Top 10 Steps for Vocational Discernment and Job Seekers

TOP 10 STEPS FOR VOCATIONAL DISCERNERS and JOB SEEKERS

Here are some action step suggestions for those seeking a life-giving living, including part-time and summer work, and full-time post-graduation positions.

1. Set a time to do your job search and/or to invest in your vocational journey.

Like anything else, you need to dedicate time and energy to see results. I encourage students to set time blocks, maybe one, two, or three times a week that they reserve for their vocational and job search efforts. That way, when you’re stressing about it at another time during the week, you can say, “No.  I will stress about this (or take care of this) on Friday afternoon when I said I would.”

See below for suggestions on what exactly you should do when you sit down during your reserved time. For active job seekers, I encourage especially Postings, Places, and People (see #s 6, 7, & 8).

2. Consider finding a partner who is also seeking a job or putting efforts into vocational discernment.

They say that you get 50% better results in your workouts if you choose to work out with a partner. I believe the same is true in a job search. It’s very valuable to have the accountability and support. You can then use one of the time blocks that you set for yourself and share that time with your partner.

3.Get specific about your goals with respect to your next position.

Do you know what you’re looking for? If you haven’t gotten specific about it, how will you know if/when you find it? I encourage every job or vocational seeker to write at least a bullet point list of what they want and need out of their next position. Think about it like buying a house and consider the absolute “must-haves” and the “would be nice” items. You can use this list to evaluate potential opportunities that show up. As you’re writing your bulleted list, consider:

• • Pay
    • How much do you need to be paid? Consider gold standard (i.e. your ideal pay), silver standard (middle of the road pay), and bronze standard (the lowest amount you could be paid and still survive).
  • Purpose
    • What do you want the purpose of the work to be, the overall goal of your role, the industry? (i.e. I want to be learning and growing in the area of refugee services, and I want to be as effective as possible).
  • Process
    • What do you want to do every day? What things do you want to be sure you do regularly? What work and vocational activities are life-giving to you? What percentage of your day do you want to spend doing these activities? This part is key to satisfaction!

• • Place 

• • • What are your geographic preferences? Where are you willing to go? I usually encourage folks to select 1, 2, or 3 cities or geographic regions in which to focus their energies. This doesn’t mean you can’t apply to positions in other places, but these are the places you would put most of your energy.
  • Promotion
    • How important is it to you that you can move up or around within this company?
  • People
    • What kind of people do you want to be working with internally and/or externally?
  • Power
    • What strengths or professional super powers do you want to be using in your next role?
  • Priorities
    • What level of priority do the items above hold, and what other priorities do you have?  Is it most important that you have flexibility to pursue other interests? Do you need to work remotely? Is making a certain amount of money while still working in the field of refugee services? Write that out and be honest about it.

4.Get specific about your bigger vision for your life.

There are two activities I often encourage for folks exploring their purpose, their calling, their ministry, and the bigger pictures of their lives. You can choose one or both.

1. Sit down and write a journal entry about one specific day of your life ten years from now as you would like it to be. Starting from when you wake up to when you go to sleep, describe this day in detail. Where do you wake up? Who is with you?  What do you eat for breakfast? What do you wear? Where do you go for work? What does your work entail? How do you wear your hair? Each of these details is meant to visually answer the question: who are you ten years from now? Or who would you like to be?
2. Write out ten dreams of things you’d really like to do, experience, or accomplish in your lifetime. Life is long, what would it ideally be filled with for you?

These are big questions and can be difficult to answer. Be kind with yourself about it.

5.Try to identify your three avenues for where you’re trying to go.

Name one, two, or three potential vocational avenues you’d like to explore or pursue. For example,

(1) pastoral ministry in a church, especially associate pastor roles (2) K-12 teaching positions, and

(3) arts-based non-profits. You don’t have to be an expert in these options, the goal is to get informed and see if they align with what you have identified you want.

6.Postings: Do some window shopping on job posting sites (and don’t forget to try  Emory’s Handshake).

When in an active job search, the goal is to (1) identify 3-6 posting sites that suit your needs and

(2) identify the keywords and searches that work for you. Check out Candler’s Job Posting Site List.