Hi Reader,

There's a skill I look for in every single person I hire.

It's the hardest one to screen for. You can't really put it on a resume in any obvious way. You can't fully measure it in an interview.

But when someone has it, it changes everything.

It's self-drive.

Let me tell you what I actually mean by that.

There's a version of a great employee who does exactly what's asked. Does it well. And stops there.

That person has real value. I want to be clear about that.

But the people who stand out? They finish the task and come back with three ideas about what to do next.

They're not waiting to be told.

They're already thinking about the next thing.

In the businesses I run, I'm constantly asking myself one question:

What is this industry going to need 12 to 18 months from now?

What can we build toward today, so we're already positioned when everyone else catches up?

The people I love working with ask these same questions on their own. Nobody assigns it to them.

It's just how their mind works.

And here's the thing I've noticed after years of hiring and leading teams:

These people are rare.

So when I find one, I do everything I can to keep them. I want to support them, grow them, take care of their family through the work we build together.

One self-driven person genuinely makes my whole job easier.

Now here's where I want to talk to you directly.

I know how this feels from your side.

You're applying to roles where the job description already feels like a stretch. You're trying to prove you can handle the basics. The last thing on your mind is thinking 18 months ahead when you're not even sure you'll get past the first round.

I get it.

When you're carrying visa pressure and rejection emails and that quiet fear that you're falling behind, "just do the job well" feels like enough to ask of yourself.

But I want to gently challenge that.

Because the thing that makes you forgettable in a pile of applicants is being someone who only does what's asked.

And the thing that makes you unforgettable costs you nothing but a shift in how you show up.

Here's something most people get wrong.

They think self-drive is impossible to prove. That because a hiring manager can't measure it, there's no point trying to show it.

That's backwards.

It's hard to screen for. But it's not hard to demonstrate if you understand what you're doing.

And you can show it in three places: on your resume, in how you prepare, and in how you reach out.

Let me break each one down.

On your resume.

Most candidates write like they were handed a list of duties.

"Responsible for the social media calendar."

The self-driven candidate writes: "Noticed our posting was inconsistent, built a content calendar nobody asked for, cut planning time in half."

Same task. Completely different signal.

One person was assigned work. The other person saw something and moved on it.

Go back through every project, internship, class group, or side hustle. Find the moments where you started something nobody told you to start. Where you fixed a problem before anyone noticed it.

Even the small ones count.

Then write them with verbs that signal drive: I noticed. I initiated. I led. I took it on myself to.

Those words quietly tell the reader you don't wait to be pushed.

In how you prepare for the interview.

This is where almost everyone leaves easy points on the table.

Most people prepare for an interview by rehearsing answers about themselves.

The self-driven person prepares by understanding the company.

Before you walk in, find out who's actually interviewing you. Look them up. Read what they've posted. Notice what the company has been talking about lately, what they're building toward, where they seem to be struggling.

Then bring it into the room.

"I saw your team recently moved into X. I've been thinking about where that could go..."

Do you know how rare that is?

Most candidates show up having researched nothing. When you walk in already understanding their world, you're not just answering questions anymore.

You're showing them, without saying the word, that you're someone who goes and finds things out on your own.

That is self-drive. You just demonstrated it instead of claiming it.

In how you reach out.

Here's the move most international students never make.

You apply through the portal, then you wait. Application sent. Fingers crossed. Back to refreshing your inbox.

Everyone does this. Which is exactly why it doesn't work.

The self-driven version looks different.

You apply. And then you go a step further.

You find the department head, the team lead, maybe a recruiter. You send a short, thoughtful note. Not "please hire me." Something closer to a pitch.

Here's what I noticed about your team. Here's a problem I think I could help with. Here's why.

Treat it like a mini cover letter built around their problems, not your need for a job.

Most people are too scared to do this. They think it's too forward.

But put yourself in the hiring manager's seat for a second. Out of a hundred applicants who clicked submit and disappeared, one person actually researched the team and showed up with ideas.

Who do you think we remember?

That email alone can pull you out of the pile.

So here's what I'd focus on if I were in your shoes today:

Collect your "I initiated" stories. Even the small ones.

Rewrite your resume bullets around action, not duty.

Research your interviewer and the company before you ever walk in.

After you apply, reach out directly to leadership with a short pitch about the problems you could solve for them.

And start practicing all of this now, before you even get hired. Self-drive isn't a switch you flip on day one. It's a muscle. Start a project this week that nobody asked for, and you'll have a story to tell by next month.

And here's why this matters more than it ever has.

We're living in a moment where AI can do so much of the obvious work. The tasks. The templates. The "just do what's asked" part of a job is exactly the part machines are getting good at.

So what's left? What stays valuable?

The person who thinks beyond the assignment. The one with enough genuine curiosity and personal investment to keep pushing when the obvious move would be to stop.

That's not something a machine replaces.

That's the outlier. And in a world racing toward automation, the outlier becomes the most valuable person in the room.

I won't pretend this fixes everything overnight.

But I've watched students go from blending into the crowd to becoming the candidate a team genuinely fights to keep. Not because they suddenly got smarter. But because they stopped waiting for permission to think bigger.

You don't need anyone's permission either.

You can start being that person today, right where you are.

Maybe this season is quietly preparing you for something you can't fully see yet.

Keep going.

You're closer than you think.

— Yudi

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