What Job Seekers and Employers Can Learn From Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie lived in a golden age. He made his millions in steel. Once he was finished accumulating wealth, he then focused on what he called its "distribution." In other words, he gave his money away. Growing up in Canada, I knew him as the man who built libraries. Messrs. Buffet and Gates were not the first to give away their fortunes.

He lived in a golden era. Think of who his contemporaries were: Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Gladstone and Darwin, to name but a few.

He was the self-made man. Job seekers and employers can learn a great deal from him, as I did reading his Autobiography.

A sunny disposition is worth more than fortune. Young people should know that it can be cultivated; that the mind like the body can be moved from the shade into sunshine.

In other words, attitude is everything. There is nothing more dangerous than self-fulfilling prophecies. If you are convinced you will not get the job offer, I can pretty much guarantee you that you won't. So how do you keep a positive attitude? First and foremost, think like the employer and only apply for jobs for which you are really qualified. The question isn't, Do you want the job? but rather Does the employer want you?

...my material success in life - a success not to be attributed to what I have known or done myself, but to the faculty of knowing and choosing others who did know better than myself.

The rule, hire people smarter than yourself, is not new. Successful people have been doing that for centuries. When hiring, recognize your deficiencies and hire individuals with those attributes. It's part of the formula for success.

It is not the rich man's son that the young struggler for advancement has to fear in the race of life, nor his nephew, nor his cousin. Let him look out for the "dark horse" in the boy who begins by sweeping out the office.

There is no way of making a business successful that can vie with the policy of promoting those who render exceptional service.

Yes, Mr. Carnegie began (literally) sweeping out the office. Working your way up the ladder is how many a rich man and woman, Carly Fiorina (figuratively) comes to mind, got that way. But the point here for employees looking to advance is, everyone is your competition but the greatest competitor is the one with drive who constantly seeks to improve him- or her-self. That's how you rise to the top. Be that person! The point for employers is, promote from within - and that's coming from an executive recruiter! As Carnegie also writes, "Wise men are always looking out for clever boys."

Knowledge is sure to prove useful in one way or another. It always tells.

Read! Read history! Read philosophy! Read science! Read law! You won't remember everything. Case in point, I remember reading somewhere that the human brain was not created to store data but rather for analysis, so don't feel bad when you forget. You are supposed to! But, if you are well read, you will be a more interesting candidate, employee or employer.

My two rules for public speaking...: Make yourself perfectly at home before your audience, and simply talk to them, not at them. Do not try to be somebody else; be your own self and talk, never "orate" until you can't help it.

This advice is good for interviewing, sales calls, or when addressing a large audience. You can't convince anyone to do anything if you don't know what interests them. And no one will buy what you are selling if you don't sound genuine.

Silence is more eloquent than words.

In other words, you have to know when to shut up!

Slight attentions or a kind word to the humble often bring back reward as great as it is unlooked for. No kind action is ever lost.

I trust there is no need for explanation (and, yes, "unlooked" is a word).

A high standard of excellence is easily maintained, and men are educated in the effort to reach excellence. I have never known a concern to make a decided success that did not do good, honest work...

A great business is seldom ever built up, except on lines of the strictest integrity.

'Nuf said!

...most of the troubles of humanity are imaginary and should be laughed out of court. It is folly to cross a bridge until you come to it, or to bid the Devil good-morning until you meet him - perfect folly. All is well until the stroke falls, and even then nine times out of ten it is not so bad as anticipated. A wise man is the confirmed optimist.

I am not certain that I agree that "A wise man is the confirmed optimist;" I think realist would be more correct. But, as I have told countless career counseling clients, don't obsess over the negatives. Rarely, if ever, do interviewers know how to ask questions which will reveal the truth that you dread. And if they do, tell the truth. It's always, in the long-term, the best and easiest course.

Not the letter of the law, but the spirit, must be the rule.

Always have a written contract but, if you have to repeatedly reread it, you probably should not have signed it in the first place. Good partnerships are based on "spirit" not "letters."

There is one imperative rule for men in business - no secrets from partners.

I feel sorry for your business partners, if you have any, and need an explanation.

How foolish we are not to recognize what we are best fitted for and can perform, not only with ease but with pleasure, as masters of a craft.

Job interviews, and responses to RFPs, are no time for modesty.

Upon no account could two men be in the same works with equal authority.

I have studied this and have never found a single instance of a merger being successful when there were two CEOs. Two headed monsters do not survive.

There is one rule I must suggest for youthful orators. When you stand up before an audience reflect that there are before you only men and women. You should speak to them as you speak to other men and women in daily intercourse. If you are not trying to be something different from yourself, there is no more occasion for embarrassment than if you were talking in your office to a party of your own people - none whatever.

This is also excellent advice for overcoming shyness when networking.

...the main root of trouble is ignorance, not hostility.

Good advice to keep in mind before reacting to a situation in anger. In other words, get the facts before you react.

And then there is my favorite...

"Well, that was damned white of Andy, wasn't it?"

Carnegie had a friend who was in financial trouble. He asked a mutual friend to offer him money but, he instructed, not to tell him from whom the money would be coming. The above quote was the friend's reaction when, some time later, he found out.

The reason I like it is because it puts the "PC Police" to shame. There was a time when you could be proud of being white, without being accused of being a racist or a bigot. Of course, that is now a privilege reserved to everyone other than white people. I wonder what the end result could be? Well, it's not like "angry white men" could one day elect, I don't know, a president of the United States. In other words, think before you criticize and demean.

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Bruce Hurwitz is an executive recruiter and career counselor. He has helped scores (thousands if you include attendees at his presentations) of people, including veterans, not only change jobs but, on occasion, change careers. Having successfully transitioned from academia to non-profits to the recruiting industry, he has been there and done that! A five-star ranked speech writer on Fiverr, he is the host and producer of the live-interview podcast, Bruce Hurwitz Presents. If you have something to promote, consider being a guest!