Since 1912, when Charles Kettering invented the electric self-starter to replace the hand crank on automobiles, General Motors has been a leader in automotive innovation.

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Set in the late 1960s and early '70s, Ridley Scott's star-driven "American Gangster" positions Harlem's notorious drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) as an entrepreneurial self-starter in the black economy.

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Self-described as "a starter, not a finisher, " he sought a new chief executive four years later to get on the fledgling Internet.

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On your search, you may find the most luck with smaller companies, especially those that advertise jobs with phrases like "self starter" or "multitasker, " says Mary Ellen Slayter, a career-advice expert at careers site Monster.com in Baton Rouge, La.

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