Real Career Advice: Prepare Your Resignation Letter on Day 1 and More
For all of us who still need to work for money, here are seven unsolicited pieces of advice.
- Prepare Your Resignation Letter on Your First Day
A company could fire you at any time. You should be ready to do the same.
Prepare for the exit strategy at the very beginning.
Know that you can always leave when you want to.
This is very empowering.
- Don’t Care About Your Boss
Your company pays you the salary, and your boss is the person you report to at work. That's all.
Your boss is not your parents, spouse, or friend.
If your boss's opinion is constructive or helpful, take it.
If not, any second thinking about that wastes time and, therefore, life.
- Don’t Make Work Your Life
Work is a very tiny part of life. Never prioritize it over your health, the people you love, or the activities you enjoy.
You are not the U.S. President. No one needs to find you at 10 p.m.
You and your loved ones are the only people who remember your overtime work.
"I should have worked more and lived less," said no one on their deathbeds.
- Save Your "Fxxk You Money"
Save most of your income until you can live comfortably without working for a year.
Again, your monthly salary is your boss's only power over you.
If you have this safety net, you can politely ask your boss to fxxk off next time the boss crosses the line and calls you on a Saturday evening.
- Build Skills, Network, and Reputation
Work smart, not hard.
Your job is hard and time-consuming. At least try to gain something from it.
Work on stuff that allows you to develop transferrable skills, be valuable to others, and gain a reputation in your circle.
- Welcome Surprises
Changes are almost always good for your career.
I started at a corporate law firm in Hong Kong doing the most soul-crunching work imaginable for humankind. I then took a 50% pay cut and joined a wonderful law firm in Taiwan. This brought me to a crazy start-up that wanted me to review their financial statements (I'm a lawyer.) Things took a surprising turn, and I worked in Uber as an employment counsel.
My jobs were and are hardly perfect, but because of all the changes I made, I am now in a much better position than when I began.
- Aim For Autonomy, Passion, and Money
In that order.
Once your salary crosses a threshold, earning more doesn't make you happier.
That's different for autonomy. The more, the better.
The best combination is to have a lot of autonomy to work on something you have some interest in and allow you to make a reasonable living.
That sounds too good to be true, I know.
But we are not talking about building an S&P 500 company from scratch.
I believe that's achievable. It has to be.
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