The Greatest Gift a Stranger Ever Gave Me

The bus screeched to a halt. Four job fairs in two weeks was not how I thought my Senior year was going to begin and I would be lying if I told you that the thought of letting the bus close it's doors didn't cross my mind. I was poised, I was persistent, my resume looked neat, what was I getting wrong!? I got in line, I threw on my freshly sharpied name tag, and braved a tired smile.. what I didn't know was that at my fourth job fair, I would be experiencing one of the most impactful moments with a stranger that I will ever experience in my entire life.

We were herded like cattle into a sweaty gymnasium. This strange feeling overwhelms us, the need to be prim and proper, to be presentable. I spent an hour navigating through a series of uneventful conversations until a man named John, representing a company I can't recall, asked me to take a seat with him behind their booth.

"Listen kid, you've got charm and passion, I can see that, but you're going about this all wrong" he tells me.

Who was this guy? Is he allowed to tell me this? I thought to myself, I wasn't sure if he was about to give me advice or a proposition. He pulls my resume up higher, I thought "great.. another boring lecture."

"I get a sense that you're excluding a ton of feats and accomplishments."

I was thinking exactly what you're thinking now. What feats and accomplishments could he possible be referring to? I hadn't held a single internship and I hadn't invented the next million dollar app.

"Everything you've ever done could be considered an accomplishment to some degree. You can't be certain which works you've completed could showcase your value for an opportunity. On top of that, you're making your accomplishments sound easy and boring!"

I was speechless.

He guided me through every written line, the projects I needed to exemplify, the values I needed to infer, he analyzed and chopped my resume like he was fixing a bad hair cut.

"I want you to go back to your dorm right now, think about what I've told you, and come to the next job fair with a revised version.. forget about this job fair you are wasting your time here."

I didn't know how to respond. What would you have done in my position? Does he really think that with a sprinkle of seasoning like salt bae, my resume would magically get me hired?

My intuition told me "he's older, he knows better," so I left immediately, and followed his advice.

Within a week, I landed three interviews and received my first job offer.

It's been a couple of years since then, and looking retrospectively, having found a multitude of successes so early in my career, I've been able to pick up what John's advice meant.

When you find success, shout it bravely!

We should speak proudly of our successes. Instead of fearing that our friends will feel threatened by them, and our co-workers will shun us and call us "try hards," we should declare our victories and speak of them with honor. Anyone that's excited about their work will attract like minded people that are equally passionate about what they do and thirsty for more success.

Your accomplishments are worth more than you think!

You'll be surprised how many of those around you would be impressed hearing about your seemingly easy feats! We should remind ourselves of our wins and recognize that wins can be perceptual, what we consider an easy task could be the most impossible feat for the person next to us.. it's all relative. If you pose your accomplishments as what they are (accomplishments), they will be perceived to be so.

I never saw John again and I honestly don't remember what he looked like.. but the advice he handed me that day on my fourth job fair has molded the success thirsty mindset I continue to grow today. He had no motive other than to help me, and for that I am truly grateful.

I want this story to serve as an introduction for you, my way of "paying it forward," so when John does come to read this story, he'll see the fruition of the time and effort he took to advise a misguided college senior so many years ago, and he will smile at the fact.