Being top of the class alone is useless—what matters is standing out.

Before choosing a track, you must be confident you can at least reach the middle tier in that track; otherwise, you’ve picked the wrong one.

A degree’s role is to let you switch tracks—it doesn’t improve your actual abilities.

The key to standing out lies in market research and self-reflection. What does the competitive landscape look like in this track? What does the market really want? What do I actually have, and how well does it align? What exactly is my core competitiveness in this track? Because every chairman in the world is extremely utilitarian and results-oriented.

Every chairman in the world is extremely utilitarian and results-oriented. Whether they came up as a poor student or a top scholar, they don’t care about “right” and “wrong”—no matter how much they compliment you, they won’t believe it in their hearts. All they see is money; they’re purely money-driven animals. That’s what results-orientation means.

You need to tell them what benefits you can bring them, what they can gain from you, and how they can make money from you. That’s the correct way to get past their door.

A degree’s only real use is to open HR’s door—and that’s it. To truly stand out, you need differentiation—something unique that others don’t have.

If everyone’s a top student, the best technologist does R&D, while those who aren’t do testing.If everyone’s good with tech, the one who speaks clearly and communicates well becomes the team lead.If all the team leads are equally articulate, the one who looks more polished and more like a manager becomes the manager—because the manager might get taken to meetings, or spotted by investors.