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CHAPTER 4 Failure as Fertilizer: The Power of Persistence

You've sent the email, what's next? Do you just leave it at that and wait? No! Have you learned nothing so far? Although landing a job might be your #1 priority, chances are that your email (which you spent so much time agonizing over) has been either quickly forgotten or has landed in the Junk box, never to be seen again. So what do you do? Persevere. Persevere. Persevere.

Herald Chen, who co-ran Technology at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and is a former Goldman Sachs banker, recalls that when he was in college, he had his heart set on landing an internship at General Motors (GM). He sent a postcard to the HR department, explaining that he was an immigrant and that his father had always bought GM cars, but when they broke down, the Chens replaced them with Toyotas. The clincher was in the next line where he wrote, “I want to work at GM to make your cars better.”

It worked. He got the job.

Here's another never-give-up story from Juan Alva, formerly of Goldman Sachs and now managing director of an alternative investment fund. Juan told me about a graduate of a midwestern university—which might as well have been University of Basket Weaving given Wall Street's preference to hire from the Ivies—who wanted to get into the investment banking division at Goldman. Now this was way before Google, so the persistent bugger called the main phone number at Goldman and continued to call every day, trying to speak with the head of the group. He got as far as the head banker's secretary, who put up a huge firewall, offering one excuse after another as to why her boss wasn't available. At some point, the pest started calling 15 minutes earlier each day, until finally he caught the head banker before his secretary had arrived. “You've been very persistent,” he was told, and in the end, he got an interview and a job. That gnat became a top dog at Goldman and retired a very rich man.

The moral? “A lot of people don't appreciate that persistence really does pay off,” Juan told me.

One last story. Eric Heglie, a partner at Industrial Growth Partners and an ex-banker at Jefferies, broke into the business the old-fashioned way: as a stalker. He graduated from UCLA with a liberal arts degree and wanted to work at Jefferies. The only problem was that at the time, Jefferies was largely hiring from elite business and finance schools. So when Eric wasn't invited to interview, he tracked down one of their bankers and approached him as he walked toward the parking lot. Eric regaled him with all the reasons why he'd make a great banker and wouldn't let him go until the banker finally agreed to bring him in for an interview. Without his persistence, Eric would not have become the powerhouse private equity investor he is today.

Bottom line: Be persistent. If you get a resounding “No,” just remember that “No” is just a single letter away from “Now.” Did you give up when you failed that sobriety test? When you didn't graduate high school because you flunked gym? When you proposed to your now-wife and she initially said, “No, no, a thousand times no?” Of course not. You learned from your screw-up, dusted yourself off, and got back into the driver's seat. Just like that, much of landing a job is having the willpower to persevere. Some call it grit, but I like to consider it being able to take a wallop to the gut. From day one of your job search, that's the posture you want to assume.

Be Unus

Sometimes when you're getting constantly rejected, the problem really is with you.

Rather than scream that everyone's stupid, learn from rejection and adjust. Iterate. Figure out what makes you unappealing. I can't help you burn off your warts or drain your cysts, but I do have some advice that applies to everything from getting a job, to a promotion, a deal, and even a spouse. Unlike the soulless, one-word advice Mr. McGuire says to Dustin Hoffman in the movie The Graduate, my advice isn't “Plastics.” Mine is “Unus.” That's Latin for “one” and “only” and is the root of the word unique.

Gina King, partner at Supernode Global and former Jefferies SVP, says, “Focus on making it clear how you are different from other candidates. In certain situations, I didn't have the relevant experience so I focused on bringing new perspectives and being additive to the team. I came across as unique.”

Why Unus? Because the secret to getting in the door and ultimately getting what you want is projecting yourself as unique and taking advantage of scarcity. You're a durable good and you have to make others want to buy you, and only you. If you don't, then there is always some other chump who costs less, is more obedient, and is definitely better looking. So accentuate attributes that only a few can claim. Scarcity pays. Now hit that Send button!

Key Takeaways

What if you get rejected?

 Step 1: Contact hiring manager.

 Step 2: Get rejected.

 Step 3: Be Unus.

 Step 4: Try again; go back to Step 1.