Tell someone how you got in
Careers look like merit from outside and like luck and contacts from inside. Saying so out loud helps someone enormously.
Not rated yet
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
People outside a field assume entry is meritocratic and conclude their own struggle reflects inadequacy. Insiders know how much was accident, timing and a specific person who made an introduction, and they rarely say it, because the merit story is more flattering. Telling the real version is genuinely useful information about how to proceed, and it is unusually generous to give.
How
Give the actual chain of events, including the parts that were luck and the person who vouched for you. Name the thing you would not have known to ask for. Then be that person for them if you can.
Answer if you want. It changes which ideas are shown first.
This is part of
A written list of what else helps in the same situation.
Related
Plan someone's first week, not their first day
Onboarding is concentrated in day one, which is the day nobody retains anything.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Learn to say their name properly
People with unfamiliar names spend their lives being mispronounced and told it does not matter.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Talk to the one who married in
Every family gathering has somebody who knows none of the stories, and everybody is assuming somebody else is talking to them.
Half an hourFreeA relative
Leave a note for your mail carrier
The person who walks to your door most days almost never hears from the people who live behind it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Refill the one thing you keep rebuying
Pick a single household item and stop buying new packaging for it. One item, permanently, beats a good fortnight.
Half an hourUnder $10The planet