Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job

While driving down to the University of New England I listened to the audible version of Quitter: Closing the Gap Between your day job and your dream job by John Acuff. John shares his experience of transitioning from his day job to his dream job. He had been employed at autosales.com and on the side was writing a blog Stuff Christians like in addition to other writing projects. Autosales.com was not his dream job, he wanted to be a writer. In Quitter he details the challenges and practicalities of changing careers.

  Career transformations usually aren't instant. I started my Masters program in mid 2010 and only recently started in a position that could be considered my "dream job". During that time my mortgage still needed to be paid and I still had to perform in my job. Acuff provides practical advice and a much needed reality check to job switchers. He encourages the reader to view their current employer as a patron who makes their makes their dream possible. He also explains that having a day job gives the job switcher the ability to say no and not compromise their dream.

 He also argues that we can't compartmentalise our lives. Our attitudes and behaviour and one part of our lives will affect others. We can't be lazy in our day job and not have that affect us in our personal lives. This is a lesson I wish I learnt earlier in my career. I was always waiting to be given the dream job before putting in a full effort. Of course I was never given the dream job because I hadn't proven myself by mastering the mundane.

My job title has recently changed from Disability Employment Consultant to Associate Account Manager. I've been surprised by the amount of parallels between the two jobs. As an employment consultant I had marketing duties where I would market clients on my caseload into employment. On my caseload at any point of time I had people who were not employable in the short term and others who were job ready. To perform in that job I needed to keep good records of what I had discussed with clients, prioritise job ready client and manage my time effectively. It doesn't take a genius to workout that these skills are transferable to account management. Imagine if for the last two years I had slacked off in my day job. Would I have developed good case management skills which could help me perform in my dream job working for a technology company? Probably not.

If you're currently using the phrase "I'm a .......... but," then I recommend you read Quitter and get some practical advice from someone who has been there.