Having been so eager to leap into the content last post, I found it difficult to muster up the motivation when it actually came time to write again. But here goes.

I hate the saying 'It's not what you know, it's who you know'. I recently landed a job at the same restaurant where my housemate works, and the moment I mention this fact whoever I'm talking to invariably asks the same question - did I get the job through her?

Yes, she helped. She put in a good word for me and I got a trial shift. And then got the job on my own merits: by working hard, and by demonstrating intelligence and initiative. Saying that it's not what you know completely invalidates all the work you do to learn the things you know. If I hadn't been able to do what was asked of me, then it wouldn't have mattered whether I was the Queen's housemate - I wouldn't have gotten that job.

Knowing people helps, but in the end, you can't rely entirely on people. You can know an entire country's worth of people, but if you can't work hard and if you have no marketable skills, you'll never get anywhere. Don't cancel out all of your hard work by claiming that connections get you everywhere, because they don't.