One of my biggest pet peeves is when people who are experiencing good fortune in life claim that they knew exactly how it happened.

You’ve met them. They have the perfect job with the perfect boyfriend and the perfect home. They’ll boastfully tell you how they did it. They’ll tell you how they earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. Then, they completed an internship at Eli and Lilly.  Since they were the “best intern,” they were offered a full-time job as an analyst. “All you gotta do,” they say, “is network and get a great internship.”

They have the same attitude about how they got a man. “Wear pink lipstick and red nail polish,” they say. Men love that.”

They have all the answers. Meanwhile, you’re over here networking and applying to thousands of internships and nothing happens. You’re working a minimum wage job with laughable benefits, a degree that you have no clue what to do with, and a boyfriend who hasn’t worked in 4 years. Read More »