A Friend Successfully Gets a (Great!) Job after 20 Months! How did he do it?

In between my part-time jobs as a Freelancer, and my main work as a Web Content writer, I'd take time to meet up with a good friend who's been out of work since oddly twenty months ago. Now, his situation has changed, as he's finally got a job. How did he do it? We haven't talked much about it, but I can always share my thoughts on how he managed to actually implement a strategy to get another (great!) job that he actually likes doing. Here are my thoughts on why he got himself a (great!) job after all these long months of patiently waiting:
1) He went back to school, and finished his degree in accounting. I remember the extreme hesitancy he got over the idea of going back to school again to get the job that he wanted, but he worked on changing himself. I knew from experience (having done HR work for over 20 years) that he'd make recruiters and employers take note of his compelling story if he actually gets to manage to finish his degree...
2) He got a compelling story from going back to school. He shared them (the recruiters and employers) about his experience of actually studying Calculus, and getting good grades for it. Of course, this subject is confusing, dreadful, and out of 10 people you'll meet on the street, only 1 or 2 would have taken this subject. This shows strong character traits my friend possesses and makes good use of, that in turn make him the outstanding job applicant (and now employed again!) in this crazy job market.
3) He's doggedly identified what he wanted to do, and didn't want to settle for something less, despite the best intentions of family members, friends and relatives admonishing him to change his mind (or even change his tactics!). This takes a lot of courage, and effort to "know thyself" (as attributed to several Philosophers). And he certainly got results he wanted.
4) Opening himself up to suggestions from people he knows and trusts. This certainly helped, as each one of does not live in a void. We need to get connected. But we need to be selectively connected. This takes a lot of active work to do it effectively---and a design and approach to do it depends on the individual.
5) And more! A lot of credits go to the Supreme Being in our midst who never fails to provide for our (individual) needs. Just for that, all praises above!

Here's a happy ending to one's (concerted) efforts to land another (great!) job!