I am passionate about many things -- my wife, our kids, the U.S. Marine Corps, the defense of our country's hard-won freedoms, and lazy Saturday mornings watching cartoons or the ocean waves with my family, to name a few.  I also love several things about my career -- specifically, building and improving systems, processes and people. In fact, I’ve been complimented by conference hosts, interviewers, clients and my employers that my passion for my work is “refreshing."  Today I want to discuss why it is important to be passionate about your career, especially for those of us in a job search.  I also want to share how I found my career passion, and hope that this can help you identify yours.

I know I haven't posted to this blog in a while.  I spent the past several weeks helping others in their job search as part of the nonprofit organization, JobAngels, and on my own job search.  I'll update you on my progress soon, but today I want to write about career passion.

Passion for your work (or, if you're in transition, for your job search) is critical for three primary reasons.  First, employers want passionate employees who are excited about their projects and their organizations.

“People want to be around positive, engaging people who might make you laugh, have the guts to ask questions and the guts to demonstrate that they are aware of your world," says Molly Fletcher, author of Your Dream Job Game Plan.  "And, most certainly, people want to hire people who are eager to work hard, embrace each and every opportunity and moment.…”

Indeed, employers would rather hire a candidate who is passionate about his or her work than someone with all the required experience, says Paul Megan, a manager for EEI and an author on job search strategies.  Paul adds that employers identify passionate candidates as those job seekers who take the time to learn about a prospective employer and hiring manager's goals and passions and who comes forward with specific ideas on how he or she can make a difference inside the organization.

The second reason finding your passion is critical to your career is because we have all learned that every job is temporary.  I know individuals that were absolutely critical to a firm’s bottom-line and yet were laid off.  At my brother-in-law’s firm, they had to lay off 20-year veterans -- employees with in-depth knowledge of the equipment and processes the firm relied on in order to keep the company lucrative.  You can still get laid off from a job that you are passionate about.  After all, jobs and companies come and go.  But if you are passionate about something, you will find a way to stay involved.  And as the saying goes, “Do the work that you love, and the money will follow.”

The final reason why passion is important is because we all deserve to do work in a career that we enjoy, if not outright love.  We can no longer depend on our employers to find meaningful tasks and exciting opportunities for us.  Rather, it is up to each of us to find where our passion lies, and then actively pursue opportunities that will pay us for what we love to do, according to Megan Guiseppi, author of the Executive Resume Branding Blog.

Finding Your Career Passion

One of the ways you can tell if you’re passionate about something is if you actively look for

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