When I am looking to hire someone, I don't care where you went to school or what your grades were. To some degree, I don't care about your technical knowledge.  I am more concerned about who you are. Have you experienced a hardship? Did you overcome it? Experience and exposure you get from adversity can be worth more than getting a degree or improving your technical skills.  Who you are is what I, and other leaders, are looking at. Do you keep promises? Can you let your ego go? Can you work with and for others? Are you curious? Do you read? Persistence will get my attention. Have you found yourself in a hole and managed to dig yourself out?  The three most important leadership qualities can't be learned in school.  Curiosity Humility A Drive to Improve Don't underestimate curiosity. Curiosity causes you to think differently. When you think differently, you act differently.  Ask more questions. Read more books. Get more experience and exposure. And then do something with it.  Knowing stuff is easy. Doing stuff is hard. Be curious and then had the discipline to create action from your curiosity.  A good book to understand the mindset shift needed to embrace these qualities, check out Motivation-Based Interviewing.  Do you have the Morning Magic Planner yet? Click Here to get it for free.