Mavenology.

A Quick Guide to Key Motivators in Your Job

What do you really want out of your next role?

Dear Candidates,

As recruiters, we want to help you find your next dream job.

How do we do this?

Well, we start by getting to know you. What did you do in your last job? What did you like about it, what didn’t you like about it? What we really want to know isn’t spelled out on your resume. What allows us to be successful in finding you a role and company that will bring you long-term fulfillment is knowing what motivates you!

Do you know what your key motivations are in finding your next role? If you take the time and care to really uncover and identify what your key job motivators are, it can help you weed out the roles that just aren’t going to cut it and thoughtfully navigate choosing the perfect job for you.

So let’s talk about some job motivators:

Compensation – What is your cost of living? Crunch the numbers, and understand that range between what your bottom line is AND where you would like to be. Pair this with a healthy dose of understanding the market for your position/industry/region.

Work-Life Integration – This a big one, and personal one, because only you can decide what work/life balance means to you. Think about what you have going on outside of work, and how your job can affect that. This is the bucket where you also decide what schedule and commute is going to make sense for you.

Company Culture – How do you want to feel at work, what is a good working environment for you, what type of people do you want to work with, what you want to wear to work? Try picturing yourself in different scenarios. Does a quiet, heads-down office help you produce your best work? Or do you feed off the buzz of a boisterous office teeming with energy?

Learning & Development – This one is simple: do you want to learn and develop in your job and career? It’s a yes or no question, with absolutely no judgment. If your main motivation is to make enough money to support your lifestyle and not take any work home, you may not care about things like training programs. If you are someone who needs to feel like they are growing and learning in order to be fulfilled, and your five-year-plan involves switching industries or climbing to a certain job title, you are likely going to seek out roles that ensure you are afforded those opportunities to develop.

Opportunities for Advancement – Tying in nicely to ‘Learning & Development,’ what was that five-year-plan again? Are there going to be opportunities to advance in the next company you land in?

Meaningful Work – What we tend to find when we are looking at key job motivators is that many candidates want, above all else, to do meaningful work. This makes perfect sense: people want to feel good about what they are doing 40, 50, 60 hours a week, sometimes at the expense of time with their family and friends. But what does meaningful work really mean to YOU? Only you can answer that! It can be helpful to take some time to free-write, or brainstorm with family, friends or mentors you trust.

Motivations provide invaluable insight when thinking about your next role. We encourage you to reflect and understand what is important to you in ALL of these buckets, and here’s the trick – do this before you start interviewing.

You know what else is fun? Rank the buckets – most important to least important. This will help you determine what we at Maven like to call your ‘non-negotiables.’

And give yourself permission to change your mind during the process. Knowing what’s most important to you will empower you to make strategic and thoughtful decisions about the roles you are considering and ultimately decide to take!

Sincerely,

Your Neighborhood Recruiters at Maven Recruiting Group

Written by: Dana P. Hundley

Posted on

February 8, 2018

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Career Trajectory

category