How to land any job you want - no degree required.
58%
of students go to college to access better jobs
but only 25%
of jobs require a degree
$33k
is the average student debt
and 43%
of college graduates are underemployedâââmaking it difficult to pay that debt back.
Why then, do so many people think getting a degree is a must?
Itâs notâââthereâs a better way.
Are you interested in skipping 80,000 dollars of debt and 4 years of sitting in a classroom?
What about landing a job making 50k within the next month regardless of your formal work experience?
No, Iâm not bullshitting you.
In this article, I break down how to win any job you want without a degree.
Warning:
Firstly, this process takes guts and commitment. It will also change your lifeâââit changed mine.
Secondly, this process only works if you are seeking a job that doesnât legally require a degree. If youâre interested in becoming a doctor, teacher, lawyer, etc.âââthis isnât for you.
Still here? Good. Letâs get to business.
How to land any job you wantâââno degree required.
To start us off, I want you to stop for a moment. Think about why a degree exists. Seriously, stop and think.
Why do people think they must have a degree to land a job?
Most people will answer one of the following:
- A degree shows that I can commit to something
- A degree shows that I have the knowledge to perform the job effectively
- A degree is a sign of qualityâââhelping separate me from the competition.
- Job listings state that I have to have one.
- So on and so forth.
What do all of these have in common? Your value.
Having a degree signals to an employer that you are a valuable human being. That you can create value. That you are worth the resources to hire and bring aboardâââin the hopes that you will make them more money than you cost.
Once upon a time, the degree actually successfully signaled peopleâs value. Unfortunately, thatâs no longer the case.
The degree has become inflated, becoming less valuable year over year. Why? Everyone has one. You are no longer âspecialâ because you have a degree. It doesnât help you stick out from the crowdâââtherefore, its ability to signal your value has become almost non-existent.
So whatâs a better way to signal your value if a degree doesnât cut it?
More degrees? Nope.
You are more than a degreeâââyou just need to learn how to showcase your value in another way.
Keep reading, because Iâm about to teach you how to go from relying on a third-party credential to becoming your own credential.
How to become your own credential
Step 1: Determine your value
Okay, so if you forget everything that Iâm telling you in this article but one thing, remember this:
When it comes to the marketplace/career landscape/moving up in your career/landing a job, there are only two things that matter:
- Your ability to create value
- Your ability to showcase that you can
I can not stress how important this is. The only thing that truly matters is that you can create value for someone else and that you can show that you can.
In this context, the definition of value is the worth of something compared to the price paid or asked for it.
So, I want you to ask yourself: What can I do thatâs worth being paid to do? What can I do thatâs worth being paid X amount?
For the purposes of this article, letâs say you want to figure out what you can do thatâs worth being paid $50k annually.
What did you come up with?
If youâre struggling to come up with something, what are your interests? Hobbies? Skills? At the very least, what do you not suck at?
Maybe itâs writing, speaking with other people, managing numbers, problem-solving, or organizing. Whatever the case, you probably have some type of soft/hard skill that you are better than the average joe at.
Now, I want you to think about how you can showcase those skills to a hiring manager (regardless of the actual role/business)?
You could list that specific skill on a resume and send it in with your application:
Hi, Iâm Joe.
I want to work with you!
My Skills:
- Organization
- Problem-solving
- Communication
Please hire me!
Or, you can do something radical. Something that most people would never think of.
Donât send a resume. Send something that speaks much louder.
What do I mean?
Welcome to Step 2: Build a Value Proposition
What the fuck is a value proposition? Glad you asked.
A value proposition is something of meaningful/tangible value, given to someone else as a means to communicate your capability/capacity of performing a specific task.
The idea is to show rather than tell.
For example:
Joe wants to work at a tech company as a web designer. He has two options:
- Apply for the job with a resume stating that he is certified in web design (just like everyone else).
- Analyze the companies website, figure out why it sucksâââbuild a new one for them (something nobody else would ever do).
Which option is going to get him hired? Itâs obviousâââoption two. The reason is that he is deciding to create meaningful/tangible value (a new and improved website) for the company to showcase his capability of being their web designer.
Option two speaks WAY louder than option one because he literally does the thing that he was going to be hired to do, without even being hired.
What does this show a hiring manager? More than you think.
It shows a hiring manager that he obviously has the skills, but it also shows that he is super passionate about the company. If heâs willing to re-design the website for free, what is he willing to do for money?
Who knows? But they are going to want to find out. Hired.
Now thatâs obviously an extreme exampleâââin reality, youâre probably not going to want to re-design an entire website for free, but what about the home page? Or the pricing page? Or any page that definitely sucks and can be improved with just a little bit of effort?
Re-design that page to show the hiring manager what youâre capable of, and theyâll hire you to finish what you started.
Step 3: Putting theory into practice
So weâve covered two things:
- Determining your value (What can you do thatâs worthy of being paid to do?)
- Build a value proposition (to showcase that value)
And honestly, thatâs really all you need to understand to get hired (in theory).
This section is dedicated to providing you with the resources to put everything weâve discussed into practice.
There are 4 main role types of a business that you can target with any given set of skills: Marketing, Sales, Operations, & Customer Success.
Every business on Earth has someone doing something that falls into one of these 4 main buckets.
The skill you choose to capitalize on will determine which type of role you want to create a value proposition for.
To make it easy, Iâve listed the 4 main buckets of businessâââunderneath each is a list of soft skills that translate into that given role type.
Marketing:
- Communication
- Creativity
- Emotional Intelligence
- Curiosity
- Collaboration
Sales:
- Communication
- Creativity
- Emotional Intelligence
- Social intelligence
- Empathy
Operations:
- Communication
- Organization
- Leadership
- Conflict management
- Decision-making
Customer Success:
- Empathy
- Emotional Intelligence
- Communication
- Dependable
- Organization
What did you choose? Now leverage it. Build something that showcases you have that skill, and more importantly, how that skill translates into the business of making more money.
Resources to help you land a job at a high-growth startup quicklyâââwith no experience.
- PraxisâââA 6-month online boot camp that results in a full-time job at a top startup company.
- CrashâââAn online tool that allows you to become more than a resume. (This tool literally embodies what this entire article is about). I personally used it to land a job at a top startup in 1 week.
Resources that help you learn more hard and soft skills.
- Udemyâââa learning platform filled with courses on pretty much anything.
- Skillshareâââsuper similar to Udemy.
- Youtubeâââyou know what this is.
Resources to take everything youâve learned in this article and apply it to becoming a freelancer.
Thanks for reading.
I hope this guide helps you change your life if thatâs what youâre looking for. Have questions? Just wanna chat? Let me knowâââhappy to help.
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