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What are Bootstrap Credentials? 

 

Bootstrap credentials are earned in the workplace and in life as contrasted with formal education. Although many people with bootstrap credentials are also educated, there is a distinct difference in their approach to solving a problem or meeting a challenge and an understanding of what is theory and what has been proved in the marketplace. Bootstrap credentials take into account the number of years spent in an industry and the knowledge gained from that ongoing exposure.

Bootstrap credentials are also earned through self-study, lifetime learning, online exploration, attending targeted seminars, and personal interviews with successful people. The hallmarks of people with bootstrap credentials are practicality, personal initiative, out of the box thinking, creativity, cooperative ventures, can-do attitude, concern for meeting the needs of clients and customers, and a desire to build community into every venture. 

 

Bootstraps ... 

A bootstrap is attached to the top of a boot so you can put your fingers into the loops to more easily pull your boots on. Without a bootstrap, it is more difficult to get your boots on and get moving.

People with bootstrap credentials know how to get you up and running faster and more economically.

As a entrepreneur or innerpreneur, don't sell yourself short if you don't have a degree in the field your have chosen. Use your experience in the marketplace to position yourself with your hard-earned Bootstrap Credentials. If an ad says, must have a degree, don't let that stop you from applying. Target your resume or contact letter to what the company wants that you know you have. However, you have to be able to deliver what you promise.

[I have worked as a writer in top corporations like American General, Dresser Industries, Distribution International and Exxon, without a degree because I earned my Bootstrap Credentials and created a resume that converted those credentials into strengths that were marketable to those corporations.]

As a hiring manager for a company, don't discount the real world strengths of hiring people or contracting entrepreneurs with Bootstrap Credentials. Their creativity, beyond the box approaches, and ability to learn on the fly may be huge assets in this supercharged, fast-changing business world. New ideas don't usually come from the same old strategies. And, just because the new web business marketplace is more populated by young people, don't discount the value of hiring entrepreneurial experience to round out your team. You'd be amazed what ideas for the future those who have been around for a while can generate.