By Penelope Trunk (Co-Founder, Brazen Careerist)
If you want to make yourself stand out as a top candidate for almost any job, try this approach: start a company and then sell it for nothing. This is a lot easier to do than you may realize, especially if you think of entrepreneurship as a career-building tool– instead of a bank-account building tool.
Are you thinking this sell-for-a-dollar thing is a waste of time and effort?
It’s not. Here are five reasons why it’s a smart career move:
1. Entrepreneurial types are in very high demand in the workplace.
The most sought-after employees in the recruiting field are self-starters, people with tons of ideas and lots of confidence and people who get a rush from working all the time.
Unfortunately, these are also the people who start their own companies. They don’t really want to work for someone else, and they almost never pick up the phone to listen to a recruiter pitch a job. So the entrepreneurial type who is willing to work for someone else is a rare find, and in high demand.
2. Doing wacky things makes you more attractive.
Sometimes start-a-business types are crazy and impossible to get along with. No one can work with them ,and they end up being mad scientists in their basements. Or, they are so nuts that they can’t even manage to get anything done. These are not the kind of people you want to be like. Obviously.
» Read the full post at Penelope Trunk’s blog.
Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.
About the guest blogger: Penelope Trunk is Co-Founder of Brazen Careerist. Her own career path has had twists and turns and in a world where straight, safe career paths are nowhere to be had. While studying English at graduate school, Penelope learned HTML which allowed her to get a job in the marketing department at Ingram Micro. After a stint in the Fortune 500, she went to a few software companies and then started her own company, Math.com, which she sold for a small sum, and founded eCitydeals, which shut down in the dot-com bust. Follow her on Twitter at @penelopetrunk.
