I think the biggest mistake most people make when they pick their first job is they don't worry enough about whether they'll love the work, and they worry more about whether it's good experience
Interpretation
Choosing a job should prioritize passion over just gaining experience.
Steve Ballmer emphasizes the importance of loving your work when selecting your first job. He argues that many people tend to focus too much on the perceived value of experience rather than the joy and satisfaction that comes from doing work they are passionate about, which can lead to a fulfilling career in the long run.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire new graduates entering the job market.
The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn't think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential.
I loved every minute of my time at Microsoft, but I had always envisioned having another phase of life just because I thought that would be interesting. It had never been my plan to work until I literally didn't want to do anything and then hang it up.
I didn't know they would pay you money to sit in a room and write songs for other people. I always thought that George Strait was singing a song, he made it up, and that was the end of it. But the instant I found that out, that that could be a job, I thought, 'That's the job for me. I gotta figure out how to do that.'
I’m one of those very lucky people who absolutely love what they do for a living. There is no career better suited to my eccentricities, strengths, and passions than that of a children’s book author.
By an irony of fate, my first employment was as a draughtsman. I hated drawing; it was for me the very worst of annoyances. Fortunately, it was not long before I secured the position I sought, that of chief electrician to the telephone company.
Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder.
If you're in a good profession, it's hard to get bored, because you're never finished - there will always be work you haven't done.
After the age of 30 in the movie profession, you're pretty well over as far as the casting people are concerned.
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