I hear people talking about quitting their job and starting their own work. It’s a good thing. But if you keep a positive look, you’ll find that your job is a gold mine to teach you some important lessons that will help you in your journey.

Recently, I was thinking about what having a job taught me. And I want to share my thoughts with you.

Without further ado, here are 3 important lessons that I learned.

(PS. Currently, I’m working with Springworks as a Content Marketing Manager)

1. You’re an entrepreneur, embrace it

Admit it!

When you hear the word “entrepreneur” what comes to your mind?

A person who owns and runs a business, right?

This word comes from the French ‘entreprendre’ that means ‘undertake’. That means responsibility to do a particular thing or job.

At your job, you have to do some particular task, no matter if it’s a small part of your company. No matter what your role is: You’re a salesperson. You’re a support guy. You’re a marketer. You’re a developer. You’re a designer. You’re a human resource.

You’re an entrepreneur because your work helps a business to make money. You solve a particular problem and create value. This is what an entrepreneur does.

Entrepreneurship is all about a mindset and passion of learning from all people. If you act like an entrepreneur, you’ll see opportunities everywhere.

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”― Peter F. Drucker

2. Be a mentor and share your knowledge

We all know that the world needs mentors to produce more leaders and mentors. But have ever thought to be one?

Recently I got a thank you note from a friend and colleague — for the advice and help, I offered her during starting phase of her career. Honestly, I never took it as mentoring I was simply sharing my knowledge and views. But she (a talented girl) used the word ‘mentoring’, and that’s when I realized it.

The real reward for a mentor: Watching a person apply your advice and succeed with it.

Are you not feeling satisfied with your job?

Mentor people and share your knowledge with them. The knowledge you get from your experiences, books, the Internet, and other people.

If you’re a sales manager, share hidden insights and your personal story to tell people how you achieved your goals.

Remember, you’re not doing it to get a promotion — you do it because you genuinely want to help someone, just like someone helped you.

“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey

3. Your network is your net worth (focus on adding value)

“I know a guy who can… “

Have someone ever said something like this to you?

My father is a great Networker and he believes that networking is a great way of helping people. And now as a professional, I highly value the importance of networking.

You cannot find great opportunities without a great network. Invest your time in sharing your ideas and developing a strong relationship with a person (it can also bring you some wonderful friends).

Personally, I believe LinkedIn and Twitter are great platforms to connect with like-minded people. I NEVER depend on Job advertisements or freelancing work websites. I get great opportunities from people from my network.

A full 70% of jobs are found through networking, and 40% of job seekers say they found their dream job through a personal connection.

Always ready to help people because everybody has something to offer. Most people say, “I’m earlier in my career and I don’t have anything to give that adds some value to an authority or senior person.”

That’s not true. Always offer help to your network. When I connect with an influencer (or anyone else), I always keep this sentence in my message: “Let me know if there is any way I can help you. I’d love to do that.”

Take networking as a way to help others. Remember helpful people are more likable (like our company’s HR manager, she always ready to help).

Try to connect with one new person a week in your industry. Write recommendations or introduce two people on LinkedIn.

What lessons having a job taught you?