First Hand Experience of Failure

I was told that there is a requirement for PHP programmer in a company. I announced this news in my PHP batch which will be finished till April 15th. I also told the students that when they will be going through the application process and interview dates, our course will be almost over. I also told them that we have talked with the company people and they are willing to hire even such candidate who is about to finish a PHP course under my guidance.

I was insisting one student to apply and proceed. He was hesitant and was making excuses about not to go apply and interview. I wondered how can somebody say so who is aspiring for IT field.

After some counseling he told me about some of his friends who appeared for interviews and due to less knowledge were fired and now are dejected. He was afraid of being fired. I told him to be afraid of something which hasn't happened with you in life is foolishness. This means other people are controlling your life. Your friends control your life. They got fired. There may be many reasons apart from the reasons they have told. And the most important thing is even if it is failure; you must have first hand experience of failure.

After saying this I told him not to be afraid and take the experience and then decide. We must keep experimenting with ourselves. Some day there will come "eureka" moment when our experiment will succeed.

Now I wonder what I said, even if it is failure you must have first hand experience of failure. I understand learning from other people's failures. But yes there are some places where we must have first hand experience of the failure, if it has to be, to get along and get tough.