My first corporate job after college was working at a tutoring center in a strip mall. It was a management trainee program - online assessments and everything. What the job lacked in external appeal, it most certainly did not makeup in actual appeal. Every day, I "worked leads" and made awkward phone calls while I wore my equally uncomfortable khaki pants and a polo shirt. 

The best part of the day happened at 2 pm when we started to teach. That's what I wanted to be, after all, a teacher. In those hours between 2 and 8, I had the chance to shapeshift from salesperson to teacher. 

One of the kids I taught to read was named Hope. Every Saturday, she was my first student. I taught Hope how to read. At the end of her program, I booked a meeting with her Dad to talk about her next reading comprehension program. 

After delivering my pitch, he sat back in his chair and gave me a weird look. "What," I said, panicked that I had been awkward in some way. 

"I want to hire you. I don't know what you'll do, but I want you to work for me." 

It was the opportunity of a lifetime to go from a management trainee program to a startup where the sky was the limit, and I could try anything. I think a lot about how different my life might have been had I taken another job after school. What if I had never taught Hope? 

Online Assessments Can Open The Door For Opportunity

Opportunity lingers where we least expect it, and I love the stories of when they come to life in recruiting. 

Smart technology that powers purposeful assessments has that power.

This is a great example. Watch and see how text applications and online assessments turned into an opportunity for a pizza delivery driver to become a software developer at one of the biggest technology companies in the world.