Durkin’s Getting Hired at a Startup Series (1 of 10): Stand in the Rain

January 16th, 2012

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I’ve decided to write a series of 10 posts dedicated to Getting Hired at a Startup. I believe I have experience on both sides of the table (having been hired by a startup, and now responsible for hiring). I also believe through the hundreds of stories around jobs, interviews, etc I have heard from young and old people alike, that I am qualified to talk on this. But I’m also qualified to ride a motorcycle, and most people I know would never want me driving one. So read with caution.

Here we go:

#1. Decide where you want to work and then go get it

“For the day I die, I’ma touch the sky.” – Kanye

When I was in college I heard a story that really impressed me. I was a freshman at UMass Amherst and sitting in a Finance Society meeting. Finance society was a group on campus for anyone interested in Finance. I certainly learned a ton while there, but what I think kept me coming back was the air of professionalism / get it done mentality that eminated from the leaders of the club. These kids were real energetic, productive, motivated kids. Their attitude: “We can outwork anyone. Period. Give me a challenge and I’ll punch it in the face. Nothing can stop me.”

The story goes like this. A group of Finance students wanted to work on Wall Street. But no Wall Street firms came and interviewed students at UMass Amherst. UMass simply wasn’t on their radar at the time. They went to the Ivy’s. They went to Amherst College (right down the road). But they didn’t step foot within our business school.

90% of students didn’t see this as a problem. 9% saw this as a problem. And 1% did something about it.

That 1% of kids did something that really impressed me. They bought crisp suits. They printed off 1,000 copies each of their resumes on nice egg-white card-stock. And they hopped in a car and drove their asses down to Wall Street.

They’d proceed to go on handing out their resumes to thousands of people. In the pouring rain. Any man or woman in a suit walking into Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, CitiGroup, UBS, got a resume. At least one, if not two or three. The students told every person walking by that if they hired them it would be the greatest decision they ever made in their entire lives. They wouldn’t disappoint them. They wouldn’t regret it. They’d shine to the occasion. They’d be the best employee ever hired by the firm. They’d prove their worth.

99.99% of the people the students spoke to turned them down. But 0.01% didn’t. And that upcoming summer a couple of UMass Amherst students worked on the floors of Wall Street, through pure, undeniable determination. And a winning attitude. 0.01% looked at these students and saw one of the most unbelievable stunts to get a job they had seen in a long, long time. And for those few students, it paid off.

At the end of the day, you have to be willing to stand in the rain to get what you want. You have to be willing to suffer, with a smile on your face. It is the #1 most prevailing reason I can attribute to who gets jobs over those who do not. Determination. Not giving up. Deciding what you want and going for it. And conveying this to every single person around you.

Everything else is tactical. And everything tactical can be taught. Even determination can be taught. But all tactics don’t matter unless that prevailing determination is evident first.

You want that job at that company you just applied for? Go stand in the rain outside of their office until they give you the interview. Hold a sign that says “I want this job. I’ll prove it to you.” Don’t leave for lunch when you get hungry. Don’t leave to go home to sleep when you get tired. Stay there. Sleep there. Then greet them the next morning when they come into work. Don’t leave until the cops are called to take you away. And when they do, do it with a smile on your face. And the next day, go back.