What Is a Career, Really? A First-Principles Deep Dive

Let's get to the heart of it 🧡

🔍 First Principles: The Magic Lens

I’m a coder by trade, but honestly, my favorite hack isn’t in any IDE—it’s First Principles thinking. You keep asking “What is this, at its most basic?” until you strip away all the fluff. I swear by it whenever I’m staring at my resume for the third time that morning.

One major shift we explore here is changing your frame of reference. Instead of seeing roles as one-off tasks or titles, view each job as a business you run—You, LLC. That lens transforms how you present your skills, pursue opportunities, and evaluate success. When you think like the owner of You, LLC, you start making strategic decisions that elevate routine work into purposeful growth.

So: what’s a career, at its core?, at its core? What is a 'what is’? What does ‘at its core’ mean? Let's start with career!

1. A Career Is… a Job

Alright, low-hanging fruit first. A career is a series of jobs, yes? But what’s a job? It’s when you trade your time, your brain cells, your quirky superpowers, for a paycheck. Whether you’re writing code, designing ads, flipping fish at a market, or teaching yoga—at that moment, you’re offering a service.

Quick thought experiment: Next time you clock in, imagine you’re a small one-person business. You’re not “just working”—you’re delivering a product: you.

2. Wait… That Makes It a Business!

Bear with me. If “providing a service for money” sounds like a business, that’s because it is one. No fancy LLC or letterhead required. Think about the last time you hired a plumber. They showed up, fixed your pipes, and sent an invoice. Maybe they sold you a subscription- every few months they’ll do a tune up. A subscription by the way is exactly what your paycheck is!

3. Sales Pro Moves—What We Can Borrow

Now, watch a top B2B salesperson at work for five minutes and you’ll notice a pattern:

  1. Network Like a Social Butterfly — they know who to talk to and why. (entrepreneur.com)
  2. Craft a Killer Pitch — short, sweet, and sticky. (forbes.com)
  3. Track Everything — meetings, emails, even the “maybe laters.” (salesforce.com)
  4. Iterate Relentlessly — tweak the approach based on what actually works. (salesforce.com)
  5. Maintain a Pipeline — never put all eggs in one basket; always have Plan B (and C). (blog.hubspot.com)

4. Must-Have Talent vs. Commodity Roles

Let’s talk branding. Some companies are must-have—you’d pay extra for an Apple phone or Nike sneakers because they carry that invisible “cool” badge. Other things are pure commodity—a bushel of corn or a barrel of oil, where price is everything.

  • Must-Haves bring unique value, buzz, and loyalty.
  • Commodities compete mostly on cost.

Ask yourself: are you a commodity coder, another face in the crowd, or could you be that “must-have” specialist whose calendar fills up as soon as they’re available? There’s no shame in either path, but if you want premium pay and choice roles, it starts with positioning yourself beyond the ordinary.

5. From Insight to Friendly Action

Okay, I’ve nerded out enough—what now? Here’s a friendly five-step you can try today:

  1. Journal Your Wins: Every Friday, jot down one small triumph—nailing a bug fix, leading a meeting, or helping a teammate.
  2. Build a Mini “Pitch Deck”: A one-page snapshot of your top three accomplishments and what’s next on your roadmap.
  3. Try “Coffee Chat Fridays”: Pick one person in your network, fire off a genuine “Loved your recent post—mind a quick virtual coffee?” note.
  4. Experiment with Metrics: Did your last feature cut load time by 20%? Note it. Did you mentor someone who later led a project? Write that down.
  5. Quarterly Check-Ins: Every three months, revisit your “business plan” (aka your career goals) and tweak. Celebrate progress, pivot on dead ends.

💬 Over to You

I’m still figuring this out myself, and I’d love to hear your take. How do you treat your career as a business? Hit me up on Insta @ResumePineapple or TikTok Resume Pineapple or any of the socials below. Let’s swap stories, insights, and maybe the occasional pineapple pun. 🍍

Here’s to building careers as thoughtfully as we build code—one first principle at a time. Cheers!