The truth is you don’t know what your dream job is until you’re there. There’s a good chance that the really amazing-sounding position at that really sexy company is actually completely awful… and now what? That’s not to say you shouldn’t have goals or aspirations, just that you need to pay close attention to what’s really making you happy, and to keep moving towards that.

Hoppin’ around isn’t all that bad… just know why you’re hopping

Things can get stale or maybe you just can’t break through at a company, and you’re not getting to the point where you’re doing the type of work you want to do. It’s okay to move on. Even if the job is at a company that seems very desirable. The important thing is to know why you are moving on so you can solve the problem of what’s not making you happy. If you don’t know what the problem is, you’re probably not going to solve it simply by moving on.

Luck plays a role but you still have to follow your passion

Jobs and happiness. It sounds like an Al Green song, and the nature of the two are so complicated and mysterious that maybe it should be an Al Green song. You need good luck and timing, but obviously you can’t have much control over that. So you have to focus on the one thing you can really know and that’s what you’re passionate about. Always, always let that be your beacon. Being good at something calls for hours and hours spent doing it, and being good at something is incredibly rewarding. So hope for some luck, but always follow your passion.

The worst thing you can do is deny yourself something that’s making you happy because it doesn’t seem to stack up on paper or seem as sexy as something else. But the second worst thing you can do is to stick around in a place that has grown stagnant and no longer inspires you to do your best work. There’s no math or formula that can be applied to diagnose either state, but you’ll know it when you’re there. Follow that instinct.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.