How I get work as a high school dropout

📖 Note: This post is from the archives. It may reflect outdated views or a previous name.

Contrary to popular belief, dropouts can get jobs, in fact — they can be placed in very good software engineering and design positions, just as quickly as graduates. I recently published my article talking about why I dropped out of high school, which among other things received a lot of criticism. I dropped out of the eleventh grade on October 7th, 2014 and immediately started working for a startup as a designer in a senior capacity. I would like to crack the code, which has helped me and other individuals around the world get placed in colossal roles throughout the workforce.

When I was planning my exit strategy out of high school, I prepared a plan of how I was going to manoeuvre myself from point A to point B. I planned to work in a software-based startup for a couple of months, honing my real-life work experience and add entries to my curriculum vitae, while still looking into the future with plans to abandon my stable career and start my quest through the journey of entrepreneurship. The day that I filed my papers at the school and was officially labelled as a dropout, I was approached by startups via phone, email and in person at meetups in the community. As a few of these start-ups saw my education status as a turn off, more than seventy-five percent of those who reached out to me still requested either a phone interview or an in person conversation.

As some may know, I am an ENTJ. Most of the population is unfamiliar with the Myers-Briggs personality types, but there are sixteen different types broken down into four different categories: Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels and Explorers. My four letter acronym stands for: Extroversion, Intuition, Thinking and Judgement. 16Personalities.com defines an ENTJ as: Bold, imaginative and strong-willed leaders, always finding a way — or making one. Knowing these traits within myself has allowed me to strengthen my weaknesses and use my strengths accordingly. ENTJs are known to be charismatic, inspiring, efficient, self-confident, strong-willed, energetic and strategic. Many people, including myself have a passion for Psychology and I have been studying the social science behind human behaviour and how certain types will interact with each other. This knowledge has allowed me to be more prepared for interviews and interactions with interviewers, chief executives and in normal day-to-day conversations.

And with that knowledge in mind, I would like to expand on seven characteristics people can adopt to improve their probability of getting placed in prestigious positions:

1. Self-confidence. This characteristic is very important because as society stands, dropouts are in the minority. We have to confidently and fearlessly express our ideas, opinions and demands in a fashion that comes off as confident, not arrogant. Work to improve speech patterns, tone and try to avoid using syllables like “um” or “uh”.

2. Charisma. This distinctive trait is built off of the last characteristic, as this allows us to exude confidence in how we speak, walk and expose ourselves to others. The most charismatic people can make anyone feel special, and interpersonally relate to anyone. Try to be genuinely engaged in every interaction.

3. Fearless. “Do the things you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson. This quote is imperative as it reads the truest, yet hardest task. I would like to challenge you to leave your comfort zone and be optimistic of success. Confidently express what you have done, what you have failed at doing and what you’ve learned through these experiences. Be proud of these achievements.

4. Optimism. The ability to show employers that one is filled with optimism is an amazing trait that will get people very far if they have learned how to display it. Optimism is the ability to look at something, see solutions before the problems and work towards the success rather than complain that the problem exists in the first place. I would recommend reading last weeks article about converting to optimism.

5. Teachable. Employers do not want egotists on their team. The best way to win an employer over is to show that you can recognize when you’re wrong, listen to the correction and apply what you have learned. There are many ways you can instigate these situations to show employers you can be corrected and taught.

6. Persuasion. There is an art behind persuasion, allowing you to give the person a choice, but steer them in a preferred direction. You do not want to be known as a manipulator, so keep this within reason.

7. Greatness. As this characteristic is simple in theory, it can be difficult to accomplish. Be the best at something and be so good, they can’t ignore you. Whether you are just starting out in a new career or trying to get to the next level, the main goal should be to master a craft to the point where people can’t help but notice. This will go further than any degree obtained or university attendance recorded.

I have been using these characteristics and principles to manoeuvre myself through careers in the technology industry. Now it’s your turn, do you want to get hired into technology-based career without employers discriminating against your education status? Research, learn and act to become better at those seven characteristics and others to reduce the chances of being discriminated against in the interviewing office.