Last weekend I was reading a column by Mia Freedman about work experience kids not having a clue and one of the stories made me think about how some of the work experience kid’s behaviours are kind of the fault of the stories we tell….
What happened was the work experience girl emailed an editor direct with a story idea and signed off with “Get back to me ASAP”
…And although I too read that and though “geez – what a moron – way to go to piss the editor off and ensure you never get an internship” I can actually understand why she probably thought it was a good idea…
How many times have we heard inspirational high-successful people stories that feature some kind of “then I did a very brave and confident thing which was immediately recognised by senior management and that’s how I got to be senior-guy by 20“
This poor girl probably just thought she was demonstrating the drive and ambition that would get her instantly appreciated.
See – the thing is, no-one ever asks the trolley guys how they ended up collecting trolleys…
Well, I was doing work experience at this newspaper, and I emailed the owner with a great idea for a new publication – I thought he’d fund it and make me editor because of my brilliance, but instead he was so offended he ruined me and now this is the only job I can get…
It’s a sad fact of life that many people who are supremely self-confident and genuinely believe in their talents and abilities – aren’t actually all that good…
…an the thing is – if you’re going to act like an incredibly talented prima donna – you’d better *be* incredibly talented – otherwise you’re just a wanker.
1 response so far ↓
Daniel // May 2, 2008 at 12:53 |
If one more person tells me that the way to success is to show my drive and passion and be outgoing and confident, I’ll get every introverted person on earth to muster all their psychic power to destroy everything that person cares about.