Sweet dreams are made of these

Yesterday, I was having a bit of a debrief with a senior colleague before they went away on leave, and they casually asked me, 'What's your dream job?'

It's a question that I kinda deflected - I've been around the traps enough time to know that any potential job that you put on a pedestal is bound to present unexpected challenges if you actually got them, and when there are people whose jobs you see as being enviable, changes are that there are many layers of complexity and frustration that you are completely unaware of.

So, they rephrased the question: 'What kind of job would you like to end up in?'

It stumped me. Mostly, because in the past, I've always been really focused on planning my career five years in advance, and looking at the next 2-3 career moves that I need to make. In the library world, there's often been a linear progression ie. from library officer - senior library officer/technician - entry level librarian - senior librarian - and so on.

But now, I feel like I'm on a flatter trajectory, where I'm just working on broadening my skills and experience at my current level. My career path could be described as being more opportunistic than aspirational. I don't know what I want to do two years from now once my next job's contract ends. I'm open to what comes my way, but I won't know if it's the right job for my current path until I'm actually doing it.

I am optimistic, though. The idea of my new upcoming job does excite me, based on my conversations leading up to and during my interview with them. That's definitely a good sign.