One of the most common refrains I heard from tourism professionals who attended the WITNext Summercamp was, I wished there’d been an event like this when I was just starting out in my career.

And thank goodness for my team and I, the 250 of you who attended over the two days seemed to agree and now, our coaching and mentoring event is over – and I am filled with inspiration and lessons from speakers who shared generously and personally their stories, panelists who answered questions honestly and openly and coaches who ran their bootcamps diligently and enthusiastically.

Because landing that dream job and building a meaningful and rewarding career is as purposeful and personal as it gets. You don’t get there by accident, although some of us have. But maybe not.

Maybe within us is this “unconscious” compass that takes us to places we thought were “accidents” but were “dots” that eventually connected in the future.

It helps of course if one is able to understand the kind of dots one wants to make early on in life and to learn from those who’ve gone before us. Of course, we should still make our own mistakes but hey, if we can avoid the obvious ones, it does make life a little easier.

Here’s my Catscan of the key learning points from the WITNext Summercamp.

1. Three things you need to do to build a purposeful career – network and invest in relationships, align your VISA – values, interest, skills, ambition and ask critical questions. “Switch off all that noise, listen to your inner voice.” (The mentor speak session featuring, from left, Raj Lalsare, Marina Bay Sands; Andrew Chan, TMS Asia Pacific; and Bruce Hancock)

2. Three things employers need to do – communicate more, be mindful of different cultures in the workplace so cliques do not form and be honest. “Tell me what you really think of me” – is the voice of the new generation. “I wished someone had told me what an intern really does,” said another.

3. Interesting that during the panel on the new generation, when asked to pick who they’d want to work for – from Lady Gaga, Simon Cowell, Mark Zuckerberg and Jackie Chan – the majority of 20-somethings chose the forthright, no-nonsense former American Idol judge. As vocal as they were in their need for a more democratic workplace, a flatter hierarchy and a faster-paced career track, they wanted strong leadership and constructive critical thinking.

4. When asked who they’d want to work for, Dan Lynn, CEO of AirAsiaExpedia chose Richard Branson, Amit Saberwal of MakeMyTrip chose Lee Kuan Yew, Greg O’Neil of BCD Travel cited President Obama, Christine Rumble of Accor, Nelson Mandela and Roshni Mahtani, Tickled Media, chose herself. “The joy of work is getting stuff done,” said Dan Lynn, and that’s the biggest motivator for staff, he said. “The ability to get things done and see the bigger picture of what they are involved in.”

Full story:

www.webintravel.com//blog/how-to-get-that-dream-job-and-build-a-career-with-purpose_3236