Perfect career – dreams time.com

I’m a perfectionist, always have been, probably always will be at this point. And as a perfectionist, I’m always looking for…ummm, perfection. The perfect job, perfect commute, perfect work-life balance, just the perfect career!

Not surprisingly, I’m a proud Gen-Yer. And unlike the dedicated, company-loyal, house-with-a-white-picket-fence prior generations of career women (and men), we are NOT looking for jobs. We are looking for meaningful, life-changing, make-a-difference careers. And ideally, we’d like to get paid for being so darn awesome. Yet compared to prior generations, 70% of us are having a hard time finding a job (as compared to 30% for baby boomers). And even though we are unjustly labeled as “selfie posting, social media crazed underachievers”, we are still considered as largely unemployable.

As outlined by Mashable, we are inspired by the likes of Steve Jobs and Michelle Obama. Although salary is our top priority (how else would we be able to afford the latest iPhone), passion and corporate culture are more important to us than benefits or job culture.

Like Jennifer Benz, the poster child of the new millennial model, we want to learn, earn, and give back at work, while we’re changing the world! Oh, and we want gender equality too, and we’re on a mission to reach the glass ceiling, break it in a million (recyclable) pieces, and use these to build LEGOS with female superheroes.Except, practically speaking, most of us have not exactly found the perfect career (or a job), and running the risk of having our smartphones disconnected is not exactly an option…

So how do we stop searching for THE perfect career without settling:

1. Repeat after me: “There is no perfect career”! Even if Oprah, Forbes or the Huffington Post called today to offer me to write for them (getting spine tingles writing this), it still wouldn’t be the perfect job (although it’d still be pretty darn close). Because there is no perfect job, career or shoe for that matter. You will still have annoying tasks, bad days and challenging moments. That’s what work does, hence the reason for after-hours libations, but I digress…The sooner you realize there is no such a thing as a perfect job or career, the lesser the left part of your skull will hurt…

2. Take out your toolbox! Not that one, your skillset toolbox. That rusty box of the sum of your know-how, education, experience and expertise. In other words, all that stuff you know. At the end of the day, it’s about your skills, what you’ve got! Instead of racking your brain trying to find the perfect job or career, take out that toolbox, consider the skills you’ve got and assess whether you’re still getting the skills you need. Or if that rusty toolbox of yours is getting rustier by the minute, in which case it may be time for an upgrade…

3. It’s about the journey! I know, it’s a corny catch phrase, but I’m in my self-motivational phase of the month, so excuse the hormones…Too often, we’re too worried about making it to the top of the mountain before even putting the right shoes on. And when we fall or get blisters, it’s the stupid mountain’s fault. You get the point. As you acquire the skills and experience you need along the way, you’re not just charting a path, you’re building your career. Aspiring to be a writer?Well, improve on your writing at work! Whatever your dream job, you’re building it now, so please check your grammar on that report (or run spellcheck, do something…)

Oh and log off Facebook too….

The Corporate Sis.