How to get what you want

Date: Jun 4, 2025

(disclaimer: in my own experience)

Getting what you want is a skill. Not luck. At least, that’s how I see it.

I’ve previously landed internships, jobs, and opportunities. Only later realizing that peers and even those older than me were competing.

This is my approach (take with a grain of salt).

I started on LinkedIn. You don’t really need a flashy profiles — I had 300 connections and just school club experiences. Gaining experiences and adding to your profiles only magnifies your leverage over time as you build credibility.

Find and connect with people, before sending a message. The focus of this post won’t be about this.

This is my cold outreach formula (that I learned from a podcast interview with Cliff Weitzman — founder of Speechify)

Tell them why you’re interested. If it’s job interest, be straight forward and clear, i.e., “I’m looking for X in Y time”. If it’s a role model or potential mentor, charisma and authenticity works. Sucking up to them or portraying yourself as perfect is blatantly obvious. If you think the message sounds corny, it probably is, so keep thinking about why you want their time (admit to yourself if it isn’t right time or right ask) Tell them who you are. Tell the truth but don’t feel obligated to frame and highlight things, like emphasizing your previous experience over your title as a student. If you have strong experience, back yourself “I’ve held roles AI at companies X and Y”. If not, don’t “enhance” yourself even if it means that you’re just a student right now. Ask for something. Honestly asking beyond what most people ask for works, because it’s unexpected. Instead of an online meeting, offer to meet them at their office in person. My personal favorite phrase: “I know this is a long shot, but it would really cool if [insert what you want]”. Generally keep it short. But these aren’t hard rules, just a framework, go with your gut.

I haven’t changed my strategy yet, so far:

Got my first job as a programming tutor despite having learned Python for only 4 weeks Got a tech internship at a unicorn tech company at 17 despite little work experience. Got a grad-level role at one of Australia’s leading AI startups as a first-year uni student And even the fun things:

Got private tours at Atlassian and Macquarie group (my friend even lied that i was an intern to get me in) Got one-on-one coffee chats from high-performing people CEOs, founders, seniors) for advice, mentorship, etc. Getting what you want isn’t manipulative or unethical.

I like to think it’s an art to predictable create good opportunities for yourself, instead of relying on luck.