20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
1–10 of 19 posts
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#2One thing that I hadn't fully realized until I was about 30 or so: Your grades and test scores only matter to "the first". That is, your high-school grades and SAT scores only matter to the first college that you enroll in. After about a year or two in college, if you transfer to a different college, they don't care a whit what your high-school grades were. They want to know what your college grades are.
Similarly, your college grades and the name of the college only matters to your first employer. After that, future employers don't care what your college GPA was. They want to know what you've accomplished professionally.
This is not to say you can just slack your way through school. What it does mean, though, is that you shouldn't obsess about your GPA. Channel that academic energy into some actual achievements - not into ultimately meaningless points. In the end, accomplishments are worth much more than grades.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#321. Don't let people walk all over you. Chase down the bastard who took your car.
It looks like someone already wrote the inspirational post generator I was working on.
Seriously, though, he says at the end that he wouldn't want to be anywhere other than where he is today, and that he had to make all the above mistakes to arrive there. Which is true imho - I feel the same way. He also says his 18 year old self wouldn't listen. That's also true - this certainly isn't the first time I've seen someone say "don't drink to excess, don't watch too much TV, stay fit, and watch your personal finances." So his conversation with 18-yo-self would be wasted. I'd like to see a list of things he would say to an 18 year old that would actually lead to some change in behavior towards healthier living and a happier life. That would be something I haven't read yet.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#421. Don't let people walk all over you. Chase down the bastard who took your car. It looks like someone already wrote the inspirational post generator I was working on. Seriously, though, he says at the end that he wouldn't want to be anywhere other than where he is today, and that he had to make all the above mistakes to arrive there. Which is true imho - I feel the same way. He also says his 18 year old self wouldn…
"I'd like to see a list of things he would say to an 18 year old that would actually lead to some change"
OK, I'll start.
"Anyone who's good at anything knows that there's an inverse correlation between talking about it and being good at it."
(Opps, I almost forgot...)
"Dude."
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#521. Don't let people walk all over you. Chase down the bastard who took your car. It looks like someone already wrote the inspirational post generator I was working on. Seriously, though, he says at the end that he wouldn't want to be anywhere other than where he is today, and that he had to make all the above mistakes to arrive there. Which is true imho - I feel the same way. He also says his 18 year old self wouldn…
"I'd like to see a list of things he would say to an 18 year old that would actually lead to some change" OK, I'll start. "Anyone who's good at anything knows that there's an inverse correlation between talking about it and being good at it." (Opps, I almost forgot...) "Dude."
Speaking well instead of performing well will make you twice as likely to be hired by the average Megacorp, Inc. Quality provides satisfaction; appearance provides money.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
"I'd like to see a list of things he would say to an 18 year old that would actually lead to some change" OK, I'll start. "Anyone who's good at anything knows that there's an inverse correlation between talking about it and being good at it." (Opps, I almost forgot...) "Dude."
Speaking well instead of performing well will make you twice as likely to be hired by the average Megacorp, Inc. Quality provides satisfaction; appearance provides money.
"appearance provides money"
Until it doesn't.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking well instead of performing well will make you twice as likely to be hired by the average Megacorp, Inc. Quality provides satisfaction; appearance provides money.
"appearance provides money" Until it doesn't.
Well, you can't be a total phony. There are weighted values applied to skill and appearance in corporate HR. My experience has shown that the weighted value applied to appearance is roughly 2x the value applied to skill. (Assuming that the typical HR person can even measure skill. Most can't.)
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
"appearance provides money" Until it doesn't.
Well, you can't be a total phony. There are weighted values applied to skill and appearance in corporate HR. My experience has shown that the weighted value applied to appearance is roughly 2x the value applied to skill. (Assuming that the typical HR person can even measure skill. Most can't.)
I suppose you're right about that at Megacorp. Another reason so many of us are starting our own.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#9One thing that I hadn't fully realized until I was about 30 or so: Your grades and test scores only matter to "the first". That is, your high-school grades and SAT scores only matter to the first college that you enroll in. After about a year or two in college, if you transfer to a different college, they don't care a whit what your high-school grades were. They want to know what your college grades are. Similarly, y…
Good thing that I relised that before I was in college.
Re: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, you can't be a total phony. There are weighted values applied to skill and appearance in corporate HR. My experience has shown that the weighted value applied to appearance is roughly 2x the value applied to skill. (Assuming that the typical HR person can even measure skill. Most can't.)
I suppose you're right about that at Megacorp. Another reason so many of us are starting our own.
Just to clarify, I do find your original statement to be absolutely correct: "Anyone who's good at anything knows that there's an inverse correlation between talking about it and being good at it." The reason you have to explicitly say it, though, is that it goes against the grain of human behavior.
Being the type of person who actually does things without wasting time talking about it, I've had to learn the hard way that that's not what hiring managers look for. I would not trade my satisfaction of good work for money, but I've found that by spending a little more time on marketing skills rather than on programming skills, I can greatly improve my income.