Don’t go to college unless you want to be a doctor or something like that.

I always thought it would be a lot cooler to be under educated than over. Don’t be the guy who went to Harvard and now works at Starbucks. Getting a good job without a college education is easier than actually going to college. And you’ll look like a driven, no bullshit motherfucker for doing so. I went to Florida International University. I know. No one’s ever heard of it. My diploma has been useless for my entire professional career. Know one’s ever asked to see it. I don’t even know if I still have it. I keep getting letters from the alumni association asking me for money. They always start with “You’ll probably never for get the good times you had at FIU…” Guess what, alumni? I already have. Everyone told me that I would regret not going. They were wrong. So how do you get that first job without an education? The big shots that run the companies you want to work for may have money, cars and power, but there’s one thing you have that they can’t get enough of – compliments. When I was looking for job in advertising I would go to this website where they would have guest columnists from agencies around the country write self-indulgent articles. Now they’re called blogs. They would have a link to their e-mail address and I would always write the people who worked in agencies I was interested in. I’d write,

“Dear Mr. Big Shot,
I just finished reading your column on Internet advertising. I couldn’t agree more about the Internet being the key to the future. It’s about time someone had the balls to say it. Keep up the great work!”

OK, if you lose the sarcasm and e-mail that to the busiest CEO in the world, I promise you’ll get a reply like this in 10 minutes.

“Thanks John. Glad you liked the article.”

Then follow it up with something like this,

“It was very helpful since I’m kind of new to the business. I have a few more questions. Would it be possible to stop by your office for 10 minutes to get some advice?”

That’s another thing. These guys and girls love to give advice. You’ll get back something like this,

“I’d love to. I’m pretty busy for the next 3 weeks, but stay in touch and I’ll be happy to work something out. I look forward to meeting you.
Best,
Mr. Big Shot.”

He’s really not going to be busy for the next 3 weeks. But, if you keep in touch, there’s a good chance he’ll help you out. See? You’ve got your foot in the door. And you didn’t even go to college.

Now with blogs it’s even easier. Leave comments—get jobs. BTW, my current ad agency is hiring…

- John Huggins