Class of 2013: Just Get In

Congratulations! You have graduated. That is a fantastic accomplishment.

Now what?

The fortunate or well connected among you have landed your dream jobs. But I’m guessing most of you haven’t and you are either still looking or have had to settle for something less than dreamy.

And since many of the future Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerbergs have already dropped out and started a business, entrepreneurship may not be on the table for you at this moment. You’re most likely going to go work for someone else.

So what about all that talk that you should “follow your passion," “do what you love, love what you do,” etc.? That’s fantastic advice. You absolutely should do that. If you can. In practical terms, though, that advice is not so easy to follow.

So here is my advice instead: Just get in.

In other words, do whatever it takes to get any kind of job at the company, in the industry, or, heck, just in the city where you want to realize your dreams. This may mean settling for something less than ideal but you will be "in."

And once you are “in,” you can work hard to create opportunities to move into your perfect job much more successfully than if you are on the outside. (I know I’m singing to the choir here on Linked “In”!)

That’s what I did. I had high hopes of working in the music industry after college but failed despite some serious effort.

What kind of effort? It was 1987, so I hand typed (on a typewriter, retyping the entire page if I made a mistake) over 100 personalized cover letters with my resume attached and sent them to music, film and TV companies in NYC and LA.

I received exactly zero responses from those letters. Zero. Not even a misspelled “We regret to inform you Mr. Salami….”

Was I heartbroken and frustrated? You bet! On paper, I was a good candidate.

I was about to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin. I’d coached, organized and was the top skier on the ski team. I also worked part-time in a local sports shop to help finance my education.

And most relevantly, I was a DJ at a popular punk/new wave club and even tried to sing in a (very bad) band. See the attached photo of me in the band!

I was passionate about music and knew a lot about it. Although by graduation I’d gotten to know some members of bands, I didn’t know anyone at record labels.

In the entertainment business, more than in any other business, it’s about who you know. My enthusiasm alone wasn’t going to get me in the door.

And passion probably won’t be enough to get you through the door, either. You have to focus on getting as close to what you want as possible, hopefully in a way that will still help you pay the bills.

In my case, after all my unsolicited letters had failed, I decided to move to New York, home to several music labels.

I didn’t have a job. And, as I said before, I had no contacts. But the practical side of me had at least made sure I had a marketable degree. I liked math and computers so had degrees in Finance and International Business with a minor in Computer Science.

When I arrived in New York, I couch surfed at a friend’s parent’s house in New Jersey. Major hassle. Plus I needed an income. Luckily, I got a job through an employment agency at, gulp, an investment bank.

Yes, my first job had nothing to do with music. I worked in the back office/operations at Shearson Lehman (Lehman Brothers), managing three people who were between five and 25 years older than me. We moved paper and processed trades.

It was a bizarre stint, for sure, but I made just enough money to rent a loft bed in an apartment in New York City. I would now be closer to the action than I was in New Jersey.

Although my job at Lehman was like working in the equivalent of the mailroom, I had in fact landed in the banking industry. Not quite the “in” I was looking for – but now that I was somewhere I could make a move in a better direction.

Two months after I took that first job, Bankers Trust hired me to work on their trading floor. I programmed and managed a database that tracked the activities of all the traders worldwide.

So my first banking “in” at least helped me get a more desirable position. I was still in banking, but I was now earning more money, working in computer science and able to afford a better apartment.

This was a lesson in something I firmly believe: Wherever you are, do the best job you can. You never know how one thing will lead to another.

The skills you learn in one place can help you in the future, even when at the time they seem totally irrelevant to your true passion. The people you work for and work with may somehow be connected to your future endeavors.

And, frankly, working is a lot more bearable when you take pride in what you do – even if it feels far removed from where you want to be.

And believe me, this banking thing was not where I wanted to be. This was not music.

But I had not given up and was trying to create opportunities any way I could to somehow break into the music business. In addition to meeting people and going to music shows, I continued DJ'ing when I moved to New York. I didn’t have a regular slot anywhere but I found some gigs here and there.

Seven months after getting that second banking job, and less than a year after I’d arrived in New York, I was DJ'ing a party. A music industry lawyer came up to me to tell me he liked what I was spinning. So much so that after hearing me tell him about my dreams, he said he was going to help me get into the music business. Wow.

And he did. Thanks to the programming skills I learned at Bankers Trust, I landed a job as a database programmer and sales person at TVT Records. It was not a great position. But I was finally “in.”

And this is exactly how you need to look at it. Put yourself in places where you can get closer to the industry or job you care about and keep at it. Get in the door, even if the job doesn’t seem to be at the right level. If you really are qualified, employers will see that and you will progress.

When I went to work at TVT Records, I made the most of it. Yes, part of my responsibilities consisted of being the IT geek around the office. And my role in sales involved having conversations like the following:

Me: “The Connells new album is coming out in two weeks. Their new single is #34 on the college charts. How many do you want to order for your store?”

Buyer at Tower Records Burbank: “Who the hell are The Connells?”

Me: “They are what R.E.M. used to be like when they first started. Just take a few and you won’t be disappointed.”

Buyer: “Whatever. Sure, put me down for 5.”

Not very sexy, but I was definitely in. (And by the way, The Connells were awesome.)

I worked with about 15 people in a loft office where we listened to and talked about music all day long. I went out every night with my colleagues and I met more people in the music industry.

So when I was out on Halloween in 1988 and heard this new band, Nine Inch Nails, I actually had an avenue to SIGN that band. Bam! I got them signed to the label where I worked.

With that signing, now I was really in! And I never looked back. I had my calling card: I had worked at a record label and, more importantly, I had discovered a major artist.

And my music business “in” got me my next “in” -- the Internet. That occurred a few years later in 1995 when I decided that the Internet was way more interesting than music.

What was my first job at an Internet company? My title was “Business Development Manager, Music Vertical.” Yep, music. This was at RealNetworks.

From this position, I learned everything about this exploding new medium. And I started to forge contacts in the entertainment industry beyond music and into film, TV and games. So that when I was ready, I could head out and start my own company. I’d had strong entrepreneurial desires and been involved in independent initiatives since high school.

As you can read in my LinkedIn profile, my passions have led me to creativeLIVE. We have world-renowned experts teach real, actionable skills to creative entrepreneurs.

creativeLIVE's students, like you, still have to take the new skills they have learned and apply them in a way to fulfill their aspirations.

But by now you've figured that out. You just need to find a way “in” to start working towards that dream job.

Make it happen!

Photo: Hill Street Studios/Getty Images (top); Mika Salmi (middle).