Career Basics Course: Week 8, Day 39

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”

“Close friends are truly life's treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone.”

―?Vincent van Gogh

Start Work Without Telling the Company

THIS IS, admittedly, a bit of a gamble. I would try all the other steps before this one, but if you are the type who is bold, takes risks and its afraid of failure, then this may be for you.

I first heard about new graduates starting to do work without telling the company in the start-up world. The start-up world has a culture that prides itself on rewarding unorthodox methods and behaviors that show an "all hands on deck" approach. So be cautious and know that this doesn't work for every industry. ... Trust yourself and use common sense.

The Exercise

It’s common for companies like advertising agencies to pitch full campaigns before they get paid with hopes that it will win them a client: so why can’t you? Need some inspiration? Here are a?few stories ?from the tech world of people who used this very technique to land jobs with their dream companies.

~Pick a company?you want to work for.

• Choose a project that is small and manageable and get to work.

~~ Decide what you want to do?for them.

• Ground the project in a hard skill.

For example:

• Sales: Convince two potential customers to have you come in and pitch to them.
• Human Resources: Find five great potential candidates for an open position with the company.
• Graphic Design: Design a series of Facebook ads or a social media campaign that they can use.

~~~ Start doing the work before you even talk to them or apply.

• Make sure you pick something you know you can do well.

~~~~ Send an email to the CEO?or a high-level employee and tell them what you did and that you are committed to working with them. Include this information in an adapted version of?the email that will get you the job

• Don't expect a response; keep working; deliver results that will make folks take note and ask why is this happening?

~~~~~ Follow up every two weeks?until you get a response. Treat it like a game.

If you are?interested?in a more independent work project that could potentially lead to a job check?out?

• 50 Design Problems In 50 Days: Real Empathy For Innovation (Part 1)

If you prefer a more structured approach with a nonprofit bent?Visit Catchafire

Note: This is

• Way 50, if you reference the 2018 version of the book, which I have, and,
• Way 50 ?if you're looking?in?50 Ways to Get a Job: An Unconventional Guide to Finding Work on Your Terms .

For me, ...

1. ... a first step in this process might be to become a champion of a particular organization and firm; for instance, I admire the work of the Salt & Light Coalition - a trauma-informed workforce development program empowering survivors to THRIVE. So, I phoned the organization and spoke to Corinne Kopsky and inquired if there might be a few ways for me and the classes that I teach at Wolcott College Preparatory High School to support their work. And, Corinne has given us a few projects to collaborate on with them. The lesson teaches us something about "servant leadership" and co-creating work within a co-participatory framework. And, when you're actually look for work, "creating work and working environments and attaching yourself to an organization with strong culture and values" enriches you enormously.
2. ... a second step might be to pick up a project that others have parked or archived; this is the case of my collaboration with the Business Innovation Factory and Teachers Design For Education , originally a project funded by the Gates Foundation; I, along with cohorts of educators in Chicago and across the US participated in a prototype of this work in 2014. And so now, I've invited to help (re)launch this work but long before that I was championing and checking in on this work for years.
3. another organization that I admired is the work of the American Higher Education Alliance led by Karli Grant and Benjamin Shank ; their vision for

American Higher Education Alliance (AHEA) is founded with the mission to drive equity in higher education by connecting the global community through collaboration and shared learning experiences.

Through our partnerships with colleges and universities around the world, our organization contributes to the development of global citizens?through internationalized education, lifelong learning, and universal credentialing.

To me, their vision aligns so deeply that I phoned them and asked for their permission to actively talk with my colleagues throughout the US and around the world; we met for a few times, and once, establishing trust -- which is built and created each day. And so, at least several times a week, I find myself talk to colleagues about AHEA. It's not really important if I ever work directly for Ben and Karli; I do want to invest my time and energy so that they are able to create a sustainable and thriving organization for their vision. Higher education will be better for their work.

For me, ... so, I think of this as "auditioning for work and creative opportunities..." a vision for living and dedicating some portion of your time, for me, it's about 5% of my time and energies each week, specifically focused on these kinds of projects ... experiments ... prototypes, sand castles, as it were ... and I attribute first thinking about this from a 30-minute conversation with Patrick, Whitney more than a decade ago; read more about his work at the D-Lab at Harvard here.

Peace and blessings on your journey and with your experiments.

Gerald P. Doyle

P.S. Good luck to three favorite "experimenter-and-visionary-in-chiefs" at the moment:

• Marya Spont-Lemus
• Julie Stewart-Benneyworth (She/Her)
• Lauren Joyce Hensel (she/her)

and, while we do not speak as regularly as we have at other times, their ways of being in the world and creating a meaning and purpose, continues to inspire. I'm grateful.

A Happy Thursday (on Saturday) ... Week 8, Day 39!

All the best for the weekend ahead; amazing that we've reached Week 8 -- and very quickly looking toward Week 9. We're very grateful for those who have reached out across these weeks.

Three cheers to those of you who have landed and others who are gaining interviews and traction; remember, we're all in for everyone and we will not rest until everyone has set themselves squarely on a path that's right for them at this moment.

We have welcomed three individuals who will continue throughout the remaining 3 weeks of Career Basics Course as Contributing Respondents. They are:

• Caila Howell ?... a business/digital marketing professional and education advocate. We're delighted that Caila has joined us in this journey.
• Kathleen O'Brien 欧凯林 ?... a mission-motivated, people-oriented and a collaborator between and among cultures. We're delighted that Kathleen has joined us in this journey.
• Lap Gong Leong , a writer, author and political commentary who shares his thinking and writing regularly, most recently authoring,?Uncovering Sensibilities: rethinking axioms in the world of work for autistic people .

All the very best to everyone. Much peace.

Gerald and?Al Nunez