Cover Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
You don’t need a diploma, you need skills and a portfolio
“Don’t you need a diploma to do that?” my mom asked yet again.
“No,” I said for the 100th time.
The reality of the 21st century is that diplomas aren’t as useful as they used to be.
You can see how it happened, can’t you?
The industrial revolution meant more jobs for more people. But who should get those jobs? What set Johnny Worker apart from Jimmy Worker?
Thanks to the speed of growth, owners needed a way to validate which worker could be relied upon. Thus, the diploma was born.
My mom is a baby boomer who grew up in a world where, without a diploma, you couldn’t do much work-wise. It was the de facto way of judging if someone was qualified enough to do the work.
This had been the case since around the time of the industrial revolution where everyone needed to be a specialist. It was an easy way for managers to judge an applicant’s competency.
And because having a diploma wasn’t yet the norm, those with diplomas could successfully differentiate themselves from those without them.
But what happened is what always happened. We flooded the market. If you print too many dollar bills, a currency becomes worthless.
Guess what happens when you print too many diplomas?
Today, in our information age, you can get a quality education for free, and it’ll be more valuable than it ever was because geographical constraints no longer exist.
That’s why judging candidates for jobs is now harder than it has ever been, and distinguishing yourself as a candidate is now more challenging than at any other time in recent history.
In a way, if everyone’s got a diploma, no one’s got a diploma.
You can’t differentiate yourself from others if others also have a diploma. They’re simply no longer what smart employers rely on when making hiring decisions.
This doesn’t yet apply to all fields, but I’d argue that in 2019, this is true for most of them.
In this guide, we’ll dissect what this new reality means for how you can find work you love to do, whether that’s a job, gig, or long-term contract. After reading what follows, you’ll know exactly how to land the kind of jobs that most intrigue you, diploma or not.
I. The Problem
At one point in my life, I worked in a coworking space in India, and I learned something during my time there that continues to impact me today. Virtually every person I talked to had graduated with one or more post-secondary degrees, and yet none of them had managed to find secure, rewarding employment. In general, the more heavily populated the country, the more this dynamic plays out.
It’s no surprise, then, that people from highly populated and lesser developed countries very often (have to) look for creative methods of making a living.
When you browse Upwork or Fiverr, for example, you find a ton of highly qualified people working on things for which they didn’t go to school. They couldn’t find jobs in their fields in their home countries and so they were forced to adapt, to skill up, and to prove their ability and worth in other ways.
Things aren’t much better in the western world. Even though there’s a shortage of labour in many fields, it’s still hard for employers to find the right candidates. And even if they do find the right ones, there’s a high chance this candidate will jump on a new opportunity within a year or so of being hired.
If a diploma isn’t an effective way to distinguish yourself anymore, what is?
The answer is somewhat complex, but I’ll try to simplify it here. Whereas the diploma was previously a universal way of judging a candidate no matter the field, nowadays smart employers are looking for the exact opposite. They’re looking for unique and authentic ways. This usually comes in the form of a portfolio and/or list of references.
But before we jump into these two topics, there’s a prerequisite to making them work for you that we need to address. There’s no portfolio to build if you’re not yet skilled and no references to collect if you’re insufficiently experienced.
Let’s take a bit of time to investigate two crucial prerequisites to finding success in today’s job market: how to skill up, and what skills matter most.
II. How Can I Skill Up?
Here are the three most important factors that support your ability to successfully learn something new:
1. Truly believe you can do it
There’s (almost) nothing you can’t do. Not believing you can do something prevents you from accomplishing it — plain and simple.
This is such a powerful concept that, to this day, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is still one of the best selling self-help books ever written, despite the fact that it’s now more than 80 years old. The premise of the book is rooted in the idea that if you have a burning desire to accomplish something, no matter what it is, and if you believe you can achieve it, youcan and will achieve it.
Ask any successful people you know, and they’ll tell you the same thing: they got to where they are because they believed they could do it. A simple strategy to eliminate your limiting beliefs is to commit to dropping “I can’t…” from your vocabulary and to using “How can I…?” instead.
It may sound overly simple, but it works.
Your subconscious is more powerful than you could ever imagine. It “believes” whatever you feed it. Feeding it with the right thoughts sets you up to learn anything you want.
Three skills I previously thought I could never learn were drawing, meditating, and salsa dancing. When I shattered my limiting beliefs, I realized that I could do all three of them and many more! All I had to do was follow the next two important points.
2. Always be consistent
Remember that powerful subconscious we just discussed? Well, there’s hardly anything more valuable than building good habits, and habits are something you perform subconsciously. Two great resources on habit formation are The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and Atomic Habits by James Clear.
The only way to build a habit is to do something consistently. It’s important to realize that almost nothing you do in life is actually natural. As we grow older, we forget that the things we do today were not instinctual when growing up. For example, both riding a bicycle and driving a car require sets of habits to be performed without thinking about them.
So, when you start working on a new skill, you will fail. Accept it. Don’t let it beat you down, because it’s normal to not be able to do things on the first try.
For the three skills I mentioned above, you have no idea how bad I was when I started. Most people would have given up pretty early into the process. After a week of trying, I still wasn’t showing any sign of improvement, but I pushed through. After 15 hours of practice, I surpassed my goals for all three of them.
That was only possible by believing I could do it, by being consistent, and by applying the next lesson.
3. Don’t ever give up
Persistence is a skill I didn’t build until much later in life. I used to start many projects but never finish anything. My success in writing comes from not giving up, even when all signs pointed towards me failing. I had a six-month-long dip where no one was reading my stories yet, but I pushed through and kept writing, experimenting along the way.
The people you see at the top are there because they didn’t give up. We like comfort, and when things don’t go the way we want it to, we abandon ship by deciding it’s not for us. The people who learn from failure instead of running away are the ones who rule the world.
Employers want someone who will learn from their mistake instead of giving up as soon as they experience challenges. If you can master persistence, you can separate yourself from everybody else who gives up too quickly — and that will make you a great candidate for virtually any job out there.
III. What Skills Matter Most?
Here’s a secret: smart employers don’t hire based on the hard skills a candidate masters, at least not in the majority of cases. Once you understand this, you’ll have a better idea of what you need to learn next based on what you already know.
But let me help you out a bit here. As a seven-time startup founder, here are eight skills I (and many employers) look for when seeking contributors for projects (or employees for companies):
1. Action Taking
What is it?
The ability to take action on seemingly difficult matters.
Why is it important?
In this world, there are underthinkers and there are overthinkers, with not many people in between. Underthinkers don’t think things through and they hardly execute on what needs to be done. Overthinkers spend so much time planning that they forget to act.
You don’t want to be like either of these groups of people.
Getting to action is not about refusing to plan. Instead, it’s about planning just enough to allow you to get on with things as quickly as is practicable.
If you don’t act, you don’t get. It’s that simple. Nothing meaningful in life comes to you for free.
How can I learn it?
Get into the habit of putting actions into your calendar.
Take notes.
Do daily, weekly, and monthly planning.
Journal your heart out.
Do things for others.
2. Adaptability
What is it?
The ability to adjust to new conditions that are out of your control.
Why is it important?
Charles Darwin (or, more likely, someone summarizing his ideas) said it best:
“It is not the strongest of species that survive; nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin
It was true millions of years ago; it is just as true today. I’d argue it’s even more important today because the world is now changing faster than ever before. And it’s only going to change faster from here on out. The good news is that it’s easier to learn how to adapt to change today than it is to become strong or intelligent.
Surely, you’ve had to adapt yourself to evolving circumstances before. Perhaps you lost your job or your partner or you moved to a new city. Whatever it was, you had to adapt, if only to not be miserable.
Comfort is the opposite of growth.
How can I learn it?
Be positive. Drop negativity.
Be genuinely curious. Ask questions.
Set aside time for important but not urgent tasks.
Travel.
Spend time in multicultural cities.
Host people from different countries.
Do things out of your comfort zone at least once a week.
3. Altruism
What is it?
The ability to care and do things for others.
Why is it important?
In his popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey points out that people start out their lives by being dependant on others for emotional security, physical safety, and so on. Some people never move beyond this stage. Most people, however, achieve a degree of independence and then remain independent for the rest of their lives.
Yet the people who thrive the most are those who ascend to the next stage in life: interdependence. Interdependent people are great at teamwork, cooperation, communication, negotiation, and various other people-centred skills.
Any good manager will spot displays of altruism because, for altruistic people, life isn’t about their own needs and concerns — something a manager must also accept. Altruistic people understand that life is bigger than them and so they do their best to make life better for others as well.
How can I learn it?
Encourage and support others.
Do volunteer work.
Do things for others without expecting anything in return.
Drop your ego.
Focus on impact rather than superficial results.
Don’t outlive your means.
Always think win-win.
4. Communicating Clearly
What is it?
The ability to convey a message or idea in a way that people can understand.
Why is it important?
You may not realize it, but you spend most of your life communicating with others in your environment. Of all the skills on this list, this is the one where only a 1% improvement can lead to dramatic benefits. Why? Because communication is something you engage in almost every waking hour — and so does everybody else.
Most of us can communicate, yet very few of us do it clearly and effectively. This is because there are so many factors involved in doing it right. Most communication involves more than one party; so, to communicate clearly, you need to not only be self-aware but also be able to see things from other people’s perspectives.
Managers favour people they understand well. You’ve likely seen incredibly talented people who were superior to others in terms of hard skills but who lacked effective communication habits. Most managers prefer a good communicator over a talented individual.
How can I learn it?
Be a listener first.
Raise your self-awareness.
Diversify your environment.
Study other religions and ethnicities.
Practice more skills.
Become a storyteller.
Practice public speaking.
Write publicly.
Hang out with non-native speakers and people whose grasp of the language you use isn’t especially strong just yet.
5. Openness/Growth Mindset
What is it?
The ability to be open to new experiences.
Why is it important?
Most people have a fixed mindset, meaning they are not receptive to the idea that things can change (for better or worse).
We touched on this a bit above. We all have limiting beliefs telling us there are things we can’t do. The reality is that you can do almost anything you can think of doing.
Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first walk on the moon. There’s hardly a better example of a growth mindset than walking on the moon! How crazy would you sound if you were to go back even 100 hundred years and start telling people humans have walked on the moon?
If we didn’t believe there was a way to do it, we wouldn’t have achieved it. Electricity and the internet are two other realities that wouldn’t exist if their inventors had refused to embrace a growth mindset.
Good managers want to hire people with a growth mindset. People who are open to change accept not only that evolution is possible but that it’s fully achievable. And that’s the exact attitude good managers want from their employees.
How can I learn it?
Drop “I can’t…”.
Use “How can I…”.
Travel to the most exotic places for you.
Surround yourself with high achievers.
Go to a less-privileged country and help locals accomplish meaningful tasks (taking selfies in slums is NOT helping).
Read self-help books.
Read articles like this one.
Read biographies of inspiring people.
6. Positivity
What is it?
The ability to stay positive in any situation.
Why is it important?
Attitude is contagious. Have you noticed that when you’re around negative people, you tend to become more negative as well? Or that when you’re surrounded by positivity, you can help also emitting gratitude, kindness, and other warm emotions? That’s not an accident; it’s a fundamental dynamic of social interaction.
I’m such a positive person that I have a hard time understanding why anyone would even want to be negative. My wife hates it when I maintain my positivity in bad situations. She sometimes interprets this as a sign that she cares more about what’s happening than I do. Still, I always stand by my positivity. Once things settle, my upbeat attitude helps to reset the mood quickly — remember, attitude is contagious.
Sub-optimal situations often arise at work: things go wrong and morale drops. When this happens, the positive people are the ones who can reverse the situation and help to reinstate much-needed calm and balance.
As an interviewer, I’ve often heard people say bad things about others and about other jobs. What’s to prevent them from saying the same things about me and my company at some point in the future? Even if your previous job wasn’t the best, always try to focus on its most positive quality, like the learning experience you gained.
How can I learn it?
Drop negative words from your vocabulary.
Practice gratitude.
Celebrate the small wins.
Think of mistakes and failures as opportunities for self-reflection and self-growth.
Surround yourself with positive people (this is crucial!).
Journal about the positive things that happened during your day.
Stop yourself from saying, “This doesn’t work for me.” Instead, say, “I struggled this time, but I’m not going to give up.”
7. Resourcefulness
What is it?
The ability to resolve situations on your own.
Why is it important?
I don’t enjoy micromanaging others; there are far better uses of my time. Moreover, I find micromanaging to be demeaning. It’s so empowering to be given the space to achieve things on your own.
But outside achieving things, resourcefulness is also about knowing when — and when not — to ask for help. These days, if you don’t know how to do something, your first instinct (usually) shouldn’t be to run to your manager; it should be to Google it.
“How do I turn off notifications on this device?” Dunno, Google it!
The biggest source of distraction in physical offices is interruptions like these. While it may take only one minute or less to answer the question posed, the loss of concentration is often much more costly.
Good managers want to work with people who can figure things out by using the resources that are available to them — not who need to be constantly “spoon-fed”.
How can I learn it?
When you want to ask someone for an answer, stop yourself and do your own research first.
Work on projects with no collaborators.
Make it a habit to start from failure.
Deliberately learn new skills every month.
Learn from things you research.
Raise your confidence.
Increase your creative output.
8. Self-awareness
What is it?
The ability to understand every aspect of your behaviour and personality.
Why is it important?
Self-awareness is the start of your journey to thriving. The majority of people are not aware of the reasons for, or nuances of, their behaviour. It’s surprisingly much harder than it seems to truly “know thyself.”
Self-aware people are productive people. They act according to their strengths and weaknesses and they focus on things that influence the objectives they pursue.
A good manager can tell during an interview whether the candidate is self-aware by how the latter answers questions about their own personality. Most people avoid mentioning things they worry others will perceive as being bad. Self-aware people are honest with themselves and with their managers. Good managers respect that.
How can I learn it?
Journal.
Meditate.
Know your why.
Do personality tests, but realize you can definitely be more than what the results say you are.
Self-reflect at the end of each day.
Ask other people who you are with only a few words.
If you learn the skills explored above, gaining employment will become much easier. Think of these skills as prerequisites to becoming a top candidate for most positions.
That being said, this is, sadly, only half the battle.
As hinted at above, the other half involves having a unique portfolio and a solid list of references. You can think of the skills you acquire as the product you’re selling and of the portfolio and references you amass as the marketing tools you use to sell your product.
An awesome product with no marketing leads to no sales. The same is true when it comes to landing a job.
Candidates who can’t sell themselves will struggle to find employment — no matter how talented they are.
So, now that you know how to skill up and which skills to learn first, it’s time to build your portfolio and to go get some references.
IV. How Can I Build My Portfolio?
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a way to showcase your skills. An artist may use DeviantArt while a programmer may use Github. A writer will likely use their blog or their Amazon author page. Every trade has its own best way to showcase talent.
The old but still widely accepted way is the resume or CV (whether paper or digital). In this article, we won’t go into the details of exactly how to create an old-fashioned resume because there are tons of valuable resources on that all over the Internet.
Another widely used approach is the creation and promotion of a professional-looking LinkedIn profile. Today, this might be the best non-creative way to showcase your skills, experience, and references. But the predicament we explored above with diplomas applies here as well: everyone is marketing themselves via their LinkedIn profiles, and so it’s hard to differentiate yourself from others whose profiles list the same skillset as yours.
How do you build one?
The stunning PDF approach
Stunning resume templates
Look at the beautiful examples above. They are great illustrations of creative resumes.
At first, it may seem useless to put in the time and energy to make a beautiful resume if you’re not applying for a creative job; but I’d argue it is indeed useful. When managers go through piles of resumes for a position, they like to see who’s putting effort into their work and who isn’t. The resume as such sells you — not just its contents.
I’m certainly more inclined to read a visually appealing resume than a standard, plain text one. In our highly competitive world, where the majority of people stick to boring, standardized resumes, you can differentiate yourself from the masses by taking a more creative approach.
What’s nice about the stunning PDF approach is that you can put it everywhere, send it by email, or even print it.
The best way to start compiling such a portfolio is to create one using a well-built template. You can Google “Stunning resume templates”. From there, choose a template you like and then customize the colours. Once you’re comfortable using the template, feel free to change the layout a bit.
And there you go, you’ve got a stunning PDF portfolio!
2. The stunning website approach
These days, there are so many ways to build a beautiful looking and interactive website with no coding skills required. As a programmer myself, when people approach me to build a website for them, I don’t even code it; I just use one of the following platforms because doing so saves me so much time:
squarespace.com (my favourite, and where I host forestco.co)
If you’re selling products or services for your portfolio, you might also want to consider:
When I was creating a personal brand online, I hosted my portfolio at dannyforest.com (redirects now). I built the website in two hours using Squarespace, despite having no previous experience with the platform. And let me tell you, the website looked nice — even with minimal time spent on customization.
Building websites is something that scares a lot of people, but with the tools mentioned above, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Heck, my wife, who’s a nurse, learned how to build websites on Wordpress while volunteering in Cambodia and South Korea. If she can do it, so can you!
Once you’ve built the website, it’s time to link it to a custom domain that you own. A domain name is a unique URL that belongs to you (and only you). Examples of domain names I own include: forestco.co, skillup-academy.com, and dannyforest.com. The two best sources for custom domains are:
You can get started with a great domain name for $10/year, provided it’s not currently owned by someone else.
Showing how to buy a domain name and then link your website to it is beyond the scope of this article. Rest assured, though, there are plenty of excellent tutorials online to help you. If using Squarespace, see their full tutorial here.
How do you promote your portfolio?
Your portfolio is your point of entry. That’s where you lead people so they know who you are, what you are capable of, and what you’re looking for.
Here are eight ways to promote your portfolio:
Job sites
Most job sites will allow you to link to a portfolio website. If this isn’t an option, create a stunning PDF and then put the link to your portfolio website in the PDF. The chances are that the employer will look at it if they’re at least mildly interested in your work. What’s nice about job sites is that employers on there are already looking for portfolios and so the need to actively advertise yours is minimal.LinkedIn
LinkedIn allows you to link to any website. You can even link to files hosted on Google Drive or Dropbox. Much like job sites, employers are already looking on LinkedIn for candidates. There’s no reason not to have your portfolio’s link always available on your LinkedIn profile, even if you’re not currently looking for new work.Medium.com
Many people I know have built great followings by writing on Medium. It can be an excellent way to bring awareness to your portfolio because you give value to readers for free, you showcase your expertise, you make money, and you can add links to your portfolio in your articles.Blogging for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
All the website-building platforms I mentioned above allow you to host a blog on your portfolio website. Similarly to writing on Medium, it’s a great way to showcase your expertise on a topic. It also may allow you to rank on Google and/or other search engines for certain keywords. Some articles I wrote over a year ago still rank high on Google, even though I’m not doing anything to actively promote my blog.Vlogging
In addition to bringing awareness to your portfolio, this approach contributes greatly to showing others who you are as a person. People hire people, not portfolios. There’s no better way to show who you are than to do it through video. Much like blogging for SEO, your videos can rank many years after they’ve been created.Quora
Answer questions on quora.com, and put your portfolio website on your profile page. People like to verify the “authority” of those who give answers. I know a few people who have become successful by using Quora to simultaneously help others and demonstrate expertise in a given field.Business cards
When you attend in-person events, bring business cards with your portfolio website printed on them. It’s an old-fashioned approach, but it still works!Facebook Ads
Facebook ads can be highly targeted and effective when done right. Of course, this tactic costs money and it requires extra time spent on creating nice images or videos; but if you make something that really grabs people’s attention, it can definitely be worth your time and money.
V. How Can I Get References?
What are references?
References are things people say about you after you’ve collaborated with them. References are the people behind such testimonials.
In today’s world, someone else’s opinion of you is often taken to be a very trustworthy way of judging what kind of person you are. Because you are your own biggest fan, people will tend to trust others’ impressions of you more than they will trust you.
It’s like buying a book on Amazon. If someone you know recommends a book, you’re more likely to buy it than if you have no recommendations at your disposal. Failing that, you then trust the reviews of people you don’t know but who have read the book. If a book has no reviews at all, you’re probably unlikely to make a purchase (at least if you’re anything like me).
It’s a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Without reviews, you don’t sell; but without sales, you don’t get reviews. Personal references are just like reviews. You need them, and you should work hard to get them.
References are also a good way to become more self-aware. We don’t always see ourselves as others see us. It’s good to get a reality check on who we are from time to time; and references are one way to do so.
How do you get references?
Here’s a simple answer: just ask!
The majority of people are so scared of rejection or of receiving a “bad” reference that they never even bother asking. Here are four ways to get references:
Asking a previous manager
Most of the time, managers are more than willing to write testimonials and to act as references for you. Such references will not only help with your future job prospects but they’ll also provide you with valuable insights into what it’s like for others to work with you. Don’t let your fear of your own shortcomings stop you from asking your past managers for their endorsements. I’ve written references for people I’ve had to let go. Just because somebody was no longer a good fit for a certain position doesn’t mean they aren’t a capable person. There’s good in everyone!Ask people you’ve helped before
References don’t have to be all work-related. One of the main functions of a reference is to help other people understand what kind of person you truly are. There’s little doubt that in your day-to-day life you’re constantly helping people in one way or another. Ask one of these people for a reference. It doesn’t matter if it’s your aunt or your next-door neighbour: if the person knows you well, ask them to provide you with a testimonial.Do short side gigs
Prove your worth by doing short gigs on Upwork or Fiverr. Employers are forced to leave reviews after gigs are completed. And because reviews mean everything on these types of platforms, you always want to do your very best to get good reviews, which you can then promote on your portfolio.Ask people you’ve collaborated with in the past
You did a school project with someone? Ask them to give you a reference! Volunteered with two or three people for a week-long fundraiser last summer? Ask each of them too!
How do you promote them?
References can be added to your LinkedIn profile and as testimonials on your portfolio website or landing page.
As much as you can, try to get a picture of the person who gave you the reference. Remember: people trust people. Without a picture, the testimonial seems less real.
Dave Schools has done a terrific job showcasing tons of testimonials associated with his Medium writing course. It may not be a portfolio website as such, but Dave’s page is still a great example of how to promote references in a way that increases the authority of one’s brand.
If you have video testimonials, which tend to be even more impactful than text-based endorsements, you can add a page on your portfolio specifically for video reviews. Here are some great examples of this approach.
Ultimately, what you want to do is place your references somewhere that’s obvious and easy for others to access. Your portfolio’s home page is one great choice; another option is to use a dedicated page just for references.
As much as you can, try to cross-promote references from your website to LinkedIn and vice versa.
Summary
In this guide, you’ve learned about the reality of the changing job market in the early 21st century. You’ve come to see that the diploma is no longer the right way to try to sell yourself to potential employers: because nearly everybody has a diploma nowadays, diplomas simply aren’t an effective means for distinguishing between qualified and unqualified candidates.
You’ve also learned about a number of proven best methods for building new skills and for increasing your proficiency in the skills you already possess. Plus, you’ve learned that hard skills are not what matter most in today’s world; rather, it’s these eight super valuable soft skills:
Action taking
Adaptability
Altruism
Clear communication
Openness/growth mindset
Positivity
Resourcefulness
Self-awareness
You’ve learned that without a creative portfolio, you can’t distinguish yourself from your competitors as well as you otherwise could. You’ve also learned how to create a solid portfolio using simple but powerful tools, and you’ve discovered eight effective techniques for promoting your portfolio to the world.
Last but not least, you’ve learned that people hire people, and, as such, that references are more important today than ever before. You’ve discovered four ways to acquire references as well as various strategies for promoting testimonials on your portfolio and on other places.
With all this, you’re now equipped to face the realities of the job market of 2019 and beyond. Once you find your dream job, don’t forget that you have to keep learning — no matter what. Education doesn’t end after school. It doesn’t end when you land your first job. And it doesn’t end when you finally land the job you’ve always wanted. Education never ends.
Ultimately, it’s the people who continuously learn new skills and adapt to changing circumstances who remain relevant, prosperous, and in-demand in any job market. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you’ll start to thrive — not only this year but for the rest of your life.
So keep learning, skill up, and score some awesome work this year!
You can do this!
If you want to be prepared for a better tomorrow, then SkillUp! Check out SkillUp Academy!