Recommended reading: How'd You Score that Gig?

January 3, 11:11 AMEntry Level Careers ExaminerHeather Huhman

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The following is an interview with Alexandra Levit, author of “How’d You Score that Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs-and How to Get Them.” The book is available on Amazon.com.

Heather Huhman: What are five steps you can take to get a job that makes you love getting up in the morning?

Alexandra Levit: Five steps to landing your dream job include:

1. Learn about yourself. Take time to do a self-assessment of your values, how you like to work and what you’d be compelled to do even if you never got paid. Research careers and industries that map to your skills and interests. Hit the Internet, set up informational interviews, take relevant coursework and arrange to go onsite at a company in your chosen field.

2. Don’t be deterred by a lack of experience. In developing a résumé and other promotional materials for the field you want to pursue, think about how your current skills and talents apply to the responsibilities you’ll hold in the new job. For example, knowledge of project management, client relations, information technology and sales will take you far in most types of careers.

3. Ease into a new career one foot at a time. Perhaps this means earning a paycheck at your current retail job while doing a part-time internship in your new field or taking an adult education class or workshop on the weekend. The only way to find out if you’re passionate about something is to try it – ideally with as little risk as you can manage.

4. Remember that any progress is good progress. Even confident people take or stay in unsatisfying jobs because they feel they don’t have a choice. But, in the quest to uncover a source of meaningful work, though, settling and being passive are the worst things you can do. Make an effort to do one proactive thing, like e-mailing a networking contact or attending an event – that moves you a bit closer to your big picture goal.

5. Start early. Twenty-somethings have more flexibility when it comes to test-driving different careers. The process of self-discovery is much easier when you’re unencumbered by family responsibilities and substantial financial burdens, and when you haven’t yet reached a level in a career where it’s tougher to turn back.

HH: In your book, how do you define the “passion profiles” – adventurer, creator, data-head, entrepreneur, investigator, networker and nurturer?

AL: “How’d You Score that Gig?” passion profiles include:

Entrepreneur: As a child, you might have found me turning the neighborhood lemonade stand into a fully-functioning snack shack. People like me are inventors, professional organizers, boutique owners and event planners.

Investigator: In a past life, I might have been a Scotland Yard detective. People like me are antiques dealers, futurists, forensic analysts and historians.

Nurturer: I like to lead by reaching out personally to each person I work with. I’m a nurturer. People like me are zoologists, life coaches, nutritionists, doulas and social services caseworkers.

Adventurer: I’m most productive when I’m taking risks and seeking out new experiences. People like me are news correspondents, oceanographers, travel journalists and documentary photographers.

Data-Head: My ideal pace at work allows time to plan and deliver the best final product. People like me are environmental engineers, information security specialists, pharmaceutical scientists and meteorologists.

Networker: If I had an unlimited supply of cash, I would buy a beach house in Nantucket for all of my family and friends to congregate. People like me are book editors, lobbyists, image consultants and marketing executives.

Creator: I take the most pride in my work when I’ve developed something that a unique expression of myself. People like me are chefs, fashion designers, performance musicians and video game designers.

HH: How did you score your gig as a book author?

AL: I graduated from college as a near straight-A student hell-bent on skipping up New York City’s corporate ladder. But, after six months on the job as a PR account coordinator, I was so stressed out that I was ready to join the large numbers leaving the business world for graduate or law school. Eventually, though, by sticking around and paying attention to the few people around me who weren’t dropping from stress-induced coronaries, I developed many of the skills crucial to staying sane and building a career. I thought that if I shared my experiences with other twenty-somethings, maybe I would save them some of the pain I went through. That was the basis of my first book, “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College.” I was fortunate in that the book did well, and I was able to use it to establish a niche as a twenty-something workplace expert.