Monday, May 2, 2011

Final Thoughts

Wow. I can't believe it's over so soon.

In just a handful of months, the 2-Hour Job Search took me from a stressed-out, burnt-out job seeker to a confident, relaxed MBA with his dream internship.

Did it take only two hours? Of course not.

But did it change the trajectory of my life? Absolutely.

More than the 150+ hours and extra stress that the process saved, it gave me the permission to pursue my dreams.

And so, no matter where life takes me next, I know that I'll be in full pursuit of my passions, powered by the organization and confidence that this approach instills.

Step 8: Decision Time

At the same time that I was pursuing off-campus opportunities, I received offers from a handful of firms interviewing on campus. Being able to see, at a glance, how these firms stacked up against the others on my spreadsheet, I was able to confidently accept a role at Apple, knowing that it was one of my top 5-6.

Key Insights: My Achilles Heel is my constant regret aground life decisions - what could have been? And this normally leads to paralysis at decision time. But since Steve's method helped me sort out all of those swirling variables well in advance, when it came time to make the call, I felt ready to do so - with no regrets!

Time Savings: No sleepless nights, no tossing and turning - just a confident decision and 15 hours of anxiety saved.

Stress Reduction: I can't emphasize enough how much peace of mind this method generated: -50 mm HG.

Step 7: TIARA

Sure enough, within three days of sending me my initial emails, the boosters were coming out of the woodwork - and I had informational interviews set-up at Google, EA, and LucasArts. Normally, I'm a total doofus when it comes to chit-chat, but using the TIARA approach, I was able to ask the right questions at the right times, leading to an interview invitation from the Big G.

Key Insights: Don't freak out with informationals - instead, see them as an opportunity to learn things you could never find online. The TIARA approach recognizes that people love to talk about themselves and their opinions, so the key is just giving them a platform to do so.

Time Savings: Getting the kind of insider insight that comes from boosters would probably take about 20 hours of trolling other sources (newspapers, blogs, etc.).

Stress Reduction: Actually getting an interview offer from a firm that wouldn't give me the time of day before this method was a huge ego boost - and stress reliever. -20 mm HG!