If only I could invent something like Facebook then I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a job. If only I could come up with an idea like that then I would be better off.

And that is what I like to call The Facebook Myth. The belief that we all have the ability inside of us to found or invent a billion dollar idea. You’ve been reading The Secret and watching Oprah too much. Do I think the ability is in each person? Maybe, but the probability is less than 1% of 1%.

There are about 350,000,000 people in the US. Figure 50% of them are children and teenagers who add less than 1% value to the productive economy. There are about 500 billionaires in the US. (Thank you Wiki) That is .000001 % of the population. That is your chance of becoming a billionaire.

There are 8,000,000 millionaires in the US. (Thank you again Wiki) Those odds are a bit more in your favor. 2.2% to be precise. You have a 2% chance in becoming a millionaire. To be a bit more realistic we should separate those under 18 and that increases your chances to about 5%.

You could subtract out the federal, state, and county workers who will most likely never become rich and increase your odds to about 10%.

I’m fully confident in saying that you will not become a billionaire founder who will become the next Facebook. If you’re reading this post by some random guy in Texas than the odds are even greater that you will not become a billionaire. Or be the next Mark Zuckerburg.

Start by praying to the god of your choice. I’m personally a fan of Jesus.

Then summon the courage to handle rejection.

Finally, realize that Apple has over 10,000 people a day that want to work for them.

You have a 1 in 10,000 shot in landing a job with Apple.

I’m upsetting you. The truth hurts.

It is not impossible to get a job with Apple. Since they have thousands of employees.

To best hack your chances, go to LinkedIn and study the profiles of several Apple employees.

Or even better, have a programmer friend write an algorithm that analyzes the education, work experience, and profile patterns of all the Apple employees on LinkedIn. Then analyze the trends.

Get to work on adding those trends steadily to your resume. What I am proposing is very difficult. You will want to give up. But again, you only have about a 1/10000 shot at landing with Apple. That is the level of commitment it will take to get in.

Nobody really cares about cover letters. They are mainly bull shit. Now some hiring managers love to read cover letters and take them way too seriously.

I don’t even know who invented a cover letter anyways.

Most job descriptions are bull shit. Mainly because HR needs a long list of hypothetical what ifs built into the job in case the candidate comes back and says “That was never a part of the job I signed up for”.

So they add more and more shit to the description to make sure they cover all of their basis.

There are always 2–3 key skills a hiring manager must have in the role. If having the required programming language experience is a must have by the boss then you MUST have that experience.

Don’t sweat it, if you really want to make an impression with the boss. Do a ton of research to find a hiring manager in the said firm. Invite them to a cafe for a cup of coffee. Ask them about the pain in the ass business problems they are trying to solve.

If you have the solution then propose it. If you don’t get back with them in a week or two when you do.

If you have to have experience in a certain programming language go and get the experience practicing as a freelancer or doing the work on spec.

There are a million and one ways to get around the ol “I need you to know this” conundrum HR puts candidates through.

I’m writing a book about the madness of job search. Email me if you are interested in a free copy jbarber@network-hero.com