Jump Into Burning Buildings
At the beginning of your career, you likely seek stability. You've likely assumed debt and definitely have deferred earnings to earn a college degree. So, when you're looking for work, you probably are looking for cushy jobs. You want 40 hours a week, defined job responsibilities, work handed to you on a clean platter, on the job training, a sweet title in your given field, and a hybrid role with a dedicated mentor.
First off, there's only a few of these and they never quite exist like this.
Second off, you actually don't want this job. You want a job at the beginning where you're going to get exponential growth. That comes with chaos.
At the beginning of your career, you want burning buildings.
You want companies urinating cash down the drain as they try to sustain their growth. CEOs who walk around the office barefoot as they spout mantras on management and you desperately try to juggle marketing, project management, data analysis, and a few service tickets on top.
You want industry titans whose names used to strike fear into their competition who are battered and bleeding into the dust of the arena as the crowd cheers for another young pup to take a swipe at them. Places where your Python scripts seem like you've woven magic out of thin air to the veterans at the company.
It's at these places the suffering you'll endure (and it will be suffering, but the good kind - see Mark Manson) will grow you. You'll learn how to adapt and build faster. You'll learn how to talk to people and communicate. You'll learn how to manipulate systems to turn a no-win into a bloody victory. Because if you can win at these places, then you can win anywhere.
Early in your career index on chaos and you'll be surprised how you grow.