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Content Guide

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

If you have dreams about being in a particular profession, you have a right not to give up on those career goals.

Different things motivate different people, and if movies about fictional or real-life successful people inspire you, you’re in luck because there are many of them out there for you to enjoy. 

Even a movie that is made purely for entertainment can teach you about moving forward with your career goals and not giving up until you achieve them. Below are a few of them.

 

1. Up in the Air

Starring George Clooney in the lead role, this is the story about a man named Ryan Bingham who travels the country as a human resources consultant who specializes in termination assistance. When the company decides to make the process virtual to save money, Ryan is not happy. 

Along the way, he meets an ambitious business woman named Natalie, travels with another frequent flyer named Alex, helps his estranged sister out on her wedding day, and has a few run-ins with both Natalie and his boss, Craig. 

Ryan’s attitudes toward business and his personal life affect the career paths he has chosen to take, but not always in the way you might think.

 

2. Good Will Hunting

Filmed in 1997 and starring Matt Damon and Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting is the story of a janitor who also just happens to be a genius. Damon stars as Will Hunting, who assaults a police officer and starts participating in court-ordered therapy, where he reevaluates his relationship, his goals, and his life in general. 

If you love inspirational movies, you’ll love this one because it truly offers something for everyone. It had a budget of $10 million yet grossed more than $225 million, and it has won tons of awards.

 

3. The Devil Wears Prada

This movie is a great career goals example because it tells the story of two women. One is a college graduate who wants to be a writer but ends up as the assistant to a successful fashion designer, and the other is that designer herself. 

The recent graduate wants to do a good job but finds her boss impossible; however, she wants to stick it out so she can pad her resume. Both of the women learn a lot about life, the other people in their lives, and about their careers as well, making for a very interesting and sometimes tense movie.

 

4. The Social Network

This movie is about how Facebook got started and shows how Mark Zuckerberg began the business in his college dorm room. It’s a straightforward movie that shows step-by-step what happened to bring him from a typical college student to the owner of one of the most successful businesses in the world. 

Regardless of what your own career objective is, all businesses start with an idea and a dream, and this is a great movie to watch to understand how one of the best services ever invented got its start.

 

5. 3 Idiots

Released in 2009, this is a funny coming-of-age movie about three Indian students who are going through the pressures of being engineering students and figuring out their future. The movie is told in both the present and 10 years earlier, so it gives you some insight into how these young men came to be who they are today. 

While it doesn’t concentrate on a specific business or company, it does show a little about the Indian culture and its emphasis on getting a good education. Even if you aren’t sure what type of entrepreneur you’d like to be, this movie is entertaining and a bit insightful as well.

 

Conclusion

Looking at a good movie like it is a basic career guide isn’t as silly as it sounds. Many of these movies teach us a lot about successful people and what it took for them to get to where they are today. 

All successful companies started somewhere, and they all have certain characteristics in common. Your job as a would-be entrepreneur is to find out what those characteristics are and apply them to your own life so that the odds of being successful in your chosen profession are a lot greater, and it’s a lot easier and more to do this by watching movies.