Ramit Sethi – Find Your Dream Job 2021

Avoid another decade of work with nothing to show for it. It’s time to create your own Rich Life so you can do what you want, when you want.

How I “cracked the code” on finding a Dream Job

I remember watching “Office Space” and thinking, “This is the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.” I do not want to end up sitting in a cubicle 40 years from now repairing printers. NO!!!

That’s why when I was in college, I started a weird hobby. I got together with a small group of friends to learn how to “beat” the interviewing process.

We interviewed at the world’s best companies — Google, McKinsey, Bain, etc. — and tested everything. Interview answers. Negotiation techniques. Even body language. Then we came back and shared our results with each other in our closed circle.

Weird, yes…but I never wanted to end up in a drab, gray cubicle. Ever.

Why do all this?

Because I was sick of reading all the standard job advice (that never seemed to actually work). You’ve heard these tips before too. Things like:

• Adjust the font on your resume!
• Make sure to use 1.5” margins, not (gasp) 1” margins!
• Apply to a lot of companies! In fact, “shotgun” your resume out to dozens of companies (only to never hear back).

I would watch people doing this, constantly frustrated that it never worked…only to keep doing the same thing over and over. WHY!?!

Pretty soon, my friends and I became very, very good at landing highly competitive jobs. I’m talking about getting job offer after job offer and negotiating tens of thousands of dollars in raises.

Once we cracked the code, we got job offer after job offer.

Ultimately, I didn’t accept any of those jobs. I decided to co-found a startup called PBWiki, then I moved on to start I Will Teach You To Be Rich, where I’ve spent 15 years building a diverse team of top performers and teaching millions of readers how to live a Rich Life.

As CEO of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, I found myself on the other side of the hiring table. And I brought everything I’d learned about hiring with me.

While building my team, I quietly took notes on what the BEST candidates did…as well as all of the deal-killing mistakes that 99% of applicants made (over and over). I noted what senior candidates did that junior candidates always missed.

Now that I was sitting on the other side of the table, I could see WHY all the techniques my friends and I discovered worked.

At this point, I started sharing my system with friends to test it on people less obsessed with hiring than I was. Sure enough, one by one, they used the same steps to land 6-figure jobs, earn major promotions, get remote work, and accelerate their careers.

Now I was hooked. I made the leap. 10 years ago, I finally put everything I’d learned into a comprehensive, step-by-step program.

Find Your Dream Job was born. It was an instant hit. THOUSANDS of people joined, and I got flooded with amazing success stories from students who used my system to land their Dream Job, earn more, and enjoy amazing perks.

Now it’s your turn: Take this 30-second “Dream Job” quiz

How good — or bad — is your current job? Is it worth making a change? Let’s find out.

How many of these situations apply to you?

How many did you say YES to?

I don’t mind if you answered YES to a couple questions. Even a Dream Job won’t be perfect.

But we found that most people answer YES to at least several of these questions — in some cases, over 6 of them! These people are very unhappy with their jobs, but they feel stuck. When you ask them what they could do about it, they respond like this:

Notice what’s happening here.

Most people can’t even think of a solution. They simply feel smothered — or stuck — by their problem. It’s like asking a drowning person what they plan to eat for lunch.

This is how they feel for most of their 40+ year careers.

Guys…this is not normal.

I believe that our future is bigger than our past.

And I believe if we truly want a Dream Job, we can get it. I did it, I’ve helped thousands of people get it, and if you want to make a change, this page is for you.

Let’s start with a 30,000-foot review…

6 invisible scripts holding you back

Looking for a job isn’t fun. It can be scary, overwhelming, boring, nerve-wracking. And that’s when it’s going well! A job search actually dredges up a lot of deep and confusing feelings we’d rather ignore (like…“What am I doing with my life?”).

I always start with the psychology. Because I can give you the perfect tactics — hell, I can even fly to your house and coach you myself — but until you understand your own inner psychology, you’ll always be stuck.

So let’s do this together. I’m going to show you 6 “invisible scripts,” or unconscious beliefs that some people have.

As you read, take a hard look to see which of these apply to you.

The solution is not to ignore these scripts. THEY’RE REAL! And they make us feel uncomfortable for a reason. If you let them, these scripts will define your career and success.

You’ll get stuck…you’ll stall…and worst of all, they’ll force you to settle.

The haunting reality of “settling” for your job

Most people start their careers eager to work — eager to accomplish something. We’re willing to put in the time if we know there’s a reward at the end of the tunnel!

We want to make an impact. We want to make more, learn more, and do meaningful work.

And we want the rewards, too. We want to earn enough to live a Rich Life, one where we’re not constantly stressed about every single thing we buy. I want to be able to take a weekend getaway. I want to be able to pick up the tab for the people I love. And sometimes, I want to buy something nice for myself just because.

And most people are actually willing to work hard to get this!

That’s how a lot of careers started. (Did it start that way for you?)

In the first few years, if you’re ambitious and smart — and with a little luck — you’ll probably be able to achieve some level of success. A promotion or two. A raise.

You start to be able to do small things for yourself. You splurge for the guac at Chipotle.

But by the time you reach your 30s, you can start to see people’s career paths diverge: Some people keep rising. And some stop.

Some people settle. No, I didn’t really want to do this…and I don’t love the lifestyle…but it’s a job, right?

Some people hit the “Chipotle level” and stay there for the rest of their lives. They can do something nice once in a while — but that’s about it. They’re stuck in the middle.

And isn’t Chipotle fine, anyway? Most of us have pretty good lives. We can watch HBO Max, we can get food delivered via Postmates, and we can see our friends.

But I want options. To do more, travel more, experience new things. To live a life of adventure, not to limit myself at guacamole.

We settle. And we can notice the clues in our own careers:

• How do you feel on Sunday afternoons? Are they just a slow, depressing countdown to Monday and the boring week ahead?
• Do you consider yourself lucky to get a tiny raise every couple years?
• When someone asks, “How’s work?” do you answer back with a depressing answer? (The most common: “It’s a job” or “Work’s work”…[sigh])

There’s a name for this.

How to find a Dream Job that’s perfectly right for you

I’m glad you’re still with me. Since you’ve decided to make a change, now let’s talk options.

If I asked you what your Dream Job looked like, which of these would you choose?

YOU CAN CHOOSE TO GROW

More money, more responsibility, more opportunities. New challenges. But it takes a lot of work.

YOU CAN FOCUS ON BALANCE

Sometimes we don’t want to prioritize work #1 — we want balance. We want more flexibility, more personal time, more family time. We want a flexible schedule with more control over our time.

YOU CAN REINVENT YOURSELF

There are points where we want to make a huge change and completely reinvent ourselves. We want to switch industries. We want to finally pursue the thing we absolutely love. It might set us back a few years, but it’s worth it.

Which one are you?

Just one simple question, but can you see how radically different this approach is?

• There are points in our life where we want to grow — we’re willing to put work #1 and we want the work, the promotion, the pay increases.
• There are other times where we want to prioritize lifestyle and work/life balance.
• And still other times where we might want to completely reinvent ourselves.

Your Dream Job perfectly fits your life TODAY.

And when your life changes again in a few years — you have kids, your kids go to school, you move, your parents get older — you can change to a role or job that’s right for you then. This approach gives you the freedom to change your mind as time goes on.

We will show you the intricate details of this in the Find Your Dream Job program.

If you want to prioritize getting a job that pays you $10,000 more, we’ll show you exactly how.

Or if you want to focus on a job that lets you travel for 45 days/year so you can take long ski trips, we’ll show you how.

Your Dream Job, like your Rich Life, should be YOURS — not your friends’, not your family’s.

This is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from how most people approach their careers.

Most people are passive, reactive. They apply to “any job” they can find. They take what their boss gives, often crumbs, and try to feel grateful that they got that much.

You can be grateful for having a job, even a decent job, and STILL PUSH for a better one.

The best people insist on working for a Dream Job. They don’t stick with a “good enough” job — certainly not for years at a time.