This post originally appeared as issue 4 of the Daily Job Hunt email. Sign up for kick-butt career hype in your inbox each morning.
Don’t do stuff you hate
Most people don’t like their jobs. That’s not cool.
Life is short and people were meant to wake up and feel connected to it!
Here’s a good mantra: don’t do stuff you hate. Skip applying to companies or roles that you know will be soul-sucking.
That doesn’t mean a dream job will fall in your lap. It takes time to discover and do what makes you come alive.
But if you work to avoid what sucks, you’ll be moving in the right direction.
PS – Don’t confuse stuff that’s hard with stuff you hate. They’re not always the same. Sometimes the best stuff is hard.
The Power of Free Work
Many people hear “free work” and worry they’ll get “used.” Nah, if you work for free, that’s your choice! You can always opt out.
Really, it’s a great tool to get in with a company. It’s in your self-interest.
With that in mind, here are great resources on ways to do free work:
- Recession Proof Graduate: How to Get The Job You Want by Doing Free Work, by Charlie Hoehn (quick book)
- A Complete Guide to Building Your Career Using Free Work, by Derek Magill (5 min. article)
- Free Work is Not Exploitation (10 min. video bashing all arguments)
(You can also just think of free work as doing a custom project for a company in advance).
Quote of the Day
“No matter what uncertainty the future holds for the global economic climate, ‘being valuable to others’ will never be obsolete, irrelevant, or valueless.”
― Bryan Franklin, The Last Safe Investment