Let's face it, when you walked across the graduation stage, making coffee runs, copies, and small talk was not on your dream job list.
When you're young, your dream job might be acting as a biochemist for the top makeup brand in the world, or slaying courtrooms in the name of the law as the attorney of your own firm. It might be writing for a top publication, being a showrunner for a popping television program, or a decorated educator of a thriving public school. But like most of us, somewhere along the line that dream gets deferred.
It's now been years and you feel stuck between a rock and a…swivel chair. Paying the rent is high on your priority list, but so is living out your purpose through your dream job. Because that's what a dream job is, something that both feeds you and fuels you. To help us get closer to making our dreams a reality, we spoke with someone who knows a thing or two about landing a dream job: Julia Rock.
Courtesy of Julia Rock
By day, Julia is the certified girl boss heading the finance department for a Fortune 500 Company. And by night, she is lending her skill-set of helping job seekers reach their fullest potential in their career goals through her company Rock Career Development. Launched in 2013, Rock Career Development embodies her calling to empower individuals to unlock and achieve their full professional potential, no matter what career path they choose.
Julia spoke with xoNecole and shared four tips on what you need to do today to score your dream job.
1.Get your LinkedIn life!
"It's common knowledge that having a LinkedIn profile is important in your job search as most recruiters are vetting candidates through LinkedIn at this point (80+%) yet for some reason candidates will still have incomplete profiles, missing profile photos, or lackluster position descriptions. Invest time in creating an outstanding LinkedIn profile, and you will find yourself gaining some traction in obtaining that dream job!"
2.Network and build genuine connections.
Courtesy of Julia Rock
"'It's not just what you know, but who you know!' I'm not just talking about attending the occasional networking event and trying to grab as many business cards as possible. If you really want that dream job with your ideal employer, you will need to be intentional about networking opportunities. Find events you can attend that will allow you to informally meet key people in your industry and decision-makers, and MAINTAIN those connections, i.e. follow up after the meeting, schedule time for lunch, coffee, etc.
"See if you can schedule informational interviews with those you have met who already do what you do. Utilize social media to authentically engage with current employees and recruiters, and start to build a rapport. Tap your personal network of family and friends to see if they have connections that they can share or make introductions for you."
3.Prepare for your interviews BEFORE they are even scheduled.
"Most people wait until they have scored an interview to truly get prepared and know how to sell themselves. They're up late the night before, practicing in the car, and making themselves nervous on the way to the interview. But the truth is, you will be more confident in your interviews if you have already prepared yourself for some of the interview questions in advance. You can utilize online forums to gain insight into how the interviews for various companies are conducted, what kinds of questions they ask, etc. You can also do mock interviews with friends or other professionals to get feedback on your delivery and content in answering questions so that you can begin to improve."
4.TARGET your resume.
Courtesy of Julia Rock
"Your resume should not be all things to all people. If you have truly defined your dream position and understand what critical skills and experience are required, take the time to focus your resume for that industry and job role. Incorporate keywords that will get your resume picked up by applicant tracking systems (ATS). Eliminate non-value added skills and extremely old positions that are not relevant to the role you're pursuing. Add in accomplishments and major contributions that highlight the skills you have that are required and desired for your dream job. Remember, recruiters take only six seconds or less to read your resume, so you've got to catch their attention, and fast!"
For more information about Julia Rock, check out Rock Career Development or follow her on Instagram.
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak