Do you ever ask yourself how one of your friends got a seemingly awesome job? Or, ever find yourself staring off into space while you sit at your desk, daydreaming about being in another line of work?
Well, Alexandra Levit surveyed 500 gen-Y and gen-X professionals to find people with their dream jobs and she sat down for one-on-one interviews with nearly a hundred individuals to ask them that very question: “How’d you score THAT gig?” Her newest book comes out in bookstores today - How’d You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs-and How to Get Them - focused on young people in the workplace and the jobs they love.
Alexandra Levit is a leading business author and career consultant, and is one of the most prominent speakers of our generation on issues that face young professionals in the workplace. I recently had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about what she learned from writing the new book - from talking with all of these young professionals, like you and me, that love their jobs, and learning how they got to where they are now:
Alex, with your experience as a career columnist and consultant, beyond the traditional 9-to-5 job, what are some of the most coveted careers for young professionals these days?
My 500 survey responders thought the five coolest jobs were, in order of number of votes 1) Travel Journalist, 2) Event Planner, 3) Fashion Designer, 4) Documentary Photographer, and 5) Bed & Breakfast Innkeeper. I’m obviously partial to the book author and marketing exec careers myself, but I also found the futurist, forensic scientist, and screenwriter gigs personally intriguing.
So with information from your national survey of twenty- and thirty-somethings, tell us briefly about the seven main personality types that you’ve found among those surveyed.
The book features 60 cool jobs, divided into seven categories based on the broad personality types that are generally best-suited to those jobs. I selected the cool jobs via an online survey in which I asked nearly 500 twenty and thirty-somethings to tell me about their dream careers. Based on the responses, I generated a list of the top 60 careers and constructed a fairly comprehensive profile of each using the information I gathered from written sources and in-depth interviews with more than 100 individuals currently holding the jobs.
Then, I researched various personality type measures to develop my seven “passion profiles” – adventurer, creator, data-head, entrepreneur, investigator, networker, and nurturer – and placed the 60 cool jobs into the appropriate categories. In the first chapter, I designed an assessment (with help from my husband, who’s a psychologist) to help readers decide which passion profiles might be most appealing to them.
Of the many Gen-Y and Gen-X workers you spoke with face-to-face, who are just a few of the people that stick out most prominently in your mind, and what do they do?
Ethan won Survivor and parlayed his winnings into start-up funds for a new nonprofit organization called Grassroot Soccer. Peter worked his way up to become one of the leading news correspondents with NBC, regularly appearing on the Today Show and the national evening news. Carin left a very successful corporate career to open a hip bridal boutique in Washington D.C. Emily could name her price as a computational linguist whose job was to teach Japanese to a computer.
You’ve noted how Millenials have a hard time choosing a major that preps them for the real world and picking a career path after college. What are a few tips you recommend for college students who are deciding on their majors right now, or searching for their first real job after school?
Take time to do a self-assessment of your values, how you like to work, and what you’d be compelled to do even if you never got paid. Research careers and industries that map to your skills and interests. Hit the internet, set up informational interviews, take relevant coursework, and arrange to go onsite at a company in your chosen field.
What can students and recent grads expect to learn from your new book? What’s in it for readers to pick up a copy, and how will it benefit them in finding a career they’re happy with?
There are so many reference books out there that merely list cool jobs. I hope that How’d You Score That Gig? will provide a true insider’s glimpse into each and every one of the careers I profile, and provide access to people just like you and me who are in a position to give realistic advice about getting a job in each field. I hope that by learning about their personality profiles and the corresponding interesting jobs, a whole new world of possibilities will be opened up to readers, and they will have the courage to take the first steps on the journey to career fulfillment.
Order your copy today on Amazon: How’d You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs-and How to Get Them.
Alexandra Levit writes regularly for the Huffington Post, has published three career-related books, and runs a great radio podcast show on BlogTalkRadio for women in business. You can learn more about her on her personal homepage.
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If you enjoyed this interview with Alex, you might also be interested to read more from my past interview with her for IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com.
Congratulations go out to Alexandra on the new book, but more importantly on the new addition to her family–a newborn baby boy! I’d like to thank her personally for making the time to talk with ThrillingHeroics.com during this busy time.
photo credit: WTL photos
