Fake It Til You Make It

One of the newest trends when it comes to job hunting has been to create your own job. I don't necessarily mean become an entrepreneur and work for yourself, although that is also a viable option these days. It's come to my realization that most of the people I've spoken to about their own job search experience didn't find it on Indeed. Instead, they started with what they knew they wanted to do and found someone who was willing to let them do it. Sound a bit confusing? Well I promise it's much simpler than it sounds.

Typically, one would go on a site like Indeed, Monster, or even Craigslist to check out job openings in their field of work. However, the new trend (albeit a bit more risky and ambitious) allows young professionals to create their own positions. As opposed to simply applying to an open listing, people are doing the process "backwards" and starting with looking into companies or careers they love, whether they have announced a job opening or not.

Attempting to create a position for yourself doesn't go unnoticed; it shows real courage and confidence in yourself and what you have to bring to the company. Whether that leap of faith results in a job or not, you've just created a new network. Someone else in the industry now knows who you are and although they may not have a position to offer you at the time, it's always possible that they know someone who does. This generation is betting on themselves and selling their skills to their dream companies...and it seems to be working pretty well.

This new approach is actually pretty similar to what it was like applying to colleges. We were taught there were safe, match, and reach schools. Safe meant that you are over-qualified and guaranteed to get in, match schools are universities where your skills correspond to their qualifications, and reach schools are where your credentials fall just below their qualifications but you try your best regardless. Why can't applying to jobs be treated the same way? Reach for your dream job. The very worst that could happen is that they say no, but the very best could open up doors to a career that's tailor made for you.