The Best Jobs I've Ever Had Are Not On My Resume

It's funny. When I look back on my life, some of the most meaningful experiences I've ever had don't appear anywhere on my LinkedIn profile.

Why is that? I really have no idea.

Somewhere along the way, society decided that a life's work begins after university. But I'm not sure that's true.

Here are the five jobs I'm most proud of:

1. Parent

Raising boy-girl twins from 0 to 26 — and counting. No work has mattered more. No work has taught me as much.

2. Editor in Chief, Massachusetts Daily Collegian

The University of Massachusetts/Amherst daily newspaper, serving western Massachusetts. I was 19 years old, running a newsroom. Since then I think my career has gone sideways.

3. Ski Patrol, Aspen CO

You show up before the mountain opens. Ski the first runs (avalanches). It taught me calm under pressure in a way no business school ever could.

4. Poet

Published in several journals. Zero compensation.

Completely worth it.

5. Harley-Davidson Intern

Between my first and second year at Harvard Business School. I spent a summer learning what authenticity really means.

What's the best job you've ever had that's not on your resume?

"The trick with technology is to avoid spreading darkness at the speed of light."

Conclusion

The most formative work rarely fits on a resume. Parenting, ski patrol, a college newsroom, unpaid poetry, an apprenticeship at Harley-Davidson — none of them look like jobs to a recruiter, but each one taught something a corporate title never could. The question worth asking isn't what's on your LinkedIn. It's what's shaped you that LinkedIn would never recognize.

Written by Stephen Klein, Founder/CEO of Curiouser.AI

Stephen Klein is Founder & CEO of Curiouser.AI, the only AI designed to augment human intelligence. He also teaches at UC Berkeley. We opened the waitlist for Alice 2.0, what we believe may be the first complete AI thought-leadership system. Alice is designed to amplify individuality, to preserve your voice, not replace it. Join the waitlist at curiouser.ai. Curiouser is community-funded on WeFunder.