't even know existed. So try and sit down with like three to four people who you feel like really know you and care about you and just see what they say. And remember, that doesn't automatically default to your best friend at the time or your parents. They might not be the right people to give you advice in this moment for this thing. Pick people who you feel like get you and ask them what they think.
Step four, and this is my favorite tip of all of them, is to take a career aptitude test. So an aptitude test is just an assessment of your personality, skills, natural abilities, and it spits out what careers it thinks would be a good fit for you, a good match for you. I went ahead and took a bunch of different career aptitude tests and I picked out two of my favorites that I liked the most that I thought were the most accurate for me, and I would recommend to you. My number one favorite was Career Fitter. It's a test that's been taken millions of times. They're constantly tweaking and updating the algorithm, and you can take it for free. So you take the test, it only takes a few minutes, and then at the end, it will give you a free summary. So if you read the summary and you think, "Wow, that was really helpful and accurate," I would highly recommend paying the $20 to upgrade to the full report because it has way more information in it that you'll find so helpful. It's the easiest $20 you'll ever spend in your life because it could mean unlocking that dream career that you didn't even know existed. I mean, guys, there are jobs out there that are so great that nobody even knows about. Like the other day, I was talking to somebody who's a notary. He charges $200 an hour. He gets on average five clients a day. Guys, that's $100,000 a year working five hours a day as a freelance notary. Like, so cool. I mean, who knows? Maybe your ideal career is like working on a cruise ship. Maybe your ideal career is like working with kids who have special needs. Maybe your ideal career is being like a vet tech. Like, there are just so many other jobs out there that aren't nine to fives that might be great jobs for you.
And the second career aptitude test that I recommend, by the way, these are both down in the description, is called Truity. So Truity is very similar. You take a short test. They have a different science and research and algorithms with their tests, so it's a bit different. But you take the test, you get the free summary at the end, and if you feel like it jives with you and aligns with you, I would highly recommend upgrading for the full report.
And finally, I just want to say, the best way to learn about what you want to do is by learning about what you don't want to do. And the best way to learn about that is by working at lots of different companies. And a great way to do that is by interning. So you definitely want to intern, freelance, get lots of experience at lots of different companies. And that's going to let you know, "Hmm, I actually don't really like the structure. This is actually more important to me than I thought." So many people just kind of sit alone in their room at their computer and just rely on their brand and the information that they already have to figure out the job that they should be doing. But you have to go out and experience the world. Take a career aptitude test, talk to your friends and family, network, intern, get experiences, and gather all of this data. And that is going to help unlock doors for you that you never even knew existed.
And if you're interested in taking this all to the next level, I have a four-part career program that I would love for you to join. It's called the Career Workshop Intensive. You can enroll in it, and it's a program designed to give you a complete professional makeover. People have tripled and quadrupled their salaries, people have gotten promotions, people have made successful career and industry switches. But generally, the feedback that I get is that it just makes people feel a bit more confident. So if you're interested, you can watch the trailer and get a discount down in the description.
Oh, this was so much fun. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. Subscribe to me on YouTube and follow me on Instagram and TikTok for daily career and life advice. And I just want to remind you that you're doing great. Okay? You're doing the best you can with the situation that you've been given. We're all out here, we get it. We're all out here trying to figure it out. And you're doing an amazing job by just clicking on this video if you're trying to better your life. And I think you should be really proud of yourself for that. So have a great rest of your day. You got this. And I'll see you next time.
[Music]