The Secret of My Success

In today’s post, I offer a quote from a great 80s movie called The Secret of My Success, starring Michael J. Fox. The film is about a recent college grad who struggles to get a foothold in the business world. I believe the quote pretty much sums up how crazy things are for someone looking for that first job or trying to change careers.

In one of the first scenes, Brantley Foster (played by Michael J. Fox), a confident, young college grad, has just wrapped up an interview with the hiring manager of a prospective employer.

Hiring Manager: I'm sorry, Mr. Foster. We need someone with experience.
Brantley Foster: But how can I get any experience until I get a job that GIVES me experience?
Hiring Manager: If we gave you a job just to give you experience, you'd take that experience and get a better job. Then that experience would benefit someone else.
Brantley Foster: Yeah, but I was trained in college to handle a job like this, so in a sense I already have experience.
Hiring Manager: What you've got is college experience, not the practical, hard-nosed business experience we're looking for. If you'd joined our training program out of high-school, you'd be qualified for this job now.
Brantley Foster: Then why did I go to college?
Hiring Manager: [laughs] Well you had fun, didn't you?

(Sadly, it’s even worse if you went back to school for a Masters because you probably didn’t have any fun doing it.)

Because every business out there wants someone with experience and believes nobody is worth training, I throw rocks.