There are jobs and then there are premium jobs. A job is what earns you a livelihood, but a premium job is what that lets you achieve you much more in your personal and professional life.
While no work is small, there is a segment, like in many spheres of life, which is in a different league than the others.
So, what is a premium job? It can not be defined by the size of pay-check and perks alone. Neither it can only be measured in terms of posh office and beautiful interiors. It is something much more than that.
Even the definition can be different for different people and for different sectors. What I would like to list out is the generic criteria jobs mush quality to be called as premium jobs.
1. Compensation
Of course! It should pay you well enough as per your experience. There were times when civil engineering was on boom. Then came the era of computers and associated programming jobs with that. Currently data science is the hottest job area in IT sector. Some high-level government jobs at administrative level are always lucrative. If a job is paying you minimum two times (in LPA) of your experience in years, it qualifies the salary benchmark of a premium job.
2. Growth
And while you are at a good position currently, does it actively enable your growth? If you get regular opportunities to grow in your work by handling more responsibilities, and as a person; the job is fulfilling the growth criteria for being premium.
3. Learning
Learning never stops. If you think you have learnt enough, that is the day your decline starts. The world is changing constantly, and you need to be on your toes to keep pace with it. Learning is our natural instinct, and none should be deprived of the same. A job with non-stop learning will get the vote for a premium job.
4. Work culture
How about a toxic culture where there is more in-fighting and blame-games than in WWE? Where you are more concerned with saving your job and reputation, then the actual forward work.
Premium jobs provide the exact opposite environment where employees believe in moving forward together than backbiting each other.
5. Work life balance
And what if your job consumes all available hours in a day and barely leaves you to sleep or eat properly? A sudden client requirement or unforeseen circumstance is understandable, but what if it becomes a norm than an exception?
Premium jobs offer you the situation where you are in control of your work and personal life. Unlike of cases when you miss important family functions/obligations and friends’ gatherings because the work never seems to be complete.
How to get one?
The short answer is persistence and hard work.
Whatever industry you are in, there is a good chance you are already aware of jobs to dream for. It could be job in a decades old MNC, or in a hypergrowth mode startup, or a little known company where your friend works.
After identifying your target premium jobs in a priority order, learn maximum about the roles and responsibilities; and compare your existing skills set with the one required by those jobs.
After the gap analysis, its time to upskills yourself to reach the level your dream job demands. Take online courses, watch video tutorials, enrol for certifications; do whatever it takes to achieve that skills set.
Now practice for written tests and interviews. Once confident, start applying for the jobs in reverse priority order. Along the way, you will learn more things, and even if you mess up, the experience will help you in a more priority job’s selection process.
No harm in appearing for multiple interviews in parallel. Land some offers and choose wisely on the one best suited to your persona. Do not give maximum weight to money, but to growth while breaking a tie.
That’s it. The road is hard, and only a few can make it. But if someone can, why can’t you?
And it’s worth every calorie of energy invested in the end!
