You're not really competing against all 250

My brother once applied for a job out-of-state.

There were over 250 applicants for the position. His odds were 1/250, mathematically speaking.

I talked to him on the phone when he decided to go through the application process. He said "Lee, people keep telling me I don't have a chance because there are so many people trying to get this job."

"Yeah, I imagine," I said.

"But the thing is, I'm really not going against all those guys. I'm better than most of them already."

Arrogant? No. It was objectively true.

When we were young, our dad and both of our grandads told us to "have a firm handshake," "show up on time," etc. The kind of basic stuff every man was supposed to know.

In Current Year, these things aren't common among the uptalking soyboy set. My brother is a Millennial but doesn't act the part.

Sure, the whole job market is a complete mess where people are hired to fill certain racial quotas, etc. - but competence can still get you places, especially in the small business world. And my brother had an advantage in that he wasn't coddled and he was raised by tough men who had been there, done that.

He went to multiple interviews. He showed up, shook hands, met the people in charge, remembered their names, talked to other employees in the building and was out in the parking lot with a cup of coffee to nod at the boss when the man got in.

After a month, the remaining list of people was down to ten. And my brother was one of them.

Then they picked a man to fill the position - and it wasn't my brother.

He shrugged it off. He got close.

But then the boss called my brother in and said "listen, we want you to be on this team, somewhere - anywhere - so I've talked to the higher-ups and we're going to find a place for you if we can."

Shortly afterwards, he was hired into a new position.

I wasn't surprised.


You can look at marriage stats and say "OMG LOOK AT THE DIVORCE RATE!"

You can look at the supposed price of raising children and say "OMG I CAN'T HAVE KIDS!"

You can say "THE ODDS ARE 1/250 - NO WAY I'LL GET IT!"

But most people don't even have the self-control to quit eating potato chips when they have a gut. Most people don't have the patience to save for the future, train a dog or learn game. Instead they rail against the odds and complain that the world isn't fair and that women are wicked and that no one is hiring. And that @#%$! dog keeps pissing on the sofa!

Those are the guys you are competing against. The odds aren't nearly as bad as you think.

Alpha Game 2011

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