Just Give Up: How Abandoning My Degree Became a Great Career Move
Now hold on! Before you snip the title of this article and run skipping to your parents about how dropping out might not be so bad after all, I should mention two things up front.
a. I didn’t drop out (despite the heart-pounding urge to do so). Heck, I even got a second degree.
b. This isn’t a story about how I started a global business or sold my first NFT for 2 million (But dang i’d read that). This story is about cowardice. My cowardice. And its liberating effects on my work life.
That being said, yes, this article isn’t for everyone. But for a few of you, the select few who run away from this nemesis just as much as I do, this will likely hit…hard!
So with your permission, i’d like to take you on a brief journey, and tell you all about how my fear of job applications became one of the the best things to happen to my career. And the 2 things you could learn from it that might change your life.
We all loathe job applications. Lie to me all you want, but I know you hate it too.
It’s the audacity of the whole thing. Somebody somewhere sitting in a comfy air conditioned office — probably sipping a Mocha Latté they paid way too much money for — takes a quick glance at my written profile and decides my worth as a human being? And then simply leaves me on ‘delivered’ if I don’t make their cut? No way!
Now, am I being dramatic? Yes. I know deep down that none of that has any actual reflection on my worth as a person. But tell that to my ego drowning in ice-cream and Adele songs after the 7th “unfortunately” from my inbox in 2 weeks 🥲. Everybody talks about how 1 yes can make the 100 no’s worth it. But I don’t buy the idea that I have to go through all that to get 1 yes. And I’m unashamed to say that I do not handle rejection well. I may have grown to better handle it over the years, but on the fall of my final year in uni, I knew I wanted no part of that cycle, and I knew I had to find a way out. But what I didn’t know, was that the answer would be one global pandemic and a 2-month lockdown away.
January 2020, I was frantic.
It took me 1 year of Architecture school to know that the industry wasn’t for me. I loved design (still do), but the working conditions — for multiple reasons — just didn’t agree with me. I had somehow managed to prolong the inevitable job dive by absconding for a masters degree after my undergrad. But in less than 6 months, even that short reprieve would soon be over.
I needed a solution, and I needed it fast. A job I loved. Or just something that could keep me afloat until I figured out what I wanted to do next? A good job? A decent job? Any job at all?
But 50+ applications down the road, and dozens of rejection letters later, my search for anything had turned up nothing, and something in me was starting to give out. My resolve was reaching its limit. And I was beginning to accept that I might never be able to escape the profession I was way too young to dedicate my life to. At least…that was what I thought, until in my final 3 months of school, in a completely unprecedented turn of events…
The pandemic hit. And everything shut down.
Since the global happenings of March 2020, we’ve heard a lot of stories about the lockdown from a business point of view. Corporations closing. Work conditions changing. Entrepreneurs forced to adapt. Everybody had to make some kind of shift. And for me? For me it was my final chance to find my answer, to plot my escape, or go down trying.
Now, I wasn’t completely bereft of talent. I knew I always loved telling stories. Something about connecting with people through media & emotion always struck a chord with me. And locked in a room for weeks with no prospects in sight, that was the only time I actually gave any thought to truly going after it.
“Why not?” I thought. I had nothing to lose, and a whole lot more to gain. And so I turned to the only platform I was really active on at the time — Instagram.
Over the next few weeks/months, I would proceed to go all out. Creating carousels. Telling my stories as much as I could, as best as I could. Reminding myself over and over through the doubt, that I had nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
And to my great surprise, one day, after dozens of hours had been sunk into this passion, I finally realised…I sucked. I sucked VERY BADLY. I sucked so badly that it started to feel a little depressing. But…that’s the thing about having no other options — I was just desperate enough to keep going anyway. I learned anyway, I practiced anyway, I shared anyway. There was no backing out of it. And over time I started to notice that there were certain tricks to writing for digital media. There was a way I could say things to get people reacting how I wanted them to.
I started gaining a following. People began talking about and recommending my page to others. Things were actually starting to shift upwards. It was surreal. This was my chance. And I decided to take full advantage of it. To realign my focus from general storytelling, to the ‘art’ of storytelling, for creators and brands. Something that would be more valuable to the corporate world. I would learn, implement, grow, and share my knowledge on Instagram once a day, every single day, for 90 days straight.
And it was through the constant repetition of that process that I experienced the thing that changed the way I saw content forever, the same thing that informed the writing of this very article —
People started to send me job offers.
Small offers at first, a magazine article here, a training session there, nothing particularly life-changing. But, as the months passed, and as my experience and the content I created kept growing, those small offers started to become full-time roles. A content lead here, and digital executive there. It had gotten to the point where I had started making a liveable income, confined to my room.
But wait wait. Let’s hit pause here. What exactly happened? How did I go from 50+ applications with no responses, to offers that hardly ever required my resume, or even a job application.
What happened was the discovery of 2 powerful truths about the internet:
- The content you put out is your best first resume: It tells companies and recruiters looking for a set of skills what you are capable of, better than a piece of paper degree can do.
- Having a bed of content makes you a less risky hire: You must understand that the primary role of every recruiter is to maximise value and minimise risk. The familiarity and trust you build in both your abilities and personality through consistent content makes you a more convincing and viable candidate. And being someone who provides said value consistently while engaging with your audience kills both birds with a single stone.
Which is why, for anyone who hates the cycle of constant job applications and rejections, the best thing you can do, is to give up.
Give up, and create your own platform instead.
Don’t rely solely on asking companies or recruiters for a seat at their table. Redirect your energy towards building your own table, and they will come. Take on a personal project, volunteer, create posts videos and articles documenting your experiences. Build something! Something public. Something that will speak for you, and indirectly apply to all those jobs on your behalf.
That, is the power of Content Marketing.
That was the goldmine I discovered. The thing that altered my job trajectory. I could now pursue any career I wanted, whenever I wanted. All I had to do, was learn, grow, and document my achievements through consistent & valuable content. I could build an audience large enough to make the recruiters find me. I had found my answer, and I was finally free!
Now don’t get me wrong, I still apply to lots of roles and opportunities to this day. But now, I do so mostly because I want to, and not because I have to. And that was all I ever wanted in my work life. Which is why I will always be a little grateful for that cowardly part of me that hated the process enough to give up trying, and just build my own table. And why I also think…you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain, from starting to build your own.
Hi! 👋 I’m Dimeji. A content marketer & brand storyteller who’s been building & selling digital products for years. I make content about how creators and business owners can communicate a message in a way their audience wants to listen to. Get more insights delivered to your inbox through my email list — subscribe right here!
