(Intro)

Emily: Hey, everybody! My name is Emily Graslie and I am the host and writer of The Brain Scoop and the chief curiosity correspondent at The Field Museum in Chicago, and today I'm going to teach you some tips and tricks on how to land your dream job. Now, it's true that these are only tips and suggestions based off of how I got my gig at the Field Museum and they may not apply to every situation, but I did learn a lot along the way and I'm hoping that these suggestions can help you, too.

Number one: Identify your dream job, or, more importantly, identify what it is about that position that makes it an ideal job for you. If you want to be a photographer or an astronaut or a writer or whatever, identify what it is about those careers that you find appealing. Is it large salaries or a lot of time off? Sometimes, having a dream job is just having a job that allows you to do the other things you want to in your life.

Number two:On that note, don't ignore your hobbies. So often, I hear, "I like to do x, y, and z, but it doesn't pay the bills." So what? Don't quit your day job, but avoid exhausting all of your mental energy on your day-to-day work. Spend your precious energy instead focusing on your hobbies. Foster them. Love them. Let them grow.

Number three: Understand that you'll probably have to take chances and "make sacrifices". Even though it sounds scary and irrevocable, making sacrifices just means you're going to have to re-prioritize some things in your life. That might mean that you have to spend less time hanging out with your friends or, possibly, moving in with your roommate in order to save money.

Number four: You might need to realize that the job you're envisioning doesn't exist, and if that's the case, you can make it up. I'm serious. If you've got something in mind for what you'd like to do but you're not seeing that position come up in job listings, apply for something that can help you meet your goals halfway and then see if you can incorporate your goals into the new position. Steve Jobs famously said, "A lot of the times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them," and while he may have been talking about iPhones, the same applies to businesses and hiring departments. If you come off as a go-getter with dreams and aspirations for their business, they're going to love you.

Number five: Once you've got an idea of something you'd like to do, know how to identify an opportunity, take advantage of it, and run. Roman philosopher Seneca the younger, or Oprah, depending on who you're citing, had said, "Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity." That is absolutely how I got my foot in the door. Was I in the right place at the right time when Hank decided to come to the museum and film the episode for Vlogbrothers? Yeah, but I had literally been there for years waiting for that kind of opportunity. I was ready.

Number six: Similarly, if you're looking to get your leg up from somebody in the industry or someone whose position you admire, ask how you can help. Demonstrating your passion by committing your valuable time can go a long ways. It really isn't about what they can do for you, but what you can do for them.

Number seven: During this time of feverishly working towards your dream, you're really going to discover who your true friends are, so be able to identify your support group and stick with them. This might be your immediate friends and families, but you can also get a lot of support from online communities. Speaking from personal experience, some people are going to tell you that you totally lost your mind or that you're completely wasting your time. I was volunteering at the museum in Missoula in between shifts at the bakery, sometimes putting in twelve hours a day, six days a week. I had some friends who repeatedly told me that I should stop working so hard, that it wasn't my problem and I should let somebody else deal with the issues at the museum, but in all of that, I had a lot of friends who were really excited about the things that we were doing and who were there to help me celebrate the progress that we were making. They also encouraged me to keep trying and told me that all my hard work would eventually pay off, and it did.

Mike: This week's video was brought to you by audible.com, an audiobook service with over 150,000 titles. If you enjoy this channel, please support us by going to audible.com/howtoadult. For checking Audible out, they're giving you a free audiobook of your choosing. I recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen, a modern productivity classic that has helped many people, including me, achieve their own dreams. Again, to grab your free download, just go to audible.com/howtoadult. Thanks, guys.

Emily: What was your weirdest job ever?

Mike: So, before medications go to market, they have to make sure that they do not kill people, and they test them on human subjects, and I was one of those subjects.

Emily: I was an actor in a children's theater group. I worked in a chocolate factory and then worked for the book store of my college university and sold T-shirts to drunk people during football games.

[laughs]

Emma: I worked at a movie theater in high school, all three areas: usher, box office, and concession, man. Yeah, I know, that's not very interesting.

[laughs]