Not finding your dream job? Asking yourself these questions can help open up your search

Nearly 7 million people are currently looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while there are about 8 million jobs open, not all may be of immediate interest to those trying to find their next role.

If you’re currently in that position, don’t overlook every job that seems out of line with your current pursuits. Sometimes even an opportunity that seems a bit off your path “is a bridge” to where you want to be in the future, says Jasmine Escalera, career expert at My Perfect Resume.

Here’s how to identify opportunities you hadn’t considered or see beyond the obvious in a job listing.

Ask, ‘where am I? Where do I want to be?’

Before you even begin your job search, “I think the most important thing to start with is self-reflection,” says Escalera. The idea is to get a sense of what your long-term career goals are.

Consider questions like, “where am I? Where do I want to be? And what’s the gap that I need to fill?” she says. These will help you get a sense of what your trajectory could be and what kind of skills you need to build to get the jobs you want. This kind of thinking could ultimately help you widen your search and find opportunities in open roles you hadn’t considered.

Early on his career, Dan Space, who’s worked in HR at companies like WebMD and Electronic Arts, realized he wanted to work in video games but didn’t have experience in the field. So he took a job at WebMD in a “very intentional move to try to get into the video game space because I could make a story that what we were selling was an online product” similar to what a video game company was doing. When a role at Electronic Arts opened up, he could prove he had the experience to do it.

It’s what he calls taking on roles adjacent to where you want to be. They’re “essentially mid steps,” he says.

Do some ‘professional internet stalking’

It can be hard to identify jobs you’ve never heard of that could lead you in the right direction. Doing some LinkedIn research can help.

Escalera calls it “professional internet stalking.” Look for people with the title you want, read through their LinkedIn profile and “figure out what their career trajectory is,” she says. That will help you find roles in your job search you may not have considered but that could help you develop in the right way.

“You can almost kind of map it out,” she says of a potential career path.

‘You’re guaranteed a spot in hundreds of’ other fields

Finally, use tools like ChatGPT to give you ideas of open roles you hadn’t considered.

“Think about what it is that you do,” says Space, then ask ChatGPT or even Google to give you “25 similar types of roles.” You’ll get all sorts of titles you might not have heard of but that could put you on the right path.

Even if you don’t have a long-term plan and aren’t sure where you want to end up in five or 10 years, this trick can help you see some fresh opportunities. There are often so many parallels between industries, says Space, regardless of what field you’re in, “you’re guaranteed a spot in hundreds of others.”

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