With the job market continuing to improve, wages finally going up a bit, and college graduations not so far away, it's a great time to be thinking about jobs.
What would you like to do, either for your first job or for your next one?
As Dave Murphy, interim CEO of Fairview Health Services and former CEO of Red Wing Shoes, recently advised on Chris Farrell's "Conversations on the Creative Economy," begin by asking yourself what you find interesting.
"It isn't just about getting a job and making money," Murphy said. "Young folks today are looking for something more meaningful."
Whatever your age, whether you're just starting out or you're thinking about how you want to spend your final working years, isn't that what you want too — to do something meaningful, something that has value, both to you and your community?
So what are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? How do you want to spend your time? Or as the poet Mary Oliver famously asked, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
You may never find a single right answer to that question, but once you have an answer that will do for the time being (yes, I'm thinking of Ruth Ozeki, author of the novel "A Tale for the Time Being"), the rest is simple. All you need to do is find an open position that sounds good (or maybe a few dozen open positions), prepare your résumé and write an application letter that is detailed, correct, succinct, persuasive, unique and memorable.
Let's start with memorable.