Sometimes, MBAs are so eager to land their next role that they say yes to the first job offer they get, but we want to caution you to be more intentional with your career. Your goal is not to find just any job, it is to find the right job for you. And, to be clear, you could very likely find multiple jobs that would be right for you. So how do you avoid the wrong ones?
Be Introspective
Look for advice and exercises that can help you figure out what is most important for you to gain from your career and what trade-offs you are willing to make to land a job. The following articles and books are good places to start:
- 4 Ways to Make Work More Meaningful. Harvard Business School graduate John Coleman talks about focusing on your curiosity as a means of unlocking your purpose and meaning at work.
- Identifying Your Career Goals: Advice for Starting Business School. mbaMission Career Coach Elissa Harris shares exercises and tools to help you uncover your motivations and priorities for work.
- Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness — and a New Freedom — at Work. Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans share ideas on how you can design and build your work life into a meaningful dream job.
Be Strategic
Use the following exercises to create a list of things you want from your next job or phase of your career. Then, assess your current role (and/or your target roles) using that list. Where are the gaps? What small (or big) steps can you take to get closer to your ideal?
- Initiate conversations with people in your target roles to learn about their experiences and get advice on how to pivot toward their role.
- Sign up for an online class or certification course to supplement your on-the-job experiences.
- Ask for projects that are outside the typical scope of your job but will expose you to new people or help you develop new skills that would be valued in your target role.
Be Intentional
Evaluate each new opportunity with a critical eye. Compare it to what you have determined you want in your next role. How does it stack up? Will you need to make any trade-offs? And if so, are you compromising on the things that are most important to you? Know exactly why you are accepting—or not—the position you have been offered.
Remember the bottom line: Find your purpose, and let it guide you.
