professional network

Jim Carrey – A Lesson in Building Your Career

Jim Carrey was an extrovert as a child. As a child he performed constantly for anyone who would watch.
When he was a teenager, his family was forced to relocate to a Toronto suburb. They all took security and janitorial jobs. Jim worked an 8-hour shift after school. The family lived out of a Volkswagen camper van.

Eventually he dropped out of high school (age 16) and decided to strike out into the comedy club scene. Then he moved to Los Angeles and worked his way into a regular show at The Comedy Store, where he impressed the late Rodney Dangerfield so much that the veteran comic signed him as an opening act for an entire season.

After seeing Jim perform, Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show “In Living Color” (1990). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts.

Carrey’s transformation from TV goofball to marquee headliner happened within 12 months! He starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and then in Dumb & Dumber, his first multi-million dollar payday! Eventually he made $20 million for a movie (The Cable Guy), the largest up-front sum that had been offered to any comic actor at that time.  Jim wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars in 1983, post-dated 10 years and hoped he could cash it by then.

What can we learn from Jim’s journey to become a major movie star and comic actor?

1.     You never get anything good for nothing – study the “greats” and you’ll see that they all worked hard. It’s your focused day-to-day efforts that add up to making you remarkable in what you do.

2.     You’ve got to LOVE what you do - Studies indicate that 75% of people are not excited about their work – they have a job but they don’t have a career – without passion you are unlikely to ever make it big!

3.     You’ve Got To Be Bad Before You Become Great – Career development is a PROCESS not an event – keep trying to get better at what you do and soon or later, you will be the expert!

4.     Recognize The Power Of Relationships – Jim made it big because he offered amazing talent that was recognized by industry leaders – who’s in your contact database that can help you achieve greatness?

5.     Focus On Who You Want To Become – Jim’s teenage life started with him working 8 hours after school and living in a Volkswagen van with his family – he beat the odds to become successful because he focused on where he wanted to be not where he was.

6.     You Become What You Think About (most often) – have a focused drive to become somebody great and have a WRITTEN plan to make it happen – having written goals dramatically increases the chance you will reach them.

Now more than ever, take time to think about what you want out of your life and your career.
The Internet and technology has made it easier than ever to become someone great.

Watch this video and Become A Dreamer Again.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

CEO of LinkedIn.com gives you tips on how to use LinkedIn – CNN Video

Reid Hoffman, the CEO of Linkedin.com was on CNN yesterday talking about LinkedIn and giving tips on how to use it. The interview lasted about 15 minutes and covered social network, professional networks, and job hunting.

Most impressively the CNN announced that LinkedIn currently has 36 million members around the world. That’s incredible if you consider a few months ago it only had 28 million members. How is this possible? Simple, LinkedIn has a new signup every single second.
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The CEO says LinkedIn is perfect for finding information or to find a job. You can also post question on business strategy. For example, Mr. Hoffman asked on LinkedIn where he should open his European office. He got good tips like cities with multiple international flights.

To find a job he says “Applicants with complete profiles, recommendations and connections are getting highest response rates when applying for jobs. You can get an edge when finding a job by connecting to the hiring manager”.

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