This summer has been full of industry lunches and panels of professionals talking about how they ended up where they are now. After so many “I was in the right place at the right time”, and “I just got incredibly lucky”, I started questioning how lucky these people actually were.
As a millennial who has grown up in a time where jobs have been sparse and everyone goes to college, it is slightly panic inducing to hear so many important people say how they just got lucky. Then I think about all of the contests and poker games involving luck that I lost and realize I have no hope.
Yet, are these people actually lucky? Or are they just too modest to outright say I put in a shit ton of work for years and studied every chance I could, that way I would end up in the right place at the right time. Every person on these panels had passion about the industry and they were driven to do well. They didn’t just sit on their butt and wait for that lucky break. No, they went out and TRIED.
Sure, I can admit there’s a bit of luck to every opportunity. I’m only in the industry that I wanted to be in because of a work study job I got in college. It gave me the experience I needed to be able to apply to the internship I
but you don’t need it
wanted. While that work study job was random, my effort put into it was not. My boss appreciated my work and gave me the recommendation I needed. I also was able to figure out how to use it to my advantage on my application. Nothing is ever just random or ever just luck. You need to put into the work to get the results. I’m tired of hearing that these people got lucky to be where they are today. NO, you earned it and own up to that.
Plus it would really help many interns self-esteem if you actually talk about all the hard work you need to get “lucky”.
The Intern Chronicles 