Dream job does it exist

Marcon

Roadtonowhere100121 said:

I am 35 years old, had a few jobs and every job I had I hated the wok but stayed due to team members. Will I ever find my dream job?

What is your dream job? Do you have the skills and qualifications to land it? If not, what actions are you taking to maximise the chances of getting offered such a post?

gm0

What is ideal ?

Shuffling words and numbers or physical stuff - or managing that - is work that's why they pay. 
Some of us get a kick out of analysis or solving, or with operational things humming or projects and things changing and completing things. Others from a sale closed - a pursuit satisfies some primal hunting impulse. Others from more creative design tasks. Or interacting with people a lot.  Work you find tolerable and modestly stimulating is a really good start.
Whatever is the least horrible for you in the they pay you to do it category won't be the same as it is for me.
That bit you have to work out by trying different things

But you may have already found the best part but not the right team and place yet. 

Impact on People

Working for inspiring leaders, with good colleagues and supervising in a good team.  Especially helping less experienced people develop new skills grow and and learn by experience. Helping and seeing people grow their own careers delivers long term satisfaction - whether you stay in that specific job or not.  The leg up - the mark you left on them - the progress it enabled - endures. They know. You know.  Perhaps the organisation will appreciate it - they sometimes do - but it is not on financial short term metrics. But if they don't - who cares. If you find it enjoyable do it anyway. 
In stark contrast last year's sales numbers are soon forgotten by everyone.

This can only really happen in a genuinely professional setting with a suitable culture. Professional in the well run sense of the word - could be a backstreet automotive garage with a good master tech, a well led council team focused on their residents needs or a care home, a restaurant - or some kind of business startup or corporate.  Anywhere.  Any of them can be professional and well led with a positive team and work culture and any can be really terrible. Or both (if big). 

So you go and find that good mix of people of integrity and calibre - who get on with the work without fuss and politics - have standards - play to individual strengths. Effective team work.  Open and honest communication.  Tolerance when life events get in the way. Mentoring. Learning new skills.  Shared success. Some fun at work. It is out there. It's quite rare. But it is.

And it's absolutely fine to not want to be dragged into any of the things I just mentioned but to turn up do the transactional (to an acceptable standard) and leave on the dot.  For someone whose interests, family and social time or sport are their life priorities with the hours at work but a tedious intermission to minimise while paying the bills. Their definition of "ideal" is quite different.  Please don't try to engage me.  Just fling a queue of tasks within my job description. And I'll do them and then I am gone.  Fine. Just don't whinge about lack of professional development later.  To the hungrier go those spoils if in context - there are any.

Hunt out the role that plays to your strengths or those you wish to develop. Look hard at the people you meet at interview and around the facility when you get to visit.  How are the support staff - security, reception, catering, office cleaners and other junior team members treated ?  Visitors?  How do they treat you - the candidate?  If the bosses and other employees aren't respectful engaged and inclusive of the contribution of all players; Or as a result people seem uninterested or unwelcoming - then it's not going to be a well led place in this sense.

No job anywhere is ideal - all of the time.  The cast of characters will change. Sometimes you have to work with customers, colleagues or suppliers who are very demanding, selfish, even toxic.  Or somebody messed up when they sold something and it's now a slog to finish delivery of it.  Or you get a dull but long piece of work that needs doing - and it happens to land on you - this time.  Pay your dues reasonably. Take a turn.  But don't be exploited.

Some really good highs and some temporary somewhat tolerable lows is an achievable goal. 

Go and find that.  Be lucky.

TBagpuss

Marcon said:

Roadtonowhere100121 said:

I am 35 years old, had a few jobs and every job I had I hated the wok but stayed due to team members. Will I ever find my dream job?

What is your dream job? Do you have the skills and qualifications to land it? If not, what actions are you taking to maximise the chances of getting offered such a post?

I think this is key - you need to identify what elements of the jobs you've done so far you enjoyed, and which parts you disliked, and what you would like to do but haven't found in jobs up to now. 

I don't think any job is a dream job in the sense of every part of it being un and enjoyable - even if you are self employed there are typically going to be things that you don't enjoy (for instance, if you are self employed then in most case you re going to need to do things like invoicing, book-keeping and tax returns for yourself, and even if you pay someone else to do those things you then still need to maintain records and to find someone to instruct to do them.)
And there are normally compromises to be made - for example, the job, or elements of the job, that you enjoy may be elements which are not very well paid, or it may be that the type of work you enjoy comes as part of a package with other elements you find boring or don't enjoy.

What can help is to think about what. specifically, you enjoy or have enjoyed in previous jobs, and why you enjoyed it. What do you do for fun and  are there any transferrable skills r, similar types of thing which might translate to the world of work? I don't just mean the obvious like enjoying walking your dog so thinking about setting up a dog walking business, but things like if your hobby is gardening, think about whether the parts that most appeal to you and make it enjoyable are  working alone, seeing a project gradually take shape, working with your hands, planning the colours, or the outdoor location and physical labour which you particularly enjoy? Or is it means to the end of winning at flower shows? And then you can start to think about jobs which might allow you to do something similar - for instance, in that example, if the part that you really enjoy is the long term planning and seeing it all come together then working in a garden centre isn't going to appeal, even though it's 'working with plant', but something which involves design or strategic planning might give you some of the same satisfaction. 

stevelogan

All depends what you are dreaming of