What My Dream Job Is

One of the most memorable Doaremon short stories for me is when Nobita’s dad asks him what he wants to become when he grows up. Nobita then answers “I want to become đại ca” which causes his dad to be severely disappointed. “Đại ca” is slang for “boss”, which I think Nobita means that he wants to be the boss of the kids in the neighbourhood.

That was the first time 7-year-old me knew about the word đại ca. And ever since I read that story, I’ve often wondered about what I myself would want to become in the future.

I don’t think this is an easy puzzle, at all. A lot of people go their entire lives not knowing what it is they truly want to do — what their dream job is.

For me, as I’m getting close to 30 years of age now, I think at least I’ve sort of had the answer figured out: I want to work as a journalist. Regardless of how unrealistic it might be, I believe being a journalist is as close to being my dream job as it gets.

What Is A Dream Job?

It is important to define what a dream job is. I think it depends so much on each person’s goals and what they want out of their work and their lifestyle.

For some, a dream job is simply an easy, non-demanding job with fixed hours and good pay, so that they can clock in and clock out and have time for their personal life. I think this is what most people are after — a well-paid, stable, and low-stress job; the concept of work to live.

For some, a dream job is one where they can live their passion, e.g being a musician, scientist, athlete, photographer, traveller, or a professional video game player. For others, they look for meaning and contribution in what they do above all — first responders, public servants, teachers, for example.

Then there are those who simply don’t care what the job is as long as they are making boatloads of money. Money is the dream.

It is a complex subject for sure. Personally, I define my dream job as one that:

1. makes use of my skills and talents,
2. contributes something meaningful to the world,
3. is constantly challenging.

The Job I (Used to) Dream Of

When I was in high school, I was seriously considering going to a film school to learn to become a filmmaker. I have always been interested in the world of filmmaking. I asked my dad to buy me books about Vietnamese and world cinema history, cinematography, the art of storytelling, the behind-the-scene of a movie, and a whole more.

I think the main reason is that I have always been interested in storytelling. I like the idea of sitting down, organising the thoughts and information I have, and putting it all together into a presentable and coherent story. I was also a serious cinephile back then — I would go through the IMDb Top 250 list and watch 2-3 movies a week. I also had a little point-and-shoot camera that I would shoot with and edit into little movies in my free time.

One day, after I let my dad know of my dream, he asked one of his best friends — a renowned cinematographer — to come over and give me a talk. The man sat down and told me the stories and the wisdom and advice that he had accumulated over his 20-year career.

What I got out of that conversation was that the movie industry is, first and foremost, an industry. It consists of many people, each with their own job and role. It is a brutal and, oftentimes, dirty industry to break into. It is far from the glorious and rosy picture that naive me had imagined. So yeah, that was a huge reality check for my first dream job ever.

Finding Out The Path

In my first year of university I read a post on Reddit that had a deep impact on me. Back then, I was a lost 19-year-old not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. The writer said that as a clueless young person, your main goal should be to actively look for opportunities and be willing to work your butt off for that opportunity. It doesn’t matter how lame or poorly paid the job is — just work hard, and focus on developing a solid work ethic.

And so, I started to go out and apply for jobs after jobs. I didn’t care about the pay — as long as it sounded like a good opportunity, I would hop on it and worked my ass off. I ended up in quite a few positions — waiter, tutor, writer, secretary, shopkeeper, translator, marketer, trainer, teacher, to name a few.

Through the various jobs that I’ve done, I have had a clearer idea of what I’m most capable of and what I’m most likely suited for. I like to gather data and the ingredients, put it together, and form a final product. I like working with people, and I also like quietly sitting down by myself and working on the final product. There are various jobs like this — filmmaking, writing, cooking, journalism, but I’ve always found myself having the most admiration for journalists.

Being a Journalist

The first time I really thought about the field of journalism is when I read the books by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell specialises in investigating social phenomena and issues, and he puts them into engrossing and through-provoking stories. I was seriously impressed by how his books give me an entirely different perspective into the seemingly mundane matters in everyday life, such as how people make split-second judgments, or how success can be attributed to chances more than anything.

I also noticed that I’ve always paid special attention to investigative journalism. Whenever I read an shocking exposé, my first thought is always how did the journalists do this?, and I’ve always had great admiration for the brave men and women working behind the scene to bring the stories to light. Investigative journalism is one of the most dangerous jobs anywhere in the world; I have read so many stories of these journalists being beaten and receiving death threats.

On a lesser level, there are journalists reporting on the everyday people. I remember reading a book called “It’s a Living: Work and Life in Vietnam“, in which an Australian professor and his Vietnamese assistant go out and interview dozens of people about their life and their work. They are just ordinary people you see on the street: xe ôm driver, streetside barber, cook, factory worker, and they all have their own slices of life to tell.

I also think a lot about the Humans of New York project — a photographer talking to random people on the streets of New York, taking their photos and putting them on the Internet. Millions of people worldwide see those faces that they pass by every day and the stories behind them. It is exactly what I think my dream job is — capturing the stories of people and sharing it with the world. And most of all, the journalist is never the spotlight — it’s always the people, the subject, that captures attention.

Is It Just A Dream?

The reason why I did not study a journalism degree boils down to… money. Yep, journalism does not pay well at all. And I don’t come from money. I like to be an idealistic dreamer, but what is practical must always come first.

I have talked to Phong a couple of times about this. We ponder a lot about what is something meaningful we want to contribute to the world. What we do right now is awesome, no doubt about it, but it is still a business that has to make money above all. Not exactly a calling to dedicate your life to.

When we do have the time and resources, we would like to start a project similar to Humans of New York: tell stories of people and share them with the world. Now that is something I would be excited to wake up to every morning. The whole concept is still very vague now, but at least I have got the general ideas figured out. The what and why are clear; now it’s just a question of when and how.