3 Things to Consider Before Applying on a Job

Anj Salonga
3 min readMay 29, 2024

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There’s more than earning a salary.

Are you working on a job or applying for a job to earn or to learn?

After watching Alex Garcia’s 1 hour interview with Brian in their Youtube Channel, Sweat Equity, I am rethinking on this question.

On the episode, they talked about Alex’s journey from his — NFL dream > working as a barback > working on The Hustle > then building Marketing Examined.

But the one idea that struck me is when he said that he is doesn’t like working as an employee and only last at least a year on a job. Related to why he is so intentional on taking or applying for a job.

This is because he is into ‘building things’.

And he only takes on a job if it answers these 3 things:

1. Does this job can help me go from here and then to my goals?
2. Does this job can build skills that I will need in my journey?
3. Does this job has a leader that I aspire to be or achieved the goals that I want?

Does this job can help me go from here and then to my goals?

Alex intentionally applied and persist an 8-part interview on The Hustle. He then left after a year of being a Lead Social, working with the community, learned about paid acquisitions and was able to grow “My First Million Podcast” subscribers.

I believe that he will never be able to build and scale Marketing Examined to the way it is today if not with his hands on experience and first-hand knowledge on the industry. He learned, grew and improved his knowledge about media companies by working inside.

Does this job can build skills that I will need in my journey?

No job is a waste of time, it helps us build skills along the way. But Alex do not just acquire skills along the way, he make sures that his jobs equip him with skills that he will actually need in the battle.

Does this job has a leader that I aspire to be or achieved the goals that I want?

I always hear the advice “surround yourself with like-minded people” and I believe that can really help you have the right mindset and makes good choices easier.

That’s why Alex also make an effort to get into companies that he knew had leaders that he admire or those who already on the state that he wants to go.

Having a “living proof” that your dreams are possible helps fill your mind with positive ideas.

Building something takes time, like Alex, build enough skills, improve and then move on to the next.

He maybe jumping from one job to another but it was align with his goals and that goal is build his own newsletter that is now scaled into 5 different publications.

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Anj Salonga
Anj Salonga

Written by Anj Salonga

Sharing lessons and experience building a Newsletter Business | Content Writer