Who Else Wants Their Dream Career?
Meet Janet, Matt, and Amy. Like you, perhaps, they yearn for their dream career. Like you, probably, Janet, Matt, and Amy can easily describe what they do not want, but find it much harder to identify what they do want. And like you, maybe, they have decided to create their dream careers.
Janet, Matt and Amy are not real people, but their stories, fears, exercises, and goals are based on what I have learned from my clients. I have always found that stories and examples are very helpful in understanding processes and concepts. So, Janet, Matt and Amy are here as stories to follow in using this free career advice.
On this page, you will get to know a little about the three of them, their hopes and dreams, challenges and fears. On other pages, you will learn more about them and their dream career journeys.
Janet, Matt and Amy: Their Stories
Janet's Story
Janet is a 46-year-old manager. She is married, has a teenager, a nice house and three car payments.
Janet has a bachelor's degree in business, and experience working at a number of different companies. She makes a decent salary, but feels like she should be making more. She was laid off from her job during the recession of the early 2000s, and had to take a job with a much lower salary.
Feeling 'stuck and not sure what direction to turn' is how Janet describes her career. Since being out of work, she has kept her head down and just focused on doing her job. But now, she realizes that the grind is getting to her, and it's time to think about making a change. In some ways, she is anxious for the change to happen right now, and in other ways, she wants to take her time. She would like the right job to just appear, but she knows that instead, she will have to stick her neck out and take a chance.
Matt's Story
Matt is a 42-year-old engineer. He is married to his college sweetheart, who works part-time as a retail merchandiser. Together, Matt and his wife, Tina, have two young children, a mortgage, two car payments, and a dog.
Matt makes a good living, and is very successful (by the standards of the old model of career). Matt earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in engineering from a prestigious east coast school. He is a senior executive, making in the low six figures, has an excellent benefits package, money saved toward retirement, and a brand name on his business card.
So, why is Matt unhappy? He is not sure exactly why, but he knows that going to work each day has become an exercise in creative bribery mixed with sheer will. He also credits his unhappiness with the neck problems his chiropractor is treating, the indigestion he soothes daily with antacids, and the teeth grinding his wife tries to ignore at night.
Until a year or so ago, Matt had kept his sight focused on an early retirement just 13 years away. Then, things changed at the office. His boss, a man he respected and had enjoyed working with for close to 10 years, retired. And Matt discovered he did not enjoy working with his new boss. Matt talked informally with colleagues in the industry about changing companies, but he could not seem to work up enthusiasm for any of the potential opportunities. Matt realized that just changing jobs is not what he really wants. He wants to make a career change, but he feels an obligation not to do anything to upset his family situation. He is the major breadwinner, and as the man of the family, feels that he must put the happiness of his family before his own.
Amy's Story
Amy is a 36-year-old public relations professional. She is separated from her husband of six years. Amy is child-free, but she does have a 3-year-old beagle, Harry, and a condominium with hefty payments. Amy has a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in business, and works for a medium-sized public relations firm.
Amy's recent separation prompted her to take a hard look at her life. She did not like what she saw. She feels stuck in a profession that she is good at, but doesn't really enjoy. Amy continues to perform well on the job, because her parents instilled a strong ethic of responsibility in her, yet the motivation to succeed comes from fear, rather than enthusiasm for what she does. She does enjoy the rare times when she gets to directly help a client solve a problem, but outside of those moments her only real happiness comes from her volunteer work as a mentor for her local Junior Achievement chapter.
Amy knows she is not ready to make a change right now, but she wants to explore the possibilities, so when the time is right, she will be ready to act on her dream career. She is also hoping that by working toward a future she is excited about, it will be easier to get through the days at her current job.
How About You?
Choose your dream career.
Build a career resume.
Write a career cover letter.
Changing careers.
Career job search.
It can be confusing, time-consuming and intimidating. Dream Career U was built to change all that.
Real-life, fast, free career advice and career tips are yours with just a few clicks of your mouse. Every piece of advice, every example, every exercise here is designed to be used in just a few minutes. So, even if you are busy, overworked and overstressed, you can get use this site to get your dream career in just 15 minutes.
Looking to choose a career? Check out the Career Tests and Career Research areas. They can help you find careers that suit you or understand if a particular career you are interested in is the right career for you..
Need to write Career Resumes? Check out the advice and examples here for resumes that are the best they can be.
Thinking about changing careers? Check out the real-life career change advice, as well as tips for a career change resume and career change cover letter (hint: your resume and cover letter for a career change are different than if you are just making a job change).
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