I’ve watched Steve Jobs’ 14 minute Stanford commencement speech at least five times by now.
Related:4 C’s To Career Success
Why? Well, not only is it absolutely brilliant, with life-changing wisdom that always seems to get me back on track. I also love hearing personal stories from exceptional people. Even if I don’t want to be exactly like them, there’s almost always a couple critical traits or ideas I can model and apply in my own life.
In this article, I’m going to give you my favorite pieces of wisdom from Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech that you can use to advance your career today, and I’m going to share with you my formula for modelling success and getting your dream job.
What We Can Learn From Steve Jobs
See, by studying successful people like Steve Jobs, I like to think that we become a bit of a patchwork quilt made up of the traits we admire in others. Our lives then become a beautiful mosaic, combining elements of success and happiness that we learn from others.
This is the fastest way, in my opinion, to become the person you want to be and achieve the results you want in your life. That could be getting your first job, your dream job. or starting a business. Modelling success is the key.
1. Do Great Work
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do… Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.”
Don’t settle until you find what you love to do. Couldn’t say it better myself, Steve.
2. Live Each Day Like It’s Your Last
Steve says that every morning he would look at himself in the mirror and ask himself this question:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”
What a powerful question. He goes on to say that whenever the answer was “no” for too many days in a row, he knew he had to change something.
So, are you settling with your comfortable, unpleasant job right now? Would you want to do what you’re about to do today if it were your last day? If the answer is no, then keep reading. At the bottom, I share a resource for finding a job that’ll get you excited to hop out of the bed in the morning.
3. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
This was his closing remark in that powerful speech, and it’s how he said he strove to live his life.
Your time is limited. And Steve says not to waste it living someone else’s life. He advises to “follow your heart and your intuition - they somehow already know what you want to become.”
So, if you haven’t watched his Stanford commencement speech at least twice by now, I’d advise to go do so. And if your answer to Steve’s powerful question has been “no” for too long, then consider checking out the GameChangers 500.
It’s a list of organizations like Patagonia, Zappos, and Google who are committed to empowering and inspiring their employees, making a difference as well as a profit, and being environmentally conscious.
Now, these companies aren’t like traditional corporations - in fact they’re the furthest thing from them. Therefore, you’ll need a radically different approach to get their attention...
My friend and mentor, Andrew Hewitt, is the founder of the GameChangers 500, and together we’ve assembled a free video with his best tips for getting your dream job with a GameChanging company.
So, remember these tidbits of wisdom from Steve Jobs, watch his talk, and take the next step toward your dream job today.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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