Given his less than stellar academic background, W.K.’s job prospects were limited. Consequently he realized that he would have to become his own employer. In that way he would be evaluating his own job application.
Today he is quite successful as a self employed mortgage broker. According to W.K.,43, not one of his $1.7M of net worth ever asked him about his SAT scores, his class rank, etc.; nor did any of his clients. People who seek mortgages want mortgages. They are not interested in the fact that he was raised by a single mom who immigrated to America at age 16 carrying a plastic bag. She worked 80 hours a week while raising 5 children.
She did a great job in raising her kids. The greatest lessons I have learned from her . . . hard work, live within your means and treat people right.
With my SAT scores in the 800s [combined] I’m telling you that anyone can make it. My theory is most people don’t get it. They live for the wrong reasons, the big house, the fanciest cars, and consume as much as possible. My number one goal is to be the best dad.
W.K. is yet another member of the 900 Club. As I wrote in The Millionaire Mind,
Only those millionaires who scored below 1,000 on their SATs [original version] are admitted.
Life is a marathon. How well you do in this race involves much more than grade point averages. . . . Standardized testing can not be substituted for actually running the race.
[People like W.K.] never allowed academic ‘odds makers’ to dictate their performance in life. They recognize that creativity, hard work, discipline and certain social skills including leadership were more significant than grades and aptitude test results. These are the people who confound their teachers and other fans of aptitude and intelligence testing.
So what if your resume, academic credentials and/or what’s on your job application are not outstanding, be determined to move to the other side of the negotiating table. Change roles; become the actor in the human resource drama that evaluates the applicant’s credentials.