Finding a Job with Purpose

My George Mason colleague, Dr. Beth Cabrera, and I wrote this piece to help people who are looking for more than work for pay--but work with purpose too.

How to find your next job—one that really matters.

For many years, we have worked with students, clients, family, friends, and colleagues—all who were in search of their next jobs. Even founding CEOs who have sold companies or taken them public for millions of dollars have sat in the office and asked, "What do I do next?" Most of us don't just work to make money, but to make a contribution.

The big four questions

As executive coaches, we try to help people figure out what kind of a difference they want to make by asking questions that are as simple as they are profound. Three of our big four questions derive from the research of bestselling author and former Stanford University business professor Jim Collins.

In his book Good to Great, Collins outlines a simple, effective model to help entrepreneurs decide what to focus on to create successful companies:

• What are your strengths?
• What are you passionate about?
• What is your business model?

These same questions can help anyone looking toward his next job. By adding a fourth question, "How can your work help others?" this model can be used to help people find not just a career, but a calling.

If you want to read more, click here:

https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2014/02/Purposeful-Work?mktcops=c.career-dev&mktcois=c.career-planning~c.jobs&mkttag=c.original-official-blog-cat-astd-membership