I fell into the “not qualified enough” trap a long time ago, which kept me peddling away on that rusty Education Bike years after my Bachelor’s degree.
But did you know that many of the successful people that ever walked the Planet are actually College dropouts or people who had never seen the inside of a College Entrance door? In fact, Bill Gates only went back to complete his Degree at Harvard in 2007, because his Dad was still insisting that he gets himself a real job.
So, it’s not really about how many College Memorabilia that you to stack up next to your Comic Book collection that matters. It’s about how in sync you are with the skills that your Employer requires you to do the job that matter. Besides, when you finally have the qualifications they ask for and you’re doing the Waka Waka and the Cha Cha in celebration, they dampen all the fun by bringing up that dreaded “work experience” question.
This Ladies and Gents is the catch 22 that many College Graduates fall victim to, even if they had just completed their Ph.D. by inventing a machine that poops stars.
So what’s the alternative?
The alternative is to build up your skills portfolio and slather up that portfolio with some bad ass Client Testimonials.
Client Testimonials? Yep. Once you have your competencies neatly tucked into your belt (next to those dollar bills), you can always make yourself available for work through sites like Guru.com, Freelancer.com, and Upwork.com (no affiliation by the way). And those testimonials will start to roll in with each project you complete to a dazzling standard.
You can then reach out to millions of Employers on Linkedin in person (preferably on this Planet), whether or not they have vacancies. Don’t use the typical “submit your resume” or “I’m looking for a job” approach. You’ll get virtually slapped over Linkedin if you go that route. So instead, talk to them like they’re real people and let them know what you can do for THEM to increase their bottom line. Even offer to work for free for a week or a month if need be.
Then again, once you’ve reached that level of competency and have a regular income coming in, why work for anyone else? Why not sculpt your own destiny instead?
But whichever route you decide to take, think twice before going down that qualifications “rabbit hole” as I did. If what you’re pursuing is what you really wanna do with your life and the qualifications are a necessary evil, then go for it. Otherwise, give it a thumbs down and invest your hard earned cash in acquiring only the skills that matter to you, as Steve Jobs did.
