In the hunt for a job that will actually fulfill you and bring you happiness? That’s where many people are. And if you’re like most of us, you have to work for a living.

However, working for a living doesn’t, and shouldn’t, mean you despise your workplace, boss, coworkers, work you do, or all of the above.

So how can we all, yes literally all of us, arrive at a place where we feel emboldened by our work and how we do it?

Well first off we’ve got to figure out what the hell we actually need out of a workplace.

Any work arrangement, like any healthy relationship for that matter, starts with getting basic needs covered and receiving adequate perceived value in return for what’s given.

You can see this in marriage quite often. One partner will start sacrificing more, or less, for the other, an imbalance appears, and on a long enough timeline, one will want to exit the relationship.

I’m not a marriage counselor so don’t quote me on this. Simply making a broad generalization and relating it to what I have done, which is land people in jobs that they thoroughly enjoy.

My name is Stu Turner. I’m an executive coach and recruiter turned career coach. Join me in the journey to finding something that not only doesn’t make you want to smash your face on the desk, but that you’re genuinely excited about and can feel your impact in.

Personal transformation time.

I used to work 60+ hours weeks in an office and a work environment that I hated. I didn’t enjoy the work. It felt slimy. It went against some of my morals. So why did I stay there? To be honest, I was trying to purchase my first home. Now that’s a whole other story… but what happened?

I summarized all my knowledge, made a playbook, and then started executing.

You know what happened?

I found a 100% remote role, with a boss I loved, doing work that meant something to me… and nearly DOUBLED my pay. Yes, I nearly doubled my pay, and reduced my working hours down to about 30 per week (sometimes less).

The sheer freedom that was reintroduced into my life was inspiring. I felt energized again. Like I knew what I had to do and could simply execute. I didn’t feel like I was drowning or drinking from a firehose 24/7.

And that’s when I realized. It was a system I followed. A very repeatable system. That anyone could follow. Regardless of industry, role, goal, etc. It could help anyone trying to make moves.

There’s a couple parts to this process I need to go over with you.

Part 1: Present yourself well.

Part 2: Applying Sucks. Network instead.

Part 3: Interview like a boss.

Part 4: Negotiate like you’ve got nothing to lose. Because you don’t.

Part 5: Exit gracefully.

So let’s dive into the first one.

Part 1: Professional Presentation.

Let’s face it. You’ve got to sell yourself. You can be the greatest employee on Planet Earth, but if your LinkedIn, resume, and communication skills suck, no one is hiring you. So Step 1 is to get your LinkedIn and Resume up to par.

I do a full LinkedIn Mastery Course inside of Achieved Fulfillment here.

I’ve also poured hours into creating a badass resume guide that’s sure to get you pointed in the right direction.

Download it free here.

This is the stage at which you should start identifying some of the companies you’d actually like to work at. How? Talk to friends. Talk to Google. Get on Glassdoor. Get on Fishbowl. Read reviews. Do as much “homework” as you can without getting bogged down.

Make a list of 10 target companies.

Include 2-3 dream companies.

Include 3-4 stepping stone companies.

Include 2-3 "sandbox" companies that you can use to get practice (these can be thought of as a a low stakes trial run).

Once you’ve got your presentation dialed and your list ready to go. On to networking.