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Hardy Wallace just landed the Murphy-Goode "A Really Good Job"
lifestyle correspondent position with a salary of $10,000 a month for six
months, and residence in a two-bedroom Victorian in Healdsburg, CA.
So just how did he do it? Well here is my list of the Top 5 To-Do's to land your own 'dream job'.
#5 BE FIRST
Wallace caught a plane to San Francisco from Atlanta and woke up at the
crack of dawn to be the first in line at the April recruitment.
#4 BE YOURSELF
Wallace said he brought his best self and "[i]t either fits or it doesn't," - obviously it did.
#3 BE DIFFERENT
Obviously this may seem like a contradiction to #4 but in reality, a
better understanding of who you really are and the strengths you bring
will make you different than anyone else. Wallace said that he pitched
himself as offering more than just a persona but also a depth of wine
knowledge. He also loves to be goofy and entertain, which isn't
necessarily what I think of when I think sommelier.
#2 LOVE THE JOB
How bad does it feel to get rejected from job after job that you don't
really even want? Stop the madness! Go for broke! Tailor your search to
your passions. Wallace created the dirty south wine
blog to showcase his passion for wine, which he maintained alongside
his day job in sales at Kodak from which he was laid-off earlier this
year.
...and finally...
#1 CREATE YOUR OWN 'DREAM JOB'
Wallace had taken sommelier
education courses as well as won a wine-blending exercise at the
winery. But my favorite quote, which really sums it up is this:
"I was trying to get this job before there was this job." - Hardy Wallace
Your best investment is always in you. If you are unemployed, take this opportunity to pursue the things that interest you. That goes for the employed as well. Not having time to fuel your passions can never be an excuse...at least not if you're really into a 'dream job' that is.
A couple of years ago Marci Alboher began talking about slashes - people who pursue multiple careers or vocations simultaneously.
In an 2007 interview in BusinessWeek following the release of her book, One Person/Multiple Careers, where she spoke with hundreds of people maintaining dual careers, she outlined four essential reasons for this emerging trend:
Suffice it to say, the new global economy is less about retiring from a big corporation after 30 or 40 years of service than juggling multiple careers that hopefully fuel the success of one another. Some career counselors are calling this trend "Giganomics" - piecing together two, three or even four gigs to make up a career.
While this trend has always existed among artists, musicians and other creative types, increasingly lawyers and other professionals are entertaining this concept either by choice or by force.
Currently, I work with an educational consulting company and teach legal studies online. And while it is, at times, daunting to wear multiple hats, I can honestly say that the prospect of having one job (one stream of income) or career is far more frightening to me. I have many laid-off attorney friends who are just now beginning to think about alternatives to the traditional practice of law. The economy, in many respects, is forcing us to grow in the direction of our dreams.
There are a number of intersections in our lives and careers that, if we pay attention, can blossom into opportunities that provide us with the fulfillment we crave. So even if you are desperately seeking to shed the lawyer moniker, I urge you to begin by supplementing your livelihood with something you find amazing. You may find that to be just the balance you need.
comic by Todd Zapoli
Non-lawyers - yes this is how lawyers sometimes come to view the world - us (lawyers) and them (humans non-lawyers) have a difficult time understanding why we spend so much time talking about transitioning from or leaving the practice of law. They wonder, on the offshoot that we cross their minds at all, why this subject consumes us, fueling a growing industry of legal career counselors and meetups throughout the country?
To a certain extent, lawyers are self-involved. But with good reason.... Just hear me out.
In most professions from architecture to medicine, there is a sense that all one needs to do is pay her dues and then the big payoff will burst forth into existence. The legal field, however, appears to lean more toward an indentured servitude where just when you think you have paid enough, BAM!, new dues appear. Some see this as proof that lawyers have an enormous sense of entitlement and should be happy no matter what happens. I don't see it that way.
The big payoff for many lawyers isn't so much about the money as it is about the meaning (or lack thereof). Imagine choosing medicine as a career and never having direct contact with a patient throughout four years of residency. Or imagine studying to become a landscape architect but never being allowed to view the landscape you have helped to research and design. This is certainly the life many attorneys in law firms live, which compels them to initially seek out smaller firms or solo practices. Often that is just the beginning of the search for meaning because what these lawyers discover is that even in smaller firms or solo practices, the legal system itself creates barriers that oftentimes prevent us from serving our clients in a way that is meaningful. Lawsuits do not necessarily equal justice served.
Lawyers who leave the law are not so much running from the law as they are running toward something that provides them a sense of meaning. Recently Matthew B. Crawford, a Ph.D. turned motorcycle mechanic, released his first book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work where he imbues the reader with a sense of awe for craftsmanship that instills within the craftsman the satisfaction that comes from seeing a task from start to finish. This, he claims, is what is missing from the cubicle nation in which we live.
The further you are removed from seeing how your work impacts the lives of people, the less likely you are to find meaning and fulfillment in that work. Lawyers who leave the profession know this on some level. They whine and complain and host meetings to vent their frustrations about their profession because ultimately they want more from life but don't yet know how to go about getting it. So I'm just asking for a little understanding for all of us. I'm not excusing the behavior - no one likes a whiner. But I do think that there is more to it than narcissism and entitlement.
I'm Taisha Rucker. Currently, I'm working on a law career book to inspire lawyers and law students who hope to use their JDs as a platform to find meaningful work beyond traditional legal practice. If you have a JD and want to share your insights about transitioning to an alternative legal career or maintaining a dual legal and non-legal career, please take the survey.
