Where to Find a Job? Do What You Love! (With a Twist.)

Where to find a job, you ask? If you're between jobs and cannot find a job you love, you may be spending your time looking in the wrong areas. This on-target career advice helps you reorganize your time to find work you love.
How do you spend your time during your job hunt: Trolling job boards? Newspaper want ads? The career office? If you've read our overview about how to find a job, you'll have a pretty good idea about where to look And each of those areas are important.

The trouble is, the Internet alone could take up all of your job searching time, let alone leave room for all the other things that must be done. It's easy to become overwhelmed with everything to do during a job search. And if you're trying to find a job by giving every tactic equal time, it won't be long before you start wondering why you cannot find a job at all.

Help Me Find a Job!

This article is about organizing your time and your life in a way that will help you get what you want. Finding a job you truly love means organizing your time around where to find a job in a whole new way.

Yes, I mean networking. But not in the way you may think. With this approach to where to find a job, you won't need a single networking meeting. Instead, you'll design your entire job search into a networking project that you love.

Make a List of What You Love

If you've read our article about finding work that you love and have not yet put pen to paper, take the paper out now and begin writing. List all the things you enjoy, things that intrigue you and things you have always wanted to try. Write freely, don't limit yourself here, make note of everything you can think of.

Trying to Find a Job? Get Involved -- With People

Now take a look at your list. There may be some activities such as sports or volunteering that you enjoy doing with other people. There may be others such as gardening or working out that you mostly do alone. If you can find a way to do these activities with others, then keep it on the list. If you cannot, then cross them out.

Where to find a Job? Doing What You Love!

This is the twist: Set a daily limit on the solo activities of your job search such as updating job boards and sending out resumes—two to three hours maximum. Spend the rest of your time networking, interacting with people and doing what you love. This may be out of your comfort zone, but it is where all the opportunity lies. Take the advice of Nike and Just Do It! Build relationships. Have fun. Find leadership opportunities. Put your heart into it. This is where to find a job!

For instance, are you interested in running a marathon or triathlon? Find a group that you can train with. Ask people questions. Let them know you are looking for work. Enjoy cooking? Find a class, grow your network. Enjoy volunteering? Get involved. Love being involved at church? Find a leadership position. Find as many ways to enjoy interacting with others as you can.

Use the networking techniques we describe on this site. Ask for referrals to others for introductions or informational interviews. Link up with that friend of a friend. Make the most of all the advantages of networking.

You may find that using this approach turns your job search into the most fun you've had in a long time. In fact, you may feel guilty about having all this fun. After all, if you're out of a job, is it right to be enjoying yourself at this time when you should be seriously looking for work? Is this really where to find a job?

This is Serious Work

Doing what you love with people you enjoy is serious work. It brings out your personality, skills and passion. It builds your network, and grows people in that network that want to help you get hired. In fact, it can help you find work that you love. Jobs come from being connected with others. You will stand out if you are passionately engaged and excited about what you are doing.

And when you do get a job interview, that passion will shine through.

So the long answer to the question, where to find a job is doing what you love, meeting new people, learning new things, developing your strengths. You'll enjoy the time infinitely more and speed your job search by tapping into new networks that see you at your best because you've had the time to develop your own passion.

This time between jobs is precious time. Don't waste it. No matter how tough it may be for you, force yourself out of your comfort zone to do things you love with other people. You'll make it easy for the work to find you.

Good luck!

If you're serious about finding work that you love, be sure to check out these articles and resources:

Choosing a Career Path that is Right for You
Career Change Advice: 10 Steps to Get You Started Down a New Path
Master Your Personal Introduction
How to Take Advantage of Networking

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