During his teenage years, Steve Jobs, future co-founder of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), demonstrated an early proclivity for initiative by reaching out directly to a prominent industry figure. At 12 years old, Jobs located the phone number for Bill Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), in the Mountain View, California phone directory. In a bold cold call, he asked Hewlett for spare electronic parts to build a frequency counter, an ask that might have surprised many at Hewlett-Packard but resulted in more than just a rejection or referral.
According to an interview Jobs provided in 1994, which is preserved by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, Hewlett himself answered the call. The interaction was memorable for Jobs, as the response was far from dismissive. Hewlett laughed with the young enthusiast and agreed to provide the requested spare parts. Furthermore, Hewlett offered Jobs a seasonal position at Hewlett-Packard during that summer—an opportunity to contribute on an assembly line, specifically putting together nuts and bolts on frequency counters.
This job experience at Hewlett-Packard marked Jobs's first substantive engagement in the technology and manufacturing sector. It also left a lasting impression on him, considering it "heaven," as he described his excitement to be within the environment where the equipment he admired was actually built.
Expanding beyond this anecdote, Jobs used the story as an exemplar of a broader psychological and professional principle: distinguishing those who act from those who merely conceive ideas. He stated that the key differentiator was the willingness to ask for help or opportunities, emphasizing that many are deterred by fear or hesitation.
Jobs articulated that in his experience, individuals generally respond favorably when approached with genuine questions or requests for assistance. His perspective was that fear of rejection is often the real obstacle preventing people from advancing. To succeed or innovate requires accepting the possibility of failure outright. Whether initiating a phone conversation, starting a company, or pursuing any ambitious endeavor, the readiness to risk setbacks is essential.
Such enthusiasm for cold outreach continued to echo in later years through narratives of others employing similar tactics. One such instance involved Katia Beauchamp, later the co-founder of Birchbox. Prior to beginning her studies at Harvard Business School in 2008, she sent an unsolicited email to Jobs. In it, she requested a student discount on a MacBook Air comparable to that offered on IBM ThinkPad laptops by the school. Jobs responded promptly, within a day, confirming her eligibility for the discount. Beauchamp later credited such cold outreach efforts as foundational in her career trajectory.
The initial engagement Jobs had with Hewlett-Packard also underscores the formative role of internships and early exposure to professional work environments in shaping career paths. The National Association of Colleges and Employers has consistently found that employers are particularly keen on candidates who possess practical experience, with internships standing out as one of the most effective ways for companies to identify and recruit talent.
Given recent challenges in the labor market, where close to 60% of recent graduates report ongoing searches for their first job, participation in internships or comparable work experiences frequently serves as a decisive factor when differentiating between candidates.