Dear Friend,
If you look forward to starting your career but you dread the idea of needing to go to school for at least four years before you begin, this letter will help you get those four years back (and save yourself thousands of dollars in tuition costs).
After dropping out of school and getting a job in what I was majoring in, I realized how many other young professionals must feel like I did – hating school, itching to do work that matters, yet so afraid of failure that you become paralyzed.
And so, I created a monthly newsletter called:
The “College Opt-Out” Newsletter
But it ain’t cheap. It’s not “put you in debt for the rest of your life” expensive, but it isn’t cheap either.
And it’s not for those who aren’t ready to get their “hands dirty”.
Why?
Because I teach you the exact system I used to go from a college student with no experience to getting hired in the marketing department – which is what I was majoring in during college. However, I cannot magically make you employable. I can only teach you what I’ve learned, it’s up to you to act on what you learn so you can get a headstart on your career.
The “College Opt-Out” Newsletter is a print newsletter. Meaning you’ll receive a new issue in your mailbox each month. There is no online version. Each issue will dive deeper on a topic relevant to opting out of college and pursuing a career including… tips on interviewing… strategies to help you land the attention of companies you want to work for… how to develop the mindset needed to be a successful opt-out… advice on how to dismantle common critiques of “dropouts”… analyzing what other successful opt-outs did to get hired… and more. Each issue is different. The entire system is designed for one thing and one thing only…
To Help You Land A Job
In Whatever You Were Majoring In!
A little over two years ago I was stuck going to classes I couldn’t stand… learning more outside of school than I did during class… worried I didn’t “have what it takes” to build a successful career for myself… fooling myself into thinking getting a degree was the “safe route”… stuck at a slightly-above minimum wage job I hated… suspended in analysis paralysis wondering if I should drop out… slowly getting more depressed as time passed. I was stuck between not having enough confidence to drop out and not having enough energy to go to class.
Luckily for me…
I accidentally failed out of a class I needed to pass because a computer froze! I was taking a final for a lab class that had its own separate final. When I finished the final, I went to print it out but the computer froze (and I didn’t have it saved). The final took me over an hour and I walked out of the classroom out of frustration…
…and I never came back. Though I doubted my rash decision at first, walking out of that lab class without turning in my final was liberating and forever changed the course of my life. Here’s what my subconscious was screaming:
“I say good bye to these pointless classes taught by professors with no actual experience on what they are teaching. I say good bye to over priced credits that I could have applied to a seminar to help better myself. I say good bye to text books that cost $15 but the college is actually charging me $200-$300. I say good bye to stupid rules such as “no technology in class” hello do know the world we live in?”
I said goodbye, and I never looked back.
After a month of relaxation, I buckled down and got serious about making myself employable. After a few months of implementing the system I teach in my “College Opt-Out” Newsletter and the accompanying “College Opt-Out (not-so-)Syllabus” book that each new subscriber gets free, I landed a 10-minute phone interview with the CEO of a growing startup and was hired on the spot.
I want you to know that I would not be teaching any of this if I did not launch a successful career first.
Anyways, in addition to the monthly print newsletter, you’ll also get your fair share of perks when you become a subscriber.
One of the many perks you get when you become a “College Opt-Out” subscriber is getting a free copy of my brand-spanking-new book…
“The College Opt-Out (not-so-)Syllabus”
This is a physical book that will be mailed to your house upon subscribing.
It’s a short, easy-to-read, “Syllabus” detailing the step-by-step process you need to follow to dramatically make you more employable to potential employers. I sell the physical book for $495.00 but it’s completely free when you become a “College Opt-Out”. It’s there to help you understand the philosophies and mindsets needed to build a successful career for yourself without needing a degree to start. (It even contains a list of the best places to look for jobs at companies that will expedite your professional growth quicker than working for any other company…)
Some of the tips inside this book include:
- Two “blatantly obvious” interviewing tricks that will skyrocket your chances of getting hired. (You’d be surprised by how often applicants ignore these two tricks.)
- How send to cold emails to CEOs like a drunken Brit and get them to respond. (Including an exact template that has been proven to land internships, apprenticeships, and job offers.)
- Why college is actually one of the worst places to grow your network. (I know I’m trampling on sacred grounds here, but methinks you’ll be convinced after reading why on page 5.)
- The real reason you don’t retain much in school. (It’s not just that the educational system is outdated or that your professors lack raw experience, it goes much deeper than that.)
- How to stand out like Shaq in a room full of Danny Devito’s when you apply to companies. (Including a step-by-step guide detailing exactly how to do this.)
- Why most applicants (with a degree or not) are never even considered for jobs they apply for (and how you can easily avoid this fate).
- The 10 most desirable traits you can develop even if you have zero skills. (Learn how to signal these during the hiring process and your lack of skills won’t matter because employers will be “itching” to bring you on their team.)
- Why caring too much about a potential job “decapitates” your chances of getting hired. (Be careful here – caring too little about a job could have the same outcome.)
- The crucial question you must ask as early as possible during your interview so every answer you give impresses your interviewer. (Failing to ask this question could be the difference between getting hired or not.)
- The “Forgotten Secret” way of getting strangers to put in a good word for you. (Again, failing to “download” this tip into your brain could be the difference of getting a job offer or not.)
- Why university-funded studies are completely wrong when they say you’ll make more with a degree than you would’ve without one. (This basic manipulation of statistics has resulted in universities prying a lot of monies out of naive young people’s pockets.)
- The “Unsexy Secret” that requires dedication and hard work but was the sole reason I got hired over the applicant who finished in second. (Including an “Appendix” section that will help you if you get stuck.)
- What the number one goal of your first “big-boy” job should be. (HINT: It’s NOT about making money or even about improving your skills!)
- “Common Sense Class” for how to perform your first job with excellence. (What was that about millennials not being good coworkers…?)
- One “completely effortless” thing you can always do to improve your chances of being (or staying) hired. (So many people don’t understand this and it costs them potential job offers!)
- How to position yourself as a “no-brainer” to bring onto the team. (Most people don’t have the guts to do this, but implementing it could get you hired even when you’re competing against more “qualified” applicants.)
- The real reason interns don’t get respect (and how to position your “internship” in a way that not only demands respect but also dramatically increases your chances of getting hired).
Okay, let’s break here for a second to talk about the absolute worst thing you could ever do during the hiring process.
One of my acquaintances recently committed this mistake so it’s fresh in my noggin. Anyways, about a year ago after an extra rough breakup with his girlfriend, he decided to drop out of college. And ever since, he’s been hopping from job to job (mostly as a waiter), not staying at any one job for more than a month or two. (I’m not close enough to him to know if he was fired from each of these jobs or simply quit.)
So after a few unemployed months of job-hunting, he came across a real opportunity. The potential job he was after was overseeing concrete pouring and finishing operations. It’s not exactly sexy, but it would’ve paid him at least double of what he made as a waiter. But it just so happened that this opportunity was one of those jobs that *require* a degree.
So what did he do?
He lied. He said he graduated college with a Business Administration degree.
And… it worked (kinda).
Y’see, he did get the job because he lied about having his degree. And he had everyone fooled for a few weeks.
But one day, he got called inside his manager’s office. Turns out, they did some more research on him after he got the job. And when they conducted their research, they found out he was lying about about graduating from college. He was immediately terminated. It’s not the degree that they were really worried about…
He proved that he couldn’t be trusted.
Would the company still have hired him if he was honest about not having his degree? I don’t know. But if we was honest and still got hired, he definitely wouldn’t have been fired (barring some major unrelated oversight on his part).
Moral of the story? Don’t lie in your interviewing process. Nothing will get you terminated faster than your employer finding out you lied on your resume or during your interview. And it could hurt your future employment chances, because businesses will talk to each other.
Best part? Not only will I teach you how to impress potential employers without needing to lie, but if you follow (and implement) my system to the T, you’ll actively be turning your worst qualities (like not having your degree) into the sole reason you were hired.
And other tips like:
- How to apply and get hired for a job that explicitly “requires” a college degree. (HINT: they’re not as nearly as concerned about your degree as they are with… find out on Page 35)
- Why getting your degree can hurt your chances of getting hired. (A degree is basically a super duper expensive high school diploma nowadays…)
- The #1 type of company you should work for (and which type of companies you should avoid like the plague).
- The “show-don’t-tell” tactic used by the best freelancers to routinely land more clients. (That, once wielded, can help you land any job opportunity you want.)
- Why you probably shouldn’t finish your degree… even if you’re close to graduating. (Many people do this only out of fear that they won’t get hired without a degree, but don’t realize the opportunity cost of finishing college instead of starting their career.)
- Why getting overly creative with your resume usually backfires. (It could actually be a reason you don’t get called in for an interview.)
- Why you should embrace failure even if you’re terrified to fail. (Remember that the true enemy of greatness is perfection.)
- Why learning from professors is more like “Stockholm Syndrome” than actual education.
- The “death sentence” trait that will kill any chances you have of getting hired, no matter how impressed they might be with you. (And this will also help you in all areas of your life… on Page 24.)
- A step-by-step guide to creating your own website. (Including which platform to use that will immediately impress most employers you come across.)
- An “Appendix” of the 10 most impactful books I read after I dropped out of college and before I got hired. (Each of these books were critical in helping me launch my career.)
- An old dead man’s secret that helps you avoid making mistakes. (It’s a simple rule that will immediately help you stand out too.)
- A timeline for how quickly you should respond to emails from potential employers. (Failing to do so in time will obliterate your chances of landing a job.)
- Why landing your “dream job” as a first job could sabotage your entire career.
- Why the argument that “having any degree is better than having none” is a dangerous lie that could cost you thousands and thousands of dollars if you believe it. (This lie is spouted by losers who haven’t accomplished anything so their greatest achievement is getting a random degree…)
- Why only losers drop out of college. (The entire book is based on how to not become a loser like all of the dropouts you know by showing you what it takes to become an “opt-out”. This may seem like just a linguistic swap but the differences are immeasurable.)
- The “Pewdiepie Secret” of creating an impressive and professional list of projects and accomplishments. (This might be the most important philosophy in the entire book… on Page 16.)
- The “Tongue-In-Cheek” style of writing your “Education Section” on your resume that can actually impress your interviewer. (You don’t have to do it this way, but I did. Another option is to not include an “Education Section” at all. Read more about this on Page 34.)
- How to tell your parents that you’re leaving college (and what to do if they decide to kick you out because of it!).
Now, just to be clear. None of this will help you if you don’t APPLY what you learn. The philosophy in the book was inspired by a company that helped hundreds of degree-less individuals launch successful careers. But it will do absolutely nada for you if you don’t implement what’s inside.
This entire philosophy is based around the principle that you learn more from experience than any other way. If you don’t believe that, this book or newsletter cannot help you.
But we’re not done yet… here’s what else you get when you become a subscriber:
- Direct email access to ask me any questions! I can’t spend all day answering questions, but if you’re stuck or lost and need guidance or want feedback on something you’ve created to help you get hired…just let me know and I’ll do my best to help you.
- I’ll send any special offers that come across my desk directly to you. I’m not flooded with job offers from companies seeking employment, but occasionally interesting opportunities will pop up. I’ll send these to all “College Opt-Outs” before I share them with anybody else (yes, including friends and family). Just realize you’ll be competing with other “College Opt-Outs”.
- Access to WordPress 101. I put together a few short videos that will help you learn the ins and outs of WordPress (which as you’ll learn, will play a critical role in increasing your chances of getting hired).
- Exclusive discounts on future products. Not only will you be the first to know about any future products I create, but you’ll also get a nice little discount for being a subscriber.
All of this and we’ve barely talked about the newsletter! Here’s a highlight reel of some issues that I’ve already created (another perk of being a subscriber is you can buy any back issues you want):
- Why going to college is a lot more like taking drugs than you think. (Fail to realize this and you might find that you have been “comatose” for many years.)
- What most people do (especially college grads) in the interview process that “Thanos’s” their chances of landing a job.
- Why you shouldn’t focus on your salary. (And why it is sometimes profitable to take less money.)
- How to “ace” an interview even if you’re underdressed and underqualified.
- The “Unabashedly Obvious” way to get the attention of someone you want to work for. (It’s so simple and so obvious that most people simply won’t do it, even though it could work for the most dimwitted among us!)
- An expensive “Super Guru Ninja Hack” that helped some random grad land a media gig. (This worked so well that he still got the job even though he committed one of the biggest errors of the entire hiring process!)
- What an old white man looking for love and a young black woman looking for a job can teach you about getting hired.
- How to summon your inner-Thanos to leave all other applicants (including new college grads) in the “dust” during the hiring process. (Thanos used this tactic to single-handedly defeat Iron Man, even though Iron Man has been preparing for Thanos since the second Avengers movie.)
- The “World-Shattering Difference” in learning approaches. (This is the real reason you don’t retain much of anything throughout school.)
- How to dismantle the most common critiques about college dropouts. (Learn how to wield these to your benefit and you can turn them into reasons to hire you.)
- Perhaps the most creative way of grabbing a potential employer’s attention that I’ve thought of yet. (It will cost you a little bit of money, but you’ll easily make that back once you get hired.)
- A “Reality-Altering” mindset shift so powerful that it’s responsible for some of the biggest agencies in the world calling to hire a fictional character.
The “College Opt-Out” Newsletter is $67 per month (with free shipping and handling).
Please save yourself the money if you don’t plan to IMPLEMENT everything I teach in this monthly newsletter to a T. You will need to “buckle down” and put in the hard work if you want this system to work for you.
It won’t work for you if you think you’ll subscribe today and be hired next week… or if you think this is a “shortcut” for going to college (it will take considerably less time than going to college, but it’s not a “shortcut”, hard work is involved)… or if you’ve purchased similar infoproducts and courses before and have done nothing with them… you’ll just be wasting your time.
There are no refunds on subscriptions, so be double sure that you’re ready to do the work before buying. But you can cancel at anytime, for any reason.
If, however, you think you’ve got what it takes… there are a lot of companies out there eager to hire a young professional who isn’t afraid to go above the “call of duty”, who can be relied upon, and who wants to show up every single day with a great attitude ready to take on the (business) world (regardless of if you have a degree or not).
And, of course, lots of monies to be made after you’ve been officially hired…
So the decision is yours to make. Please just make sure you’re ready to commit before you buy.
If you’re ready to leave college in the dust while you launch your career, enter your best email address below to join the College Opt-Out newsletter waitlist.
By joining the waitlist, you’ll be the first to know when the College Opt-Out newsletter launches. And, I’ll send you an exclusive video training I did on the “s-s-s-stuttering salesman secret” to flipping your worst qualities into your strongest attributes.
You’re one click (and lots of hard work) away from starting your career…
To your ever increasing prosperity,
John Brandt
Will I really be able to get a job without a degree?
As long as you implement everything you learn, I have no doubt in my mind that you will land a job. When I was making this decision, I had some major doubts too that delayed my decision, but in hindsight I just delayed the start of my career.
I already graduated from college, but I haven’t had any luck finding a job. Will this help me?
Yes, as long as you implement everything I teach it doesn’t matter if you already have your degree. The information inside is not exclusive to those who haven’t finished college yet. However, some of the info inside (like turning your lack of a degree into a reason to hire you) won’t be as relevant for you.
Is there a downloadable version?
Nope, it’s a print newsletter (and book) that will be mailed to your house. I’ve found that you value physical products more (and will be more likely to implement the info inside) so that’s why they are physical products. Plus, it’s fun when you’re expecting something to come in the mail.
Will I get all the back issues for free?
Nope. Everyone had to pay for each issue so it wouldn’t be fair to them to let newer subscribers get free back issues. However, you can purchase any back issue that you fancy at full price.
I want to become a ____ will your newsletter help me land a job?
I tried my hardest to keep all the info inside generalized enough that it could be applied for any job you’re after (excluding the ones that absolutely require a degree, like a doctor, lawyer, etc.). That being said, my experience is slightly biased towards getting a marketing job because that’s what I personally did. But the general philosophies and ideas contained inside are adaptable to most industries and positions.
Isn’t doing this way riskier than just sucking it up and going to college?
Possibly, but I don’t think so. Here’s the way I think about it.
First, you aren’t automatically promised a job once you get your degree (I know more people than I could count with a job in something completely unrelated to what their degree is in… and in most of these cases they could’ve gotten the same job without a degree).
But even if you are promised a job… it’s still not the “safer” choice, in my humble, but accurate opinion. You might land a job, but how long did it take you? Just over 50% of college students graduate within 6 years. Did it take you that long or longer? What else could you have done with those 4-6 years?
How much money did you make during those 4-6 years? Let’s not even factor in the debt you accrued (yet), but could you have made more money if you spent more time working and less time going to school?
How much have your hard and soft skills improved over the 4-6 years you went to get your degree? I’ve been removed from universities for a while now but the “safe space” culture that has recently exploded can’t be helpful for those looking to grow their skills. But, even if you grow your skill set during college will it have grown more than if you worked in the “trenches” day in and day out?
Was the information you learned in your classes up to date or was it so outdated that you’d have to get retrained when you got hired? (You wouldn’t believe how outdated some of these classes can get… it’s straight highway robbery.)
And for the “elephant in the room”…
Debt.
The average graduate has about $30k in student loan debt. Let’s say you have a conservative interest rate of 4.81% and plan to pay $500 a month to pay it off.
It would take you nearly six years!
You’d have to pay a decent chunk of your salary for 70 straight months to pay it off. What if, instead of paying off a loan for 6 years, you were religious about investing that money?
So, no I don’t think this is the riskier option by any means (especially if you implement what’s inside). And it’s not like you won’t be allowed back into school if it doesn’t work out for you (there’s a handful of schools that have a 100% acceptance rate, and there are over 400 schools with an acceptance rate of 80% or higher… that should tell you most colleges are just after your money).
You have zero testimonials… why should I trust that this will work?
Aha! You must be here either before I officially launched The College Opt-Out Newsletter or shortly after I launched it. I respect you for doing your due diligence though.
There are zero testimonials simply because I haven’t gotten any yet. But my entire story is a testimonial for how this system works. And a large part of it was inspired by Praxis, which has helped hundreds of young professionals launch their career without a degree.
But, I’ll say it again. If you come in with an attitude that it won’t work, it probably won’t. You need to be fully committed before you buy or you won’t implement anything and it won’t work for you.
I hate school and I dream about dropping out, but I know my family won’t accept it if I leave school. What should I do?
I can’t pretend to know all of the intricacies of your life and it’s different for each person. But if you’re truly unhappy and could be spending your time more wisely, then you need to have a tough conversation with your family members.
It won’t be easy, but you’ll need to have difficult conversations all throughout your life. So it will also prepare you for other difficult life decisions you need to make in the future.
And chances are, if you prove that you’ve made a smart decision (i.e. you go out and land a job in what you were majoring in… discover more about yourself and what you want to do with life… etc.) then they’ll be just as proud of you than if you graduated.
Results speak for themselves.
If I don’t get my degree, will I become more prone to suffer from “Imposter Syndrome”?
I don’t know. But I do know that “Imposter Syndrome” affects us all. It sure creeps into my psyche all the time. But, as you’ll learn when you read book #10 (in Appendix 2) of books I highly recommend, you’ll learn what “Imposter Syndrome” really is, what it means, and how you can defeat it whenever you feel it creep up.
What about those of us who aren’t “good enough” to graduate from college? I’ve tried hard more than once and couldn’t
get anything better than a C. Will this work for me?
As long as you implement what I teach you to the T, I do think it can work for you. But first, you have to get rid of that attitude that you’re not “good enough”. Just because you’re not good in the classroom doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent, dedicated, or hungry to grow.
My life is kinda funny in that sense. I used to love school. Way back when I was in second grade, I woke up at 5 in the morning and puked all over my house. I spent the next few hours before my parents found out creeping around the house trying to clean it all up so I could go to school.
I didn’t even get a B or C on my report card until I was high school. And yet, as each year passed on, I realized how much deeper I fell into depression because of school. Until I was lucky enough to fail out of a class that forever changed my life.
Your attitude is everything. If you have a good one, and are ready to get your hands dirty then you’ll do just fine.
One Last Word…
So who should not go to college? People who have an obsessive personality, people who are fully undecided about where they want to go with life, people who are great in sales, people who are a bit rebellious and don’t like following rules, self-disciplined and competitive people, people that are good at making friends, and people who have a mentor.
I’m ready if you are… join the waitlist below: