Level Up: The Journey to the Dream Job

There's a video game that we play throughout our lives called 'careers'. We are continuously levelling up from job to job, all while working towards the final goal – our dream jobs. Levelling up to the next job is tricky, it involves casual jobs, part time jobs, internships, challenging managers, gaining transferrable skills and a lot of time and dedication. This real-life video game is scary because it's not simple – what dictates when you level up? When are you ready? What if you aren't ready? One might even remain jobless, which makes it incredibly difficult to level up at all.

So, how do you know when you're ready to move on to the next job? We had a chat with Locky Kaye, a career learning development advisor at The University of Queensland, about stepping over that big, bad threshold. 

Locky Kaye, career learning development advisor at The University of Queensland

"At a basic level, something's better than nothing," Mr Kaye said when we asked what types of part time jobs we should be looking for. He stressed that it's only when one's in the privileged position to choose their job for experience, as well as income, that they can be picky. 

“For me, the more experience you have regardless of the field, the more I’m willing to take a chance on hiring you. Having said that, if you can get work in the field that you’re going into, go for it," he said. 

"All experiences are good experiences, mostly because there’s a level of assumed knowledge you get from working that we want from recruits," Mr Kaye said. 

The more diversity one experiences, the more knowledge and skills they attain. Mr Kaye raised his arms to form a triangle and explained that experience in the 'job-world' is the same as building a pyramid. 

"The broader your base is, the higher you're going to go," he said. 

“If you have a whole heap of diverse experiences, I am going to assume that no matter what happens in the job in question, you’re going to be able to cope quickly.

“Sometimes we can get tunnel vision in terms of what we want and getting there as quickly as possible… but you want to set yourself up not only for the next five years, but for the next ten and fifteen,” Mr Kaye said. 

Setting yourself up for the future is easier said than done, but it just takes some baby steps every now and then, like choosing jobs with transferrable skills. Our future selves will thank us. At the rate that technology is developing, it's smart to assume that anything that can be automated will be automated - take Amazon's fully automated shipping warehouses for example. So, Mr Kaye emphasised the importance of jobs with people skills. 

"If you’re able to build rapport with people, influence people and understand people, then that’s gonna set you up much better for the future than, potentially, labour and handling jobs will,” he said. 

“There are so many reports coming out now about the value of humanities and jobs in the future that go into what skills are going to be valuable in the future... It's as simple as a google search," Mr Kaye said. 

As well as financially, casual jobs teach us communication, money, patience, teamwork, initiative, problem solving and organisational skills which we take into the 'real' workforce and our general lives. 

“If you’re rocking up to work each day and you’re not learning anything and it’s just routine then, if you’re in a position to, think about finding something else that challenges you," Mr Kaye said. 

"You need a more strategic view of your life and career and how that supports your future, but it's really contextual based on the broader picture," he said. 

The keyword which springs to mind at the thought of a new job is 'resume,' so how can we make our resume shine through the pile? While every employer is different, Mr Kaye's general advice was to appeal to the human on the other end, and to make it readable and well-rounded. 

“When a lot of people are looking at resumes, they’re just scanning. They’ll scan for who you work for, what you did, and how long you were there. If they’re interested, they might look at whatever else you’ve put there," he said. 

"The easier it is for someone to read what you put down on your resume, the more likely you are to go from the ‘not in a million years’ pile, to the ‘a want to know a bit more’ pile. 

“The absolute worst thing you can do is write in paragraphs. [Employers] don’t have time, especially if they have 80 other people to get through. It sends shudders down my spine whenever I see blocks of text on a resume. I get table-flipping levels of angry."

“Volunteering is crucial. If you’re not volunteering, then go out now and start volunteering. A lot of people talk about having well-rounded, good candidates, and that’s the sort of stuff that people are looking for - that you have broad experiences.

“Employability and employment and recruitment are an inherently human process. I think we forget that," Mr Kaye said.

At the end of the day, be strategic with your job if you're in the position to be. Use your university's career development resources – they're there to help you, not hinder you. Let's level up!