Published April 17, 2015
I get a lot of emails from young people who aren’t interested in the standard life script of “go to college, get a good job”, but aren’t sure where to start.
I almost always give the same advice, no matter what they want to do, if they want to travel or not, or even if they are going to stay in college while doing something extra on the side.
Find someone who is successfully doing what you want to do, and go study under them as an apprentice for a few months to a year.
Work for cheap – just cover your living expenses.
This is the best education. It’s real-world. You handle real problems for real people and spend time learning under someone five to ten years ahead of you. You don’t know what you don’t know, and the best way to overcome those blind spots quickly is under the guidance of someone who has been there and done that.
If the term apprenticeship makes you uncomfortable, think of it as a job that pays mostly in learning, not cash.
People who take on apprenticeships are generally looking for a few things:
- A return on their time and investment. People want to help you succeed, and benevolence is part of it, but at the end of the day they are looking to get return on their investment (whether that’s money you make them, connections you earn them, or any other value you add).
- A hard working person who is hungry to learn. Leave your ego at the door.
- A track record, however small, that you can stay committed to something and always do what you say you are going to do. This is important, no matter how successful you eventually become. It doesn’t have to be related to what you are doing the apprenticeship for – I met someone who practiced juggling two hours a day every day for three years, which helped him land an apprenticeship in internet marketing, media buying, and SEO.
If you can demonstrate these three things, you can get an apprenticeship.
Everyone I know who has done this went on to become successful shortly thereafter, doing something on their own.
For instance, Chiara Cokeing was your typical star student, graduating magna cum laude from business school and competing in international math competitions. After a year working as an management consultant, she quit and tried to do her own thing. Three months in, she emailed Sebastian Marshall asking for an apprenticeship. Now, she’s been a successful freelance copywriter, grew a different business to nearly five figures a month, and now runs marketing for a fast growing startup. She also leveraged an apprenticeship in powerlifting to win silver at the Philippines National Championships.
Or, take George Millo, who dropped out of university and got on a one-way flight to Saigon, where he apprenticed as a programmer for a year and a half, where “the pay was absolutely shite”. In his own words, “I learned more in the average week on the job than I did in the average month on my Computer Science degree, and in the 18 months I worked for that company, I gained a better education in software development than I could possibly have asked for”. He’s now a well-paid freelancer, and is booked in weeks, if not months, in advance.
What about Vincent Nguyen, who took a job with Empire Flippers, which started as an apprenticeship and then turned into a full-fledged job? He’s on his own now, and his new business did five figures in its first quarter – while turning some clients away. He’s 20.
If this is such a great way to get started, why didn’t you do it, Connor?
Because I was arrogant. I already had a large contract, and a year’s experience professionally doing design work. I was too good to get an apprenticeship in design.
As I write this, it’s about eleven months since I dropped out of school, flew overseas, and started making this lifestyle work. I’m doing well financially, and will make more than the average college graduate salary this year, and potentially much more. My design business is growing quickly. I’m not overworked or stressed, and I have time to spend hanging out with friends or learning new skills.
But this modest success is relatively recent. I had two months last fall where I completely ran out of money when a client paid late, and I had no backup. I slept on a friend’s floor for two weeks, then had to take a loan from him to pay rent so I could move out. I went a thousand dollars into credit card debt, something I never thought I would do. I was very stressed, and overworked trying to make something happen. When the client finally paid, things got more stable, but I still had debt and not much money in the bank.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I would have been where I am now several months ago if I had gotten an apprenticeship. I would have skipped all the mistakes I made. I would have avoided the time wasted on dead end projects. Specifically, I would have become much better at the business side of design. And the whole process would have been a lot less stressful.
But all that happened to me, when I already had a year of experience, cashflow secured, and a few years of reading and learning under my belt. What do you think would have happened if I didn’t have any of those? I’d be totally, utterly fucked.
Get an apprenticeship.
