10 things my dream job should have

I am always trying to challenge myself and get involved in better and bigger things. I am used to multitasking and doing things in a very fast pace.

But people are always asking me if I would have to choose just one job, one organization, what would this be?!

I can`t give you the name of an organization (no free publicity 😀), but I can tell you how would this look.

I`ve worked with every stakeholder group in the agricultural sector: from research and education in this field, to NGOs, consultancy companies, policy makers and farmers. Here are the five things that I want for the organization where I would love to work.

1. Field of expertise: Agriculture is like the Holy Grail, for me at least. I entered this field (by mistake) at 15, but I never looked back. I`ve been here for 15 years (and counting) and all I would like to do is related to agriculture. From biotechnology and the impact that food insecurity has on people to food riots and their challenges to political stability
2. Environment: I have never been good at interpersonal communications. I am a little socially awkward, but I`m working on this. I am good, however, at (professional) networking. I can connect with anyone in my field for professional reasons. This is why an organization that has multiple levels of hierarchy and a good organizational structure is the place where I want to work. My networking skills would come in handy when working on projects with multiple departments or when I would need to get support for tasks I need to do.
3. Profile: as I mentioned, I worked with every type of stakeholder in agriculture. I always loved the way the corporate world works. The bureaucracy in international organizations is a little discouraging and in NGO`s there is the problem of being too focused on a simple objective or not having a real objective. So my ideal job would be in research/academia.
4. Colleagues: this might sound as a cliché, but I would really like to work with (very) open-minded people; from young professionals getting a head start in their careers to senior professionals who have a lot of experience in the field, but are always looking for more. This can only be found in organizations that deal with multiple challenges, thus requiring a mixture of skills and abilities from their employees and that asks from them to reinvent themselves.

For my dream job, it is harder to define. I am a geek that loves to work with young professionals on a variety of things: from creating new curricula for higher education to defining new policies that would advance the field and communicating this to the world in a very structured and professional way. Here are some traits that I would use to define my dream job.

1. Engagement: working with new generations is a thing that I want to continue doing, either through innovative projects or by directly communicating with them on certain topics. I would like to engage online with new generations, as I believe that digital communications is the way young people prefer to communicate today.
2. Influence: whatever people say, we all like to be able to change the world in which we live. I would like a role that allows me to both expand my knowledge of the field and create new tools and methods for changing the field and the world. From policy development to communicating the needs of the field to policy makers and uprooting the status quo, this “influence” can be exerted through different ways.
3. Level: I have never liked of being supervised or given orders to, although, when being in this situation, I followed orders and reached my objectives, getting things done. I have never been good, so far, at managing teams, as I tend to not set a routine, but create an environment where each member of the team challenges the others to be better, faster, and smarter. So, I would like either work with a small team under me as Coordinator of “something” or as Head of a project/program in an organization, being the only one working on that, but working in collaboration with teams/people from other departments.
4. Region: Europe or the US. I`ld like to stay in Europe because it is a great source of variety, both in terms of challenges and in people who I would work with. The US is another place where I would happily work because of its meritocracy based system. If you`re great at something, you will be greatly appreciated there.
5. Responsibility & multitasking: I like to multitask and take on several tasks/challenges at the same time. It is the way I am built. I am happier this way. So my dream job would have to allow me to multitask and be involved in several projects/programs at the same time. I work on routines (always have), but always adapting them according to the goals I set myself.

To summarize: I would like to work in the research/academia sector, either in the US or Europe, being part of a multicultural environment where I can easily network for professional reasons, and work with new generations, sparking change at different levels and communicating our results either internally or externally through creative means.