Do dream jobs exist? 

You better believe they do.

Of course – we can’t make you an astronaut, a ballet dancer or a footballer. However, we do spend all of our days trying to define what the term ‘dream job’ means to our candidates.

So, what do our candidates think makes a dream job?

Here is the top 5 things we currently hear:

WORK LIFE BALANCE

Coming in at the top spot time after time is work life balance… something so many never thought possible in hospitality. If I’m honest, I used to roll my eyes if someone asked for this. On reflection, how bad is that!? We’ve learnt that it’s possible.

What does it look like? Working for a company who believe in time away (unmithered) from the business, who fights hard to make sure you have the right number of people on your team. A company who knows that 40 hours a week is what other sectors work – why should it be more in hospo? I cant deny we have some way to go – but I’m hopeful we’re heading in the right direction. We can already evidence businesses that do this successfully.

DEVELOPMENT

Everyone wants to grow and develop their skills. That doesn’t necessarily mean they need to see a clear ladder of job roles in front of them – but if people are learning and growing, they tend to be happy. We work hard to match our candidates to roles that fulfil their needs in terms of development. Too many companies overpromise and disappoint, and it’s important that candidates can trust their employer to meet their needs.

CULTURE

The ‘c bomb’. Culture is the personality of the business. Driven by the values of the people at the top, we’d probably rate this number one – but it can be overlooked by candidates. In a nutshell, culture is the sum of values, beliefs, interactions, behaviours and attitudes.

It drives engagement and directly impacts happiness. It’s notoriously tough to measure during interview stage, especially considering an owner or senior team member can have a different definition and experience than an employee. If you’re job-hunting, ask your interviewer how they’d describe it. If they find it easy, then great! If not, I’d ask more questions.

ETHICS

A relatively new addition, but no less important. I’m slightly embarrassed to say this wasn’t a consideration back when I was job hunting, as it seems glaringly obvious now. How a company interacts with the local/wider community, the environment, and social issues has become a key factor when choosing employment. In fact, in a recent survey 64% of millennials said they wouldn’t take a job with a company that wasn’t socially responsible. 

MONEY

Finally moving down from the top spot… money. The salary, but also the benefits (another thing we took for granted that we’d never have just a few year ago). Companies are working hard to make key improvements here. Industry salaries are better than ever, and candidates are in the certainly in the driving seat right now.

Of course, we aren’t there yet. Some are still offering the legally required 28 days holiday and a pension as a benefit, but we’ve come a long way nonetheless. Whether it’s healthcare, free food, bikes, gym membership, bonus schemes – these all play a role in making dream jobs.