Take the first offer or wait for my dream job?

Good day, everyone! As you all know (if you've read my first entry), I'm a jobless nurse (as of now). And as a routine, I always check my accounts in different online job search website. In one of those sites, I saw this article and thought that this could help fresh graduates in deciding what their first steps would be in this chaotic word of unemployed professionals.

So here it is, read and learn!

Take the first offer or wait for my dream job?

by Cora Llamas

This is a question that many new grads really spend a lot of time thinking about.  They leave the university full of dreams and aspirations, with a firm idea on what they’d like to do in the real world. The problem is – sometimes, the job that they’d really like, their dream job, is not yet available or accessible to them.

It’s a situation all of us can relate to.  Some of us dream of writing the great Filipino novel only to find out that hiring companies are looking for writers who can turn in good copy for their products.  Or we dream of making a difference in government, but are informed by HR that the available post is based in a location that will take six hours of commute time everyday.  Or we keep applying to the big multi-national corporations, only to be told that the last job vacancy has just been filled.

In the meantime, we spend weeks, maybe even months, of just hanging around at home or with ourbarkada who is also job-hunting.  There may be parental pressure to help contribute to the family upkeep.  Most painful of all, some of our friends do end up getting hired in the job that they want – and it does hurt, badly.

But it’s not all bad news.  We do get a call from recruiters, sometimes even a job offer….as researcher, administrative assistant, call center agent, marketing assistant, department secretary…These are not the jobs we are hoping for, and if it were not for the rising bills and our boredom, we’d be tempted to turn them down.

Our parents’ question is the one thing that stops us:  “But how many jobs will you turn down before you find your dream job?”

Finding a dream job is a journey – and it takes a lot of small steps to finally reach our destination.  A dream job just doesn’t drop on your lap – you have to search for it, see if you have the skills for it, acquire those skills, and plan a strategy that will get the right bosses to notice you.

And that won’t happen if you do not get any job at all.

Here are a few things to think about before you say no:

• Are you being practical? Can you afford to not have a job in the next few months? 
• Think of the opportunities that can be offered by this job offer.  What skills will you learn?  What industry will you become familiar with?  Who are the professionals who you can acquaint yourself with and probably help you in your career development?
• Give yourself a time table (e.g. one to two years) to learn what you can from this first job before telling yourself you need to move on.  This is not a fixed plan, but something that you can use to encourage yourself if you do find out eventually that you are not fit for this job.

Make every second of experience in that not-so-thrilling job count.  Study how you can use the skills and network that you’ve accumulated to bring you closer to your dream job or preferred industry.

Source : Career Advice - JobsDB.com