PDF Summary:How to Start, by Jodi Kantor

It’s a tough world out there, especially if you’re a young person starting your career. You have to find work that fulfills you and pays the bills while you’re bombarded with bad news every day—whether it’s AI disrupting the job market, powerful people making far-reaching decisions, or geopolitical conflicts fueling global uncertainty. When it seems like the world is burning, how do you start your life’s work? And is it even worth it?

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jodi Kantor seeks to answer these questions in How to Start, which grew from the commencement address she gave at Columbia University in 2025. Our guide to her book covers what it means to find fulfilling work in an unpredictable world, why it’s important to do so, and how to begin. We’ll also explore what other books like Designing Your Life, The Squiggly Career, and So Good They Can’t Ignore You say about building a career in the modern world.

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Craft and Need Reinforce Each Other

Kantor argues that craft and need become most powerful when they continually sharpen one another. As you become better at something, you develop a more nuanced understanding of the problems you can solve, and as those problems change or reveal new layers, they push you to acquire new skills. This cycle enables people to accomplish things that initially seem beyond their reach, from developing new medicines to creating new products or services. For example, a teacher might start out wanting to help struggling students read, then discover through experience that one of their major obstacles is an ineffective curriculum. She might then develop new skills in curriculum design.

Kantor adds that you must keep improving and evolving your craft—technology can make once-valuable skills obsolete, while employers can eliminate jobs altogether. Your goal isn’t to master one skill and cling to it but to keep expanding your abilities as the needs around you change.

(Shortform note: In So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport reinforces Kantor’s argument that a fulfilling career is built through an ongoing exchange between what you can do and what the world needs. Newport says that career capital—scarce and prized skills—gives you leverage to create more rewarding work. But acquiring this capital isn’t a one-time achievement: As your expertise grows, you gain the ability to take on more complex problems, which in turn requires you to keep learning. Anders Ericsson details how you can keep learning and continually improve your abilities in Peak. He writes that you should identify your weaknesses, get feedback, and push beyond your current level of competence.)

You Don’t Have to Choose Between Meaning and Money

Craft and need can help you build a meaningful career, but many assume that such work also means financial sacrifice. Kantor challenges the conventional idea that you have to choose between following your passion while struggling to get by and pursuing a well-paid career that feels empty. She says many careers can provide both social value and a comfortable living, pointing to psychologists, school administrators, and nonprofit lawyers. You can also work in the arts without being the proverbial starving artist—Kantor says some art museum directors earn half a million dollars or more a year. While this may be uncommon, she uses it to illustrate the point that creative contribution and compensation aren’t necessarily at odds.

Ikigai: Balancing Craft, Need, Passion, and Financial Security

Kantor emphasizes craft and need and only briefly addresses the subject of money. By contrast, the Western view of the Japanese concept of ikigai (life purpose) makes the financial question more explicit. It asks you to find the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Authors Héctor García and Francesc Miralles illustrate the interplay between these four elements in their book Ikigai:

This outlook treats a fulfilling career as a matter of finding the right balance among the four elements. It doesn’t imply that Kantor’s ideas are lacking; rather, the two approaches complement each other by addressing the topic of a meaningful career from different angles. Ikigai can help you think about what kind of work to pursue, while Kantor emphasizes how to build a career that can keep evolving as you—and the world around you—change.

Is It Worth It?

It’s easy to dismiss work as merely something that pays the bills and to think that you don’t need to find it meaningful in order to be happy. But Kantor argues that work sits alongside your relationships in contributing to a fulfilling life—it takes up so much of your time that it should give you more than just a paycheck.

(Shortform note: While Kantor says we should find work that gives us meaning, others push back against “workism,” the belief that work is necessary to create personal identity and purpose. Some people benefit from immersing themselves in their career, but most will experience disappointment, anxiety, disengagement, and burnout because careers were never designed to provide as much as we expect them to. Author Simone Stolzoff recommends decentering work and visualizing your ideal life—then thinking about how work can help you build it.)

It’s also easy to feel cynical and wonder whether building a career is worthwhile amid constant technological, financial, and political gloom and doom. Kantor pushes back against this too, saying that it’s in these times that it’s especially important to take action: Periods of disruption can open up opportunities that don’t exist when everything is stable. When established systems begin to falter—such as when news media struggles to maintain trust or industries are being transformed by AI—their weaknesses become easier to see, and so do the needs they’ve failed to meet. This gives room for new ideas and systems to emerge.

(Shortform note: Kantor argues that disruption creates opportunities, but what if you can build a career that actually benefits from uncertainty rather than simply surviving it? This is the idea behind Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s concept of “antifragility.” In Antifragile, he distinguishes between things that are fragile, which are damaged by volatility; robust, which withstand it; and antifragile, which become stronger because of it. Applied to your career, this means creating options instead of certainty: developing a range of complementary skills, experimenting with different kinds of work, cultivating diverse professional relationships, and avoiding a single employer, industry, or career path.)

Kantor cites AirBnb as an example of a company born during a challenging time. Its founders came up with the idea in 2007, when they couldn’t afford their rent. They hosted three people on air mattresses in their apartment, and formally launched their business in 2008 during the financial crisis. They didn’t wait for the job market to present them with an obvious opening; rather, they saw problems created by changing circumstances and built something in response.

(Shortform note: As Kantor says, AirBnb was born during a hard time for the owners. However, it wasn’t an overnight success. Even though the founders had a promising idea, by 2009 the company was struggling to survive—it was only bringing in about $200 a week. Things turned around when the owners started posting high-quality photos of the listings, and as of 2026, the company was worth over $100 billion. The AirBnb story shows that seizing an opportunity at the right time doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing. Even when you’ve identified a problem worth solving, you’ll likely encounter obstacles and have to rethink your approach along the way.)

Such opportunities are particularly urgent in areas where society’s existing systems are struggling to keep up. For example, the proliferation of misinformation creates a need to build new ways of producing and distributing reliable information, while AI may increase the value of distinctly human abilities like judgment, creativity, ethical reasoning, and connection. Kantor acknowledges that starting something new comes with risks, and others may question your choices, but she challenges you to pursue possibilities that don’t yet have an established path—those that allow you to use and grow your skills and to address an unmet need.

(Shortform note: One reason it can be difficult to pursue an unconventional career path is that we often want more certainty before we act. But in The Art of Uncertainty, statistician David Spiegelhalter argues that uncertainty is an unavoidable feature of life, and trying to eliminate it before making a decision can leave us waiting indefinitely for information we’ll never have. This is especially relevant when you’re trying to create something new: By definition, there’s no established blueprint telling you exactly what will work. Instead, you have to make the best decision you can with incomplete information and adjust as you learn more.)

The Work of Finding Your Work

We’ve discussed the two elements of a meaningful career—craft and need—and the reasons you should pursue one instead of giving into despair. In this section, we’ll discuss Kantor’s advice for how to start.

1. Don’t Let Others Dictate Your Path

Parents, universities, and society often push “safe” careers like law and medicine onto young people, and “experts” predict job market trends every few years. But a career doesn’t progress properly when it relies on external approval or someone else’s design.

Kantor says you should tune out the noise and determine what makes sense for you to do rather than what’s expected of you. You can do this by paying attention to the roles you take on in everyday life—perhaps you’re the most reliable event planner in your social group or the person all your friends turn to for advice. Kantor also suggests keeping a notebook where you consistently jot down who and what energizes you or irritates you, as well as the needs you see around you. Over time, you’ll collect data that tells you more about who you are and what you can do.

But What If Parents Are Paying for College?

You might feel compelled to take a major of your parents’ choosing, especially if they’re footing the bill. This may be frustrating, but it’s important to understand where they’re coming from: Rather than being an issue of control, it’s likely that they want to steer you toward what they see as your best chances of long-term success. If you find their input valuable, consider exploring a middle ground—for example, maybe you could do a double major.

On the other hand, Cal Newport (Deep Work) argues that you should make the decision about your major without consulting your parents at all. The Georgetown University professor observes that students who pick a major based on other people’s expectations are more likely to lose motivation and burn out, leading to poor academic performance and even resentment. In contrast, some of his happiest students are those who had full autonomy over their decision. He argues that fulfilling your end of the bargain doesn’t mean going along with your parents’ choice—rather, it means doing well in school so that your tuition doesn’t go to waste.

2. Find an Interesting First Job

If you’re unsure about what your life’s work is going to be, first find a job that interests you. Kantor says early jobs aren’t meant to be the perfect match for you. Approach them as opportunities to expose yourself to all kinds of people and experiences, so you can gain more clarity about your preferences. Ideal early jobs are those where you can work directly with more seasoned colleagues. Avoid roles with low interaction (for example, admin work done in isolation) because they don’t give you many chances to learn from other people.

Kantor adds that your first job doesn’t have to dictate the rest of your career. The pressure to appear consistent too early can narrow your options and distort your decisions. She urges you to accept that your career path may look incoherent. Over time, what looks like randomness can form a pattern, but only in hindsight. You might find that the contradictions and unexpected turns—though seemingly messy—add up to a meaningful work life.

It’s OK to Have a Squiggly Career

Kantor says your career path doesn’t have to look coherent, an idea that Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis elaborate on in The Squiggly Career. They argue that it’s no longer the norm to stick to a single profession, work for just one company, and climb the corporate ladder. Instead, people frequently move between professions and employers. They explain that this change is due to three main factors:

• The type of work we do in our jobs is evolving due to technological advancements and rapid change.

• Employers are giving us more autonomy and less direction, which requires us to take control of our career growth without constant guidance from managers.

• We’re prioritizing jobs that make us feel passionate and fulfilled, rather than working for financial stability—the authors say that 48% of baby boomers and 30% of millennials report that they prioritize their passions over their paycheck.

The authors say that to succeed in a nonlinear career path, you must develop five abilities: unique talents, core values, self-confidence, networking, and foresight.

3. Change Your Strategy

Kantor acknowledges that the modern job market can be frustrating. You can send dozens or even hundreds of applications and most will disappear into systems that don’t respond. She says this is frequently a structural problem shaped by automation and institutional inefficiency.

If this has been your experience, consider a new strategy that doesn’t rely solely on the system working as intended. Kantor recommends sending inquiries to strangers who may be able to open doors for you. It can be daunting, but do it anyway—and do it right: Write a short, polite inquiry with something to capture their attention (for example, an intriguing, relevant detail about yourself) and include a connection if you can (like a common friend or hometown). If they agree to meet with you, come prepared: Read as much as you can about the person and their organization, have thoughtful questions at the ready, and afterwards, send a thank-you note. Kantor says there’s value in such interactions whether you get a job out of them or not.

Treat Your Career Like a Startup

In The Startup of You, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha say you should treat your career like a startup company. Technology and globalization have made the working world more unpredictable, so rather than relying on a conventional career path—or assuming the job market will work as it should—you need to take an entrepreneurial approach. They offer three entrepreneurship principles to help you develop a startup mindset for your career:

1) Develop your competitive edge. This is similar to Kantor’s advice to develop your craft. You can do this by identifying and strengthening your assets, defining your values and ambitions, and catering to your market’s needs. This can help you stand out when you reach out to people directly, as Kantor recommends.

2) Be adaptive. Startups have to respond when circumstances change, and so do careers. Instead of repeatedly sending applications when the conventional hiring process isn’t producing results, try different approaches, pursue unexpected opportunities, take calculated risks, and adjust your strategy based on what you learn.

3) Build a strong network. Rather than wait for an automated hiring system to notice you, develop relationships with people who can provide you with information, insights, and support. Hoffman and Casnocha say you can build your network by giving value to others first, accepting their help, and staying in touch. Your network can become a way of creating opportunities so that you don’t simply wait for them.

4. Form a Tribe

Form a group of people who can offer support and open up new channels. Kantor says your group should meet regularly and can be made up of others who are also at the beginning of their careers, as well as older people who can serve as mentors. For example, Kantor was a member of a group of mostly female nonfiction writers in New York who wanted to get published. They called themselves the Invisible Institute and had monthly gatherings to discuss the publishing process. They invited guest speakers to inspire them, and many of the members went on to publish successful books like The Happiness Project (Gretchen Rubin) and Quiet (Susan Cain).

(Shortform note: Kantor’s advice is a way to build social capital: connections to people who can explain how an industry works, make introductions, recommend you for opportunities, or advocate for you. Research suggests that women and minorities have historically had less access to these informal networks, which makes deliberately constructed networks like the Invisible Institute especially valuable.)

5. Look Beyond Your Potential Salary

Kantor says that your first paycheck isn’t a verdict on your eventual earning power. Evaluate jobs early in your career beyond the potential salary they offer—consider what they can teach you and where they might lead. A lower-paying role with an excellent mentor is often a better investment than a higher-paying job at a company with little room for growth. Also reflect on whether you’re after a higher salary because you’re pursuing financial stability or financial excess. The goal isn’t to disregard money but to put it in perspective: Build a career that can sustain you while resisting the idea that the highest possible salary equals success.

(Shortform note: Kantor’s advice aligns with Sahil Bloom’s argument in The 5 Types of Wealth: that money is only one measure of a wealthy life. Bloom identifies five forms of wealth—financial, time, social, mental, and physical—and argues that financial wealth should ultimately serve the others rather than being the sole measure of success. While financial security matters, consider whether a bigger paycheck is making you richer in the broader sense. If earning more requires sacrificing your relationships, health, time, or sense of purpose, the job may be less lucrative than it appears.)

6. Be Brave Enough to Bet on Yourself

At some point, you’ll be confronted with a moment that will force you to decide how seriously you’re willing to take your own future. You may have to choose between the security of a well-trodden path and the possibility of something more. Kantor says that when that time comes, you’ll need the courage to go after what matters to you, even if it comes with a lot of uncertainty and having to deal with other people’s judgment. If you’re willing to take that risk, you’ll find work that you take pride in, that allows you to form deep connections with people who share your ambitions, and that continually challenges you to grow.

How to Be Fearless

In Wild Courage, Jenny Wood says courage is crucial because fear is the biggest barrier to success—particularly the fear of others’ judgment. She outlines eight actions to help you become more courageous:

• Be authentic by pursuing what you want and getting comfortable with breaking conventions.

• Advocate for yourself by prioritizing your needs and well-being.

• Focus intensely on what you want and do what’s necessary to seize opportunities.

• Be curious.

• Be persuasive so you can influence others.

• Set boundaries to protect your peace and priorities.

• Act fast and be willing to take risks.

• Enable and empower others to reach their potential.