I resent the dream job concept.

The dream job concept is dumb.

I hate when people ask me what mine is. I hate when people try to beat around the bush by asking a variation of it like: “if money wasn’t an issue…if every job paid the same…if you had all the money you needed for the rest of your life…what would you be doing?”

I understand the sentiment. The intention is to melt away all the limiting filters you use when career-searching to get to the bottom of what you truly want to do.

It’s not lost on me.

However, this green-light-mode, all-barriers-down hypothetical is ironically limiting in itself.

This is the conclusion I’m coming to: it’s dangerous to be idealistic around something as variable as a career path. A job is an exchange of value between an employer and employee or, if you’re self-employed, your business and its consumer. Essentially, we trade hours of our lives, our skills, our products, our ability to create value for monetary compensation.

Being hell-bent on waiting for a dream-level position, a dream-level pay, a dream-level benefits plan puts you in the mindset that a job is set up to fulfill you. Instead of looking at what you can bring to the table, you’re judgmental about what the table has to offer you—and you’re likely passing up valuable opportunities left and right because what’s in front of you falls short of the fictional picture you’ve made up in your head.

I’m all for finding fulfillment in your work, but to put the burden of meeting your every need in the hands of a job is a mental rut I was stuck in for a long time and it did me a huge disservice.

Instead of asking: “what’s your dream job?” I think a more helpful question would be: “What opportunities do you have your eye out for?” and “What projects are you working on right now?” and “What’s your nightmare job?” to be cheeky.