It’s a simple question, it seems. What is your answer? Most people’s answers are quite singular “I want to make more money at my next job;” “I want to maintain my income but work less;” “I want a chance to manage people.” All good answers but in my opinion not detailed enough.
Do you remember the story of Genie in a bottle? Well, here is one short version: A man find a magic Genie in a bottle and is granted 3 wishes. He said “I wish I had a billion dollars” and the Genie snapped his finger and instantly he was living in a beautiful mansion and was filthy rich. He was shocked and happy until he saw his wife who was storming out telling him that she wants a divorce. He went to the Genie and asked “why is this happening?” The Genie said “Your wish was to have a billion dollars and I granted that wish. You never said anything else.”
Morale of the story: invest some time to define in detail your next dream job. If you don’t, you may work really hard to land your next job only to realize afterward that it’s not all that you wished it to be.
See my blog post on Cafe Exercise: Dream your Dream Job! to get started. Good luck out there!
– Lei