Job Seeker Blog - Spark Hire

Using Every Job As A Stepping Stone

Spark News has been talking a lot about second jobs, dream jobs and of course just jobs in general. After all, this is the blog for Spark Hire and we have one of the most advanced and interactive job search boards out right now. Jobs are our focus and news of the job market excites us. Spark News has also talked a lot about how to deal with jobs you dislike or may not have a passion for. It sounds difficult and may be difficult to deal with at first, but using every job you have as a stepping stone is a great way to fully take advantage of your job and expand your skill set.

The reality is, you are probably not going to like every job you acquire in your life. There will be a time when you have to pick up a second job or settle for a job that is below your expectations. However difficult it may be, you need to stay optimistic and positive about the situation and learn everything you can from this experience. For instance, you may have just graduated from college and expected to find an internship or entry-level position right away. Your job search keeps turning up flat so in the meantime you need to find some way to make money to support yourself. This is when making the most of every job is most important.

You may not like the idea of serving at a bar downtown, but if that is the job you can find right now and it is your main source of income, then you can’t really turn it down. Picking up a job like this until you find the job you really want is normal and actually very savvy. As long as you leave enough of your free-time available for your job search, a job like this can be very beneficial. Plus, you are picking up skills that will be very useful for you when you do find the job you really want. As a server, you are communicating every day, working with other servers as a team and reporting to managers. You may just look at it as a means of making money, but it is much more than that.

It is important not to snub your nose at any job you have. Unless it is the kind of job that is tearing your life apart, bringing down your happiness or forcing you to work against your personal morals, good things can come from it. The fact of the matter is, even in the worst of jobs you can learn skills that you can take wherever you go. As a server, you have to be organized, quick, communicable and personable. You learn how to deal with unruly customers and how to work with co-workers. Even if this job has nothing to do with your degree, people skills are very important and you will learn valuable lessons at this job no matter what. If you work at a pet store in the interim, it’s the same kind of deal. You benefit from dealing with customers, gather a strong work ethic and must work with other people to be successful.

With most jobs, you get as much as you put in. Even if it isn’t relevant to what you want to do, you can still gather references and experience. Furthermore, it’s important to keep a strong work ethic no matter what job you are working at. As I just stated, your managers or co-workers can be great references for you for when you actually do find that dream job of yours. If you stay positive and maintain a strong work ethic, then you can always use that employer as a good reference. Often times, employers want to know how you work with others and how you were as an employee. If you maintain a positive outlook and always get your work done, no matter how satisfied you are in your work situation, then you are making the most of every job and using each as stepping stone towards the job you really want.

Long story short, don’t snub your nose at any job you have. Make the most our of it and work hard until you can find something better. Being negative will only hurt you, but working hard and staying positive can yield nothing but greatness. When you do find that job you want, let the employer see how passionate you are about the position by supplementing your paper resume with a video resume. You can really show an employer your communication skills and personality with a video resume and those are two very important aspects of any job. Set yourself above the competition and create your video resume today on Spark Hire.

IMAGE: Courtesy of Real For Me

Nicole Nicholson

Nicole is the Content Editor for Spark Hire and mainly writes for and edits the work for the Spark News blog. She graduated in 2010 with a BA in Journalism from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She has a passion for writing, editing, and pretty much anything to do with content. In her free time she frequents the Chicago music scene and writes reviews on shows for her own personal blog. Connect with Nicole and Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter

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