“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”- Martin Luther King Jr

Even though you may think that the hours you spent during college reading 500 pages a day, writing endless essays, and seeing the sun rise as you studied for your multiple choice exam the next day, may have qualified you for a career as a top-exec straight out of college, prepare to be surprised. Unfortunately “great last minute studier, can whip out an essay overnight, and able to study for 3 finals simultaneously are not qualifications for a position.  

After college you will probably become very familiar applying for jobs that include  ”Assistant, Jr, Intern and entry-level” somewhere in the title. As you start your first job, it can be very frustrating working late hours, being on call weekends, running to the store to grab your boss a coffee, or becoming master of the stapler and copy-machine. However realize that nearly every top executive and successful person has started in a position such as yours, and climbed from the bottom up. Use positions such as these to prove yourself and show that you can remain positive even while performing seemingly pointless and annoying tasks.

I love this quote by Martin Luther King, because it reminds us that no matter what job we have we should perform it to the best of our abilities. Remember that the harder you work, the faster you will be moved up and the better review and reference you will get in the future. 

Tags: Daily Inspiration, working