The career advice no one tells you

Apart from jobs in academic professions, like medicine or law, job requirements are largely negotiable — you just have to prove that you can bring value to the table.

People who aren’t willing to “break the rules” a little bit usually end up wasting years of time and money trying to achieve a goal they could have achieved with a lot less.

Embrace that feeling of inadequacy.

The combination of believing that you can get to almost wherever you want to be, having discipline, and having insecurity about where you are is the formula for a successful, impactful career.

Work alongside the best in your field, read their books, listen to their interviews, study what they did to get where they are — and eventually, those crazy unrealistic dreams will become realistic for you.

Don’t pick a career based on “average salaries” or employment numbers. When you’re striving to be great at what you do, the “averages” don’t matter.

When it comes to any field, the people who strive to be great have more than enough money and success. And everyone else fights over scraps.

Surrounding yourself with the right people could lead to more opportunities than any company could ever give you.

Not only will you learn a ridiculous amount just by being around successful people in your field, you’ll also get into their “inner circle” if you can prove that you’re legit. 

In the beginning of your career, your technical skills matter the most. But as time goes on, those technical skills start to matter less. How you interact with people starts to matter a lot more.

Figure out what your company needs, and give it to them.

The real education begins after college. Everything you’ve learned in class is largely worthless in the real world.

Successful people read books and research papers, listen to podcasts, go to conferences and talk to other people who are doing big things. That’s how they’re able to “connect the dots” between seemingly unrelated subjects and use that insight to land more opportunities.

After you accomplish anything professionally, get online and write about it. Help someone who was once in your shoes trying to figure things out.

The bigger the audience you have, the more people will take you seriously.

The name of the game is noticing the ‘unspoken rules’ around you, and giving people what they want before they have to ask you. That’s how you win.