Two Degrees, Two Mindsets: The Difference Between Looking for a Job and Building a Career

By Frank Ofili

In more than two decades of managing people and talent, I have encountered thousands of job seekers.

Some came with impressive academic qualifications but little sense of direction. Others came with modest expectations but an unmistakable determination to build something meaningful.

Two encounters, in particular, have stayed with me.

Both involved young graduates trying to find their way into the world of work. Both were intelligent and educated. But their approaches to employment—and to their futures—were remarkably different.

The First Graduate

The first was a Second Class Upper graduate of Economics who applied to my company for the position of a cleaner.

When he appeared before me for the interview, I was genuinely taken aback.

Here was a young man who had spent years at university studying Economics, endured the financial and intellectual demands of obtaining a degree, and graduated with a respectable Second Class Upper.

Yet here he was, applying for a cleaning job.

I did not employ him.

Instead, I spent considerable time talking to him.

I told him that, in my view, he was being unfair to himself. I also told him that I did not want to take advantage of his temporary circumstances by employing him in a role that appeared completely disconnected from his education and likely career aspirations.

An interview should not always be viewed merely as an exercise in selecting candidates.

Let me be clear: there is absolutely nothing wrong with honest work.

Every legitimate job has dignity. Cleaning is honest work, and there should be no shame whatsoever in doing it.

The issue was not that he was applying for a cleaning job.

The issue was that I sensed he had begun to lose sight of the career he had spent years preparing for.

There is a difference between taking a temporary survival job while deliberately pursuing your career and becoming so discouraged by repeated rejection that you stop thinking about where you ultimately want to go.

I was also concerned that if I employed him, he might eventually begin to see the job as beneath him. That could create frustration, dissatisfaction and eventually affect his attitude, commitment and productivity.

What I saw in him was not humility.

I saw frustration.

He had apparently searched for a job for so long that repeated rejection had begun to erode his confidence.

He was no longer asking:

“What career can I build?”

He was asking:

“What job can I get?”

Those are two very different questions.

Before he left, I did something I felt could help him.

I restructured his CV.

I tried to present his qualifications, skills and capabilities in a way that would make a prospective employer see beyond the degree certificate.

The difference between giving up and moving forward is having someone remind you of what you are capable of.

I also tried to change his mindset—from looking for just any job to deliberately looking for an opportunity that could become the beginning of a career.

Before he left my office, I gave him my business card and told him to call me whenever he felt I could be of help.

I had the feeling that he left my office more hopeful than when he came in.

Then came the second young man.

He was 23 years old and had a Master’s degree in Psychology. He also came from a reasonably comfortable family.

Yet he approached us with a rather unusual proposition.

He was willing to work as an office assistant and learn the ropes of Human Resources—even without immediate financial reward.

His plan was simple.

He wanted to spend about two years gaining practical corporate experience, learning how organisations actually function, understanding the realities of the workplace and developing himself as an HR professional.

After acquiring the experience he needed, he planned to move on and pursue a proper career in Human Resources.

At first glance, his proposal sounded strange.

Why would someone with an M.Sc. deliberately offer to start at such a low level?

But I saw something in him that I had not seen in the first young man.

He had a plan.

He understood something many young graduates do not:

A degree may open the door, but it does not teach you how to navigate the corporate world.

He was willing to start at the bottom.

He was willing to learn.

He was willing to do the heavy lifting.

Most importantly, he knew where he was going.

That distinction stayed with me.

Two Degrees. Two Mindsets.

These two young men taught me an important lesson about career development:

Academic qualifications and career success are not the same thing.

The first young man had a good degree, but repeated disappointment had begun to influence how he saw his future.

The second had an even higher qualification, but understood that a qualification alone was not enough. He was prepared to sacrifice short-term comfort for long-term experience and career capital.

If I had to bet on who was more likely to build a successful career, I would have put my money on the second young man.

Not because he had an M.Sc.

Not because he came from a comfortable family.

And certainly not because he was prepared to work without immediate financial reward.

I would have bet on him because he understood where he wanted to go and was willing to start from wherever he had to start to get there.

That is an important distinction.

There is a difference between starting small and thinking small.

The second young man was starting small.

The first was beginning to think small.

And that distinction can influence the trajectory of a career.

Career development sometimes requires taking a step backwards so that you can move several steps forward.

You may have to accept an entry-level position.

You may have to learn from people younger than you.

You may have to perform tasks that appear beneath your qualification.

You may have to spend years acquiring practical experience before the market begins to reward your education.

But none of that means you have to abandon your destination.

Never confuse your starting point with your destination.

A Lesson for Employers and HR Professionals

There is another lesson here for employers and HR professionals.

When someone applies for a position significantly below their qualifications, we are sometimes too quick to conclude that the person is simply desperate for a job.

Perhaps.

But sometimes there is a deeper story.

The person may have lost confidence.

They may have been rejected repeatedly.

They may have become discouraged.

They may have started believing that their qualifications have little value in the labour market.

That is why an interview should not always be viewed merely as an exercise in selecting candidates.

Sometimes, an interview can also become an opportunity to redirect someone’s thinking.

I could not give the first young man a job.

But perhaps I could give him something else that day:

perspective, encouragement and a better CV.

Then, Something Unexpected Happened

About a year later, my phone rang.

It was the first candidate.

He had secured a job with GTBank.

I was delighted.

The young man who had sat before me a year earlier, frustrated and willing to take a job far removed from his training, had found his way back onto the career path he wanted.

That was more than good news.

It was a reminder.

Sometimes, what a person needs is not necessarily another job.

Sometimes, they need someone to help them regain perspective.

Eleven Years Later

It has now been 11 years since that conversation.

He is happily married with three children and, as far as I know, is still with GTBank.

I often think about those two young men.

The first taught me that repeated rejection can make even a capable person lose sight of his potential.

The second taught me that a clear sense of direction can make a person willing to endure temporary discomfort in pursuit of a bigger goal.

But the first man’s story also taught me something else:

A temporary setback does not have to become a permanent destination.

He was not incapable.

He was not unqualified.

He was simply discouraged.

And sometimes, the difference between giving up and moving forward is having someone remind you of what you are capable of.

You don’t build a career by waiting for the perfect opportunity.

You build it by making the most of the opportunities available to you while keeping your eyes firmly fixed on where you want to go.

Two graduates.

Two mindsets.

Two very different approaches to work.

But ultimately, both found their way.

One was desperately looking for a job. The other was deliberately building a career.

And the lesson I took away is this:

Qualifications may get you noticed. Experience may make you valuable. But mindset and direction can determine how far you go.