How Can I Approach My Career With an Entrepreneurial Mindset?
By Jody Bell
I started my first “real” job this month.
I say the word in quotes because, like most college students, I’ve held plenty of jobs. Late nights were babysitting back in high school, where I would proudly count my money on the walk home and excitedly take out a $20 that I knew could go towards recreational spending. Then there was the summer I was a camp counselor, where I had a direct deposit and pay period – which of course made the job feel ten times more professional. Finally, during my internships in college, where I had my company email address and photo on the website. Each of these chapters felt monumental – and each one was a stepping stone toward my career. But, I still knew that these jobs were just that – chapters – not something that would turn into my career.
Yet, as a senior in college, this internship is different – I can visualize myself in this position years from now, and in the everyday tasks I can feel myself growing. If anything, it feels far more like my time in Girls With Impact, when I was building my first venture, In Case of Deportation. This was a chapter of my life consumed with passion and an undying desire to learn more. I wanted to get to the very root of the problem I was solving, understand the people that comprised my target audience, and I wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the entrepreneurial space.
Even though I was a student, and “learning” my whole life, building a venture made me understand what being a student meant in an entirely different capacity.
In school, you are often just presented with information and taught to take notes, ask hard questions, and retain the information. This is learning, and incredibly valuable, but to me, it doesn’t fully embody the meaning of being a student. A student is consumed with such passion, that they have an intrinsic desire to grow. A student doesn’t merely wait for information to be presented, but instead, they constantly seek it out.
At the end of the day, this is exactly what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and lucky for you, it’s also a great way to approach a career.
So how exactly do you apply this entrepreneurial mindset to your workplace? You need to view your career with the same emotional ownership and desire to learn as you did your venture. You need to approach your career as a student – something you can do even as early as high school. Here’s how.
1. Seek knowledge constantly.
Do you remember when you were developing your venture and engaged in market research? Well, this is essentially the same thing!
This process often includes a mix of online research and speaking directly with people involved in the market that your venture hopes to enter. During these conversations, entrepreneurs will ask about the problem their venture hopes to solve, and may even present their venture to get feedback.
This same process of market research doesn’t just have to be applied to entrepreneurship!
Are you interested in a particular career? If so, approach it as if it is your venture you are hoping to learn more about. Read information about the challenges that the industry is facing, speak to teachers, co-workers, and consider using LinkedIn to speak to professionals in the industry!
2. Ask difficult questions whenever possible.
As this research process unfolds, ensure you take notes and jot down quality questions.
These questions should not be met with one-word answers – instead, you should be asking questions that require in-depth answers and follow-up questions. Truly, the best sign that you are asking thoughtful questions is that they lead to further questions.
3. Once you’ve developed your understanding, figure out what major problems pose a threat to the industry.
Somewhere along this exploratory process, you’ll find that you reach some pretty big-picture questions. Maybe even questions that you can’t find the answer to.
These unanswerable questions are often the best ones – they are issues that plague the industry that you’re researching. That statement should trigger an entrepreneurial lightbulb in your brain – because you know exactly what entrepreneurs do. They solve issues.
This is what it looks like to approach an industry/career with an entrepreneurial mindset. Once you further embed yourself in a company/career path, you can begin to position yourself as someone who can be a solution to this widespread issue. This approach will not only provide those with an entrepreneurial spirit with that feeling of passion and problem-solving, but it is also exactly what top companies are looking for. They are looking for people who will dive so deeply into their organization and mission statement that they can pick it apart and make it better. They are looking for entrepreneurs just like you.
I say this because I know not every person wants to jump into entrepreneurship. Maybe you’re like me and want some experience in a professional career before returning to your entrepreneurial pursuits full time. But, if you’re also like me you yearn for that feeling of passion, obsession, and growth that entrepreneurship provides. I’m here to remind you that you can find that feeling in the right career as well.
Jody Bell, 20 is Girls With Impact’s Editor in Chief and a program graduate from Greenwich High School. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, business and leadership program for girls 14-24, turning them into tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.