what you do when nobody’s looking is what counts.

Tell me a time where you worked hard and passionately when nobody was looking. Tell me a time when you created projects for yourself, so you could seem more valuable to an employer (or a lover or a friend or a business partner). Tell me a time when you were so self-motivated to seek out meaningful work that you provided your own work experience, instead of waiting for it to come along.

I hope at least some of you have stories to tell for these scenarios. Most entrepreneurs will relate, I’m sure. But, what if you can’t? Don’t you think you should be able to?

Let me tell you a story. I met with the CEO of a Silicon Valley consulting company last week. Our initial meeting was set up to talk about if I would be a good fit for any of the startups he consults with. We chatted, both of us with our guards down, which was good. We weren’t trying to impress each other, like some typical interviews. Plus, this wasn’t a job interview, per se, so both of us were at ease.

Now, I believe I have an impressive experience history, even though I’ve had one job out of college that I stayed at for six months and another job I quit after two weeks. Needless to say, I never run out of hands-on, real work experience to talk about, because contrary to popular belief, you CAN gain VALUABLE work experience while in college. Whoever imposed the RULE that work experience begins the second you get handed a diploma needs to be fired. Quick. Now. Because, it’s BS. Don’t tell me the months I spent working, as the acting CEO, on a marketing campaign for Coca-Cola for a national competition was nothing when I learned how to do marketing research, media planning, advertising implementation, etc. Ah, but I digress.

However, when I was speaking with this CEO, do you want to know what I was talking about the most? This past month being unemployed. The blog I promoted. The guest post spots I landed. The connections I made. The community I built for myself. The social media knowledge I gained. Real work experience in an unconventional way.

And, I’ll tell you. The CEO was not looking to hire, did not ask me there to hire me, was merely seeing if I was a good fit for other companies. Yet, at the end of our hour long discussion, he was asking if I would be interested in working for his company at a position that he didn’t even know was open. Suddenly, the doors to his office had swung wide open.

I tell you this: The things you do when nobody is looking are the things that count. Of course, it’s impressive what you accomplished at a job, but you know what’s more impressive? What you accomplished when you weren’t getting paid. That’s where your commitment lies and that’s when a company knows if you’re exponentially passionate (and, well, a rockstar).

I immersed myself in the culture of social media for a month. I was in it before, but I hadn’t fully jumped in, only a halfway attempt at connecting online. Yet, once I made that leap, I knew there was truly, 100% no going back, because I fit here.

And, I didn’t wait to get a position at a company to figure out what I want to do. I didn’t need to stay at a job for longer than two weeks to understand that it wasn’t for me. And, quitting that job spiraled me into a different realm all together. I found the time to truly get to the heart of my passion and focus my attention on gaining the skills I’d need for the job I eventually want.

You can do it, too. If you’re unemployed (or even if you’re not), you can be making opportunities for yourself, instead of waiting for them to come to you. I knew I didn’t have the experience to be a social media marketer or community manager, but I feel like I do now.

Hell, I just launched a purely viral campaign that has amassed 22,000 page views in just three days. And, wrote a guest post for Penelope Trunk that has garnered over 100 comments in one day. Who else can say they did all of that in a little under a month?

No pay was necessary. I was motivated simply by the desire to set myself up for a life of passion and meaning, because I knew what I did or did not do for the time I was unemployed could make or break the future of my career.