Oh, 2009, You Hurt So Bad, But You Taught So Good

2009 is — thankfully — almost over. I don’t know about you but I always get a tad bit reflective when the holidays roll around. They’re like my cue to begin processing the last 11 months of crap and make sense of the past year, to learn a few more life tenets that I can put into action next year. Now, there’s no use in keeping all these thoughts to myself, right? Because maybe something my mind has drummed up will resonate with you. And I’d love to hear if that’s the case. It’s good to feel we’re not alone, even in the best of times.

So, without further ado…

The Reasonably Nutritious Mental Goods My Brain Churned Out After Processing All That Has Been 2009 (or, Most of it)

There’s dignity in humility.

I moved in with my parents just three weeks before I lost my job (Premonition? Sixth sense?). While there was a time when living with your family into your 20s wasn’t looked down upon, now is not that time (that’s changed a bit over this past year, I think). I spent my savings keeping myself afloat so my parents didn’t have to. I went for nine months without receiving unemployment because I was too mired in the belief that I didn’t need help (and because California’s unemployment system is a total joke).

The battle between my pride and reality/logic this year has been a fierce one, but I’ve learned that accepting things as they are, accepting help when you need it and giving back when you can, can be incredibly dignifying. The grace, poise, talent and competence we hold has little to do with the contextual crap that flows in and out of our lives. If anything, those traits are demonstrated most prominently during our darker moments.

I’ve been stuck in the eye of a perfect storm for 13 months and my shelter is remembering my family and close friends are the vehicles that will get me out of this storm in one piece.

Trust is earned, not handed out freely.

This is one of those lessons I feel a little foolish admitting I learned late in life. Maybe not too late, though, if I’m lucky. While I am a full-steam-ahead supporter of the online social space, it has taught me this year how carefully we have to handle our trust. This place is easy to get caught up in, and it’s been proven in a few studies that something in the air here makes close relationships incredibly easy to build, and quickly at that. I’ve fallen into a few situations that support the findings of those studies and, for better or worse, I’m a more closed-off, guarded person than I’ve ever been before because my trust was broken. I see this development as an incredibly important one that had to happen before moving on to the next phase of my life.

We can only be who we are.

I know this one comes off as a little negative, like I’m saying who we are isn’t good enough. But that’s not the case at all. Job searching right now, in this economy, is pretty damn ruthless. Making any real progress takes figuring out what you really want from life, what you are truly capable of achieving and what you’re willing to put yourself through to get to that next step. There’s a crap-ton of soul searching that happens during moments like these. It’s hard to explain, but learning that I can only be me — crying fits, introvert tendencies and all — has been an oddly comforting lesson. I’m finally beginning to take solace in the bits of me I love and even in the bits that I’d rather do without. Self acceptance is so hard, and I’m nowhere near the end of that road, but at least I’m on it. Before 2009, I’m not sure I’d ever found that road at all.

In that same vein… We don’t have to be everything to everyone. We don’t even have to be liked by everyone.

This one is so tough. SO tough. When all you’re doing is competing, how can you avoid trying to be all things to all people? But, attempting to distribute yourself and your talents and attention equally into the world is nothing short of suicide. I mean it. Human beings are not made to scale like that. We’re made to be good at a few things, succeed at a few endeavors, love a few people and even have a few faults. That’s life. If you can’t accept it, expect to have a tough time ’til the end of your days. Do what you love and do it well. Love the people you can and treat them well. The rest is bullshit.

This one still slips from my grasp every now and then, but I’ve been so aware of whose in my court and whose not this year, so aware of my talents and shortcomings, that it’s been almost impossible not to face the music of this lesson and let it reverberate into the depths of my heart. I cannot be everything to everyone. And, if I really get thinking about it, most people and endeavors don’t deserve my everything anyway. Harsh, but true.

In most instances, the outcome is not about nor because of us.

Here’s the big ass kicking LESSON (all caps, yes) of 2009. Know why it’s such an ass kicker? Because this is the lesson that proves we don’t have control of everything in our lives. I fought so hard to accept this truth, mostly because I struggle to accept that I can’t always have what I want. Kind of funny considering how much I battle with believing I even deserve what I want. But, I digress.

We can only control the actions we take and the way we respond to what happens as a result of those actions; we are unable to manipulate the external factors that impact us. No controlling the way someone feels about you. No controlling the perceptions people have of you. No controlling the way the world, professionally and personally, receives you. Because of all that lack of control, a decision or an action that deeply affects our lives almost always has little to do with us. True story. We control our reactions and next steps and that’s it.

I’ve learned to draw boundaries because of this lesson. Finally. I’ve learned to push for what and who I care about to a degree that I can stand, and let an opportunity or a relationship go when the fight for it starts to do more damage than good. I’ve learned to pick my battles. These boundaries are hard to maintain, though. Some of them still get crossed more often than I’d like to admit. But, they’re there now, and just putting them in place is a huge step for me.

This goes for the good stuff, too. Even when the best things happen to us, there’s a good chance that much of why those things happen is because of sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time. Now there’s a thought to check your ego, hm?

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These lessons are a start, really. None of them are fully absorbed and integrated into my life, yet. By recognizing them, though, I hope to make them permanent fixtures in 2010 and only tweak them as the need arises (which it will, nothing stays the same forever).

We make of each year our own conclusions and recipes for success next time around. What have you learned from 2009?

Swept Away in a Sea of External Validation

WARNING: There’s a good chance you’ll start twitching from the massive amount of mixed metaphors in this post. Go ahead and take a few deep breaths every paragraph or two just to prevent any unwanted side effects.

This past weekend I’d planned to write. Not write here, not in any sort of public forum, but write in a journal with paper using a pen (the novelty!). I wanted to write about things only I give a crap about, feelings I need to address away from prying eyes and reflections on this last year that I haven’t yet made sense of. But every time I got started I’d fall into this whacked thought storm comprised of “That sounds horrible” winds and “Is there a better way to phrase this?” sleet patterns that beat me senseless and stopped the swift movement of my pen tip quicker than…um…something that’s super quick. (See what I mean?)

Cue the flashing sign over my head that reads: “SHE’S FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE FOR HERSELF.”

When I first started blogging I did it for myself, happily and shamelessly, without concern for those who might stop by. I never held expectations of garnering a large readership or standing out among the crowd; I blogged because, for me, it made sense to write in this format. The pressure of knowing someone might read what I compose, of knowing my content was still out there for eyes to see, helped me step up my game a bit and commit to the act of writing on a regular basis.

Reflecting on that fact has helped me clarify the direction I want to take my writing here and has got me thinking quite a bit about the psychological and sociological implications of creating and participating in online communities. While this post doesn’t directly touch on those topics, I think it takes a step in that direction, which is all I’m going for right now.

So, now…

Why did you start blogging? Did you want to share your expertise with a curious crowd? Did you hop on the blog train because it motivated you to keep a regular journal? Did you like the idea of getting feedback and input for your thoughts and ideas? Do you just love to write so much that you had to take the opportunity to do it in one more place?

When you started, did you do it with the intention of crafting your words specifically for readers? Or did you just think, “Someone will like what and how I write and that’s good enough for me?”

Really think about it.

Are you still blogging for the same reasons? Have you stuck to your guns or have your blogging habits shifted with the flowing tides of blogger popularity and competition? How do you feel about it? Yeah, I just turned into your virtual therapist.

Recently, I’ve seen a handful of fantastic bloggers sink into feelings of insecurity about their writing, positive their words have wandered from the path on which they first started and uncomfortable with what that means and how it might reflect on them. Competition has crept in and taken over and, after a burst of motivation (not inspiration) took them through the motions of constant posting and commenting, they’ve crashed into a wall of self doubt and questions resembling the lyrics of classic 80s songs (i.e., “How did I get here?” [h/t Talking Heads]).

Here’s the thing about blogging: It opens the doors to Constant Recognition and Validation Land, a very inviting place which we should visit every now and then but not ever settle into. Attention and praise are more available here, at all hours and down every main thoroughfare and alleyway, than in any other location or activity we’ve known prior to the Internet. The more we do here, the more people will recognize what we’ve done both online and off.

The addictive quality of outside recognition can overshadow even the purest and most valiant reasons behind the actions we take and that’s okay — it’s human nature to crave acceptance, and praise pretty much is acceptance, right? Falling too far into seeking external motivation and inspiration for your writing, though, will only continue to foster feelings of discontent, and you know why? Because you’re not remaining true to yourself, your goals or your beliefs.

It seems impossible to avoid being swept up in the current of external validation that’s so prominent around here, but it is possible to swim out of it, and now that I’ve felt the impermanence of that current I plan to swim right back toward dry land, to a place where I believe in the words I pen regardless of whose reading.

How do you feel about your experience as a blogger? Are you happy with the direction your writing has taken? If not, what happened to cause that unhappiness and how do you hope to fix it?

Walking the Line

Like many of my fellow job seekers, I’ve spent my time not just searching for the next best thing in my career but also freelancing, taking opportunities as they come to keep writing, continue to build my creative and functional skills (especially those in the digital world) and connect with great people.

I’ve wavered on the idea of going solo for awhile and the one thing that really holds me back is an ongoing battle I have with two different sides of me: the side that wants to take low-paying projects for experience and the side that doesn’t believe in undercutting my skills by accepting low-pay projects. The reality is, if I’m going to go solo I better start upping my pay standards. But…but…

The Side that Wants Experience

As far as my career is concerned, I’ve got a fairly varied past. From B2B journalism to commercial real estate marketing, there’s no one thing I’ve spent loads of time focusing on. And since the inception of social media in business is a fairly new development, I’ve got no experience in crafting or implementing any sort of digital marketing initiatives. For this reason — and for my love of digital — I have a hard time turning down projects that would give me that experience, even when they’re grossly underpaid.

I actually had to turn down a project recently for this reason and was less than thrilled that I might have let a potentially great opportunity slip from my hands. Now, this isn’t to say I didn’t do the right thing, but do you see what I’m getting at? There was no guarantee this project was going to be everything I wanted and more, and there’s a chance the time commitment I would’ve had to make to it would’ve held me back from even becoming aware of other potential opportunities, but…it probably would’ve been a great resumé builder.

The Side that Wants to be Valued

I KNOW businesses have got tight budgets right now. I get that. But there’s tight budgets and then there’s completely unreasonable budgets. If I set a precedent of taking projects for free or for little money, what’s to say I’ll be able to raise my rate adequately when the time comes for companies to start spending more money?

“Well, you did it before for this much so why won’t you do it again? We took a chance on you, you should be thankful.”

Just because I’m looking for a new job doesn’t mean I’m desperate. Despite my down moments and rants regarding my financial situation, I’m in a reasonably good place because of my family’s support, and I don’t have to take a project for the sheer need for money. I have room to be discerning, and I want someone to work with me because they value my skills and potential and will pay me adequately for use of those skills.

On another level but in this same regard, I am opposed to the idea of undervaluing professional roles, especially those that are still being shaped. I don’t want to set a precedent for myself or for this industry that leans on the principles of cheap labor. All that comes along with digital (and writing, really) is worth so much more than many organizations want to accept. Are we doing our field a disservice by taking clients that won’t pay? Are we doing our field a disservice by not speaking up about it, by not standing up for the value of our work and time?

So, what say you?

What do YOU think?

Do you value experience over monetary gain? Would you take a low- or no-paying role if you knew it had the potential to offer you valuable professional experience? Or do you believe it’s important to be more discerning and wait for those projects that offer you more reasonable pay?

I’m a fence sitter by nature, so I see the value in both sides (thus the conundrum). But, after what point do you say, “Okay, I’m done with this experience business, I need more than this and my potential clients need to understand that?” Do you even reach that point?

Tell me your thoughts, pretty, pretty please? I’d love to hear from you.

The Quickest of Thanksgiving Posts

As we round the last bend in 2009’s tumultuously winding race track, it’s hard for me to comprehend just how much things have changed this year for all of us. We’ve been battered but not broken, and you know why? Friends. Family. Community. Without each other we’d be a big, fretful mess. Well, more of a big, fretful mess than we already are. And that sentiment encompasses what might be the most important lesson any of us could learn this year: Life isn’t about who you are or what you have, it’s about who you’ve surrounded yourself with and how you connect with those people to appreciate, enjoy and get through each day.

In the toughest of times it can be hard to remove yourself from the pit of despair to show people how much they mean to you. Often, these sorts of periods in our personal timeline make us volatile and hard to be around. And yet, somehow, the true loves of our lives take the repeated beatings and stay by our sides.

The beautiful thing about Thanksgiving is that this holiday forces us to reflect from a gracious place on the year that’s past. Even when things are bad, when Thanksgiving rolls around you can’t help but want to reach out and tell your friends, family and colleagues how important they are in your life. And if you do nothing else this Thursday, that’s exactly what you should do — reach out.

I’m not going to give you an exhaustive list of all the people who’ve been integral in keeping me sane this year. Instead, I’m just going to say…in deference to those people who’ve touched my life, go and give some love and thanks to those who’ve touched yours.

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Have a wonderful holiday.

Blog Reconstruction

Lately, I’ve been drawn to blog posts and discussions touting the importance of blog plans, setting a course for your little spot on the Interwebs, and the X Number of Things I’ve Learned While Blogging. Why? Well, if you take a peek around here you’ll see there really isn’t a blog plan, per se, or a general strategy for this place. And when I started that was okay with me — I needed the freedom to explore and see where I wanted to head with this blog. But I’m at a point now where I’m tired of wandering. For a few reasons.

1. If you don’t draw some boundaries it’s really easy to get carried away with all that freedom, to a degree in which there’s a good chance you’ll stop paying attention to what’s working and what’s not. How can you narrow your path if you’re not paying heed to what your readers do and don’t respond to? And, for that matter, how can you become more focused when you don’t give yourself the guidelines with which to do it?

2. Without consistent content, readers are never sure what to expect from you. One day you’re breaking down the specifics of a social media listening campaign and the next you’re talking about your vacation to Niagara Falls. That’s okay, of course, but the time it takes for someone to hop over to your blog everyday to see if he or she actually wants to read what you’ve written is usually time he or she wants to spend doing something else. With enough inconsistency, your readers will indeed dedicate that time to pursuits other than reading your blog.

3. You ever notice how you can become paralyzed by having too many options? For anything, really, and most definitely for blog topics. If you don’t narrow your scope it’s too easy to want to write about whatever catches your interest on a given day. And while doing some spontaneous writing here and there can be a great refresher for you and your readers, writing on the fly all the time is taxing on your brain. Your brain knows how taxing this is, too, and will usually toss blogging to the side in an attempt to focus on something more, well, focused.

Needless to say, it’s been quiet around here because this place is in need of an epic-sized overhaul in both content and design. I have to admit, I really love writing on a more personal, creative level than writing on a business level. There’s a lot of information out there regarding social business and the affect digital media is having on business processes, and I don’t feel the need to add to that segment just yet. You guys go ahead and take care of that and I’ll pop in for the conversation.

I’ve also got some major decisions to make regarding my job search/employment situation and where to go next, and those decisions will definitely impact the flow of this stream.

Long story even longer, it’ll probably quiet around here for a few more weeks as I finalize decisions and work out where I’m headed. You’ll probably see a post pop up here or there — I’ve got a Thanksgiving post in the works — and I hope that, despite the impending slow-down, you’ll stick around to see what’s next.

In the meantime, will you leave some comments about what you’d like to read more about? Step outside your comfort zone, though. Get away from business for a minute, because part of the reason I’m so motivated to stray from the professional pack is that I feel we’ve lost sight of much of what makes us human and interesting and vulnerable and alive. I miss that about us, and if you miss that, too, let me know. Let me know what you think would help bring some of that back.

Thanks, guys.

Pride

My dad retired today. 37 years working for the state education system, 33 of which were spent in the California State College system’s Chancellor’s Office (CO). Holy crap, hm? When was the last time we heard about someone’s 30-year, single-organization career?

While I’ve interned for my dad before, I never quite got a full view of his role or just how much of a big deal he was at the CO. And I don’t mean “big deal” in the head-honcho-fancy-pants way; I mean “big deal” in a simple, he’s-leaving-some-big-shoes-to-fill sort of way.

His retirement luncheon was fantastic and surprisingly illuminating. While my dad has been a great father, he’s always been a little hard-assed with us kids, and even with my mom in her career. It was never about being mean, it was just always about wanting us to be our best…possibly to a heartwrenching fault. He felt the same way about his work and his team. Colleagues lauded his awesome understanding of technology, his knack for handling clients, and his management skills.

The best part of it all? Try as his coworkers did to find roast-worthy memories, they just couldn’t. My dad is and will always be a professional man to the core, and his commitment to higher education is pretty damn impressive.

His speech in response to theirs was heartfelt, tear-filled, and completely ineloquent — just the way that kind of speech should be. “We’re pretty far removed from our students,” he said. “But we make a little difference in all their lives.”

Indeed, Pops.

I knew before today that my father was an accomplished man. What I didn’t know was how much of his heart he poured into his work, and all that heart was reflected back in an overflowing fountain of appreciation from his team, bosses and clients.

We view parents as Mom and Dad, not Director of Enterprise Systems or Junior High School Teacher. We often see love, frustration, sometimes contemptible familiarity and misunderstanding. Rarely do we get the chance to see them outside the confines of Parent.

When you get the opportunity to see the great contributions your parents have made to this world — not as mothers or fathers but as individuals, professionals, trying to make a difference — tell them how wonderful you think they are for it.

My dad will most likely head back to the CO as a consultant after the new year. I would expect no less from such an outstanding career man.

How Do You Cope with Broken Trust and Failed Online Relationships?

What is it about the Internet that makes it so easy for some of us to connect? Why, when it can be unreasonably painful in life to make friends, is it easier here to grow unexpectedly close to people we’ve never technically met? Is it the removal of body language and awkward, five-senses-based first impressions? Is it the fact that the barriers of state and continental divides are removed, thereby exposing us to a larger pool of possibly-likeminded people? Is it because we’ve found our kind and feel a close kinship to the geeks around here?

What is it? I couldn’t tell you. I can tell you those of us who are online obsessed understand the value of our relationships built in this space. While less ‘net savvy types might look at us askance if we mention we haven’t met half our friends on Facebook, we get why those relationships matter and what is important to us within those connections.

So, knowing that this space is an odd one, that it lends to quick and intimate bonds that almost certainly wouldn’t have happened before the invention of the Internet, what happens when one of the relationships you’ve built here, that’s based online — and, to a large degree, in public — fails? What happens when your trust is broken in the online space? Similarly, even if a relationship wasn’t built here, many of us keep the fires of our in-life connections stoked via social networking sites — what happens when your real life friends break your trust online?

How do you manage your behavior and actions toward that public, broken relationship? How do you avoid getting too involved here?

Without going into too many details, I’ve been facing this exact problem the past few days and I’m not sure where to turn or how to handle the future of one of my most personally important online relationships. Here are some things I’ve learned about personal online interaction, though, in mulling this situation over:

1. Nothing here replaces the connection of face-to-face. No level of intimacy here can reach the reality and affirmation of face-to-face interaction. BUT. Something about building intimacy here can fake you into thinking you’ve reached the closeness of real life.

2. In that same vein, it’s easy to put your trust in people you don’t technically know. For whatever reason, be it the safety of distance or a computer screen or the constant exposure to someone’s random thoughts, it is incredibly easy to feel certain people you’ve connected with here are immediately deserving of your trust.

3. Resolving feelings of broken trust and scarred relationships online is not easy. No matter how you’re feeling, if your relationship is in public it’s important to keep it civil and maintain, but it can be difficult. Also, when cutting off communication is sometimes the best way to heal, it can be harder to mend the hurt when you’re constantly exposed to someone’s lifestream.

I know this is a little more personal than I usually dive into, but I’m truly at a crossroads and I’m positive I’m not the only person who has faced or is facing a similar problem. I don’t have any answers but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

When you’ve built relationships here that go sour, how do you deal with the fallout? Do you let the relationship go? If you’ve got an established “presence” online that prevents you from being able to walk away long enough to regroup, how do you cope? And, if you’ve had a real-life relationship fall apart via online channels, what have you done to move on?

More than anything, though I love this space, the implications of meeting people via non-traditional forms of interacting, of cutting out body language and face-to-face introductions as barriers to establishing trust, can be scary when that easily-given trust is broken. We haven’t yet developed coping mechanisms for dealing with the breakdown of online relationships.

For me, the lesson lies in openness. Unfortunately, it’s time I shut some doors and start guarding myself better than before.

Are Hiring Managers Too Focused on Finding the Right Experience?

An almost-constant part of my job search is fighting against companies/recruiters who are unwaveringly set in the belief that job seekers most suited to what they need are those who have directly applicable experience to the role they’re trying to fill. And, you know, I understand that. Hiring people is expensive and, when it comes to costs and employees, there’s no room for error or excess right now.

But, employers and hiring managers, let’s consider for a minute the idea that maybe hiring for the right experience (whatever that is) is narrowing your search to such ridiculous confines that you will never find that person. What if you’ve passed up a fantastic fit five times over because you’ve boxed in your candidate search?

I want to explore some of the limitations of hiring for experience, just to get people thinking a bit, okay? Because, really, there’s a good chance the right person for what you need isn’t the person you’d expect.

But That’s Not How I Did It In My Last Job

When I was in college I took about a year of Italian to fulfill my school’s language requirement. My grandmother is Italian and I find the language to be beautiful, so it was a logical choice for me. And, I guess the Spanish exchange students at my school felt that taking Italian was logical for them, too, probably for the assumed ease of learning. Because Italian is a lot like Spanish, right? Well, yeah, it is, but…

As the year progressed, quite a few of the exchange students struggled to pick up Italian because it was just familiar enough to trip them up. The parameters of their language were incredibly close to those of the Italian language, but they weren’t the same. The similarities between these languages actually ended up being pretty big barriers to their learning the specifics of Italian.

All that anecdotal business is to say that, sometimes, direct experience can cause higher barriers to learning and adapting in a new job, because our brains have preconceived notions of how new but familiar roles should be performed. Our brains work off years of history and “expertise”, and there’s just enough similarity between related jobs that our brains have a tough time being open to learning new working processes in that case than they would be if we were diving into a completely new area of work.

The openness of inexperience makes people adaptable and spongy. We soak up information and learn quickly when we’re immersed in a new subject. Past experience can be confining.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt…and Possible Repeat Failure

So, say, hypothetically, you’re a big international insurance and financial services company. I know, just work with me. Okay, so you’re this big international insurance company (let’s call you AIC) and, admittedly, things are a little wonky for you right now. You’ve had a rough year.

Hypothetically speaking, you’re ready to make some changes because of all this wonkiness, and you think the first place you should start is with your executive team. Now…are you going to hire people with the same sort of past “successes” as your, um, current or previous executive team? I mean, that team on its way out is the one that kind of got you into this mess, right?

Okay, so that’s an extreme analogy, but do you see my point? If businesses keep following the same processes, if they hire for the same qualities and experience they looked for before things started falling apart, isn’t it logical to think that maybe they’ll end up back in the mire?

Truth is, we can’t go back. There will be NO going back, so we need to let that idea go. The only place to go is Forward, and Forward takes change. Forward takes new processes, and maybe even some that are a little (or a lot) unconventional.

You don’t have to sacrifice the fundamentals here; that’s not what I’m saying. Keep the foundational principles and overhaul. Keep in mind, though, that those fundamental principles only come from having a deep knowledge of who you are, what you offer, and where you want to go. When you know that about yourself you’ll know what type of person you need to have on your side.

I’m getting off track. Moving on!

That Box You’re Thinking In Just Ain’t Big Enough

As an employer you value diversity, don’t you? Cultural diversity, gender diversity, all that good stuff. You know why you value diversity? Not only does having a diverse corporate team make sense from an equality standpoint, it makes sense because people from varied backgrounds have lived different lives and racked up different experiences that give them unique perspectives. And all that unique perspectiveness (no, that’s not a word) in one place means you have a huge pool of talent and experience to pull from to solve a problem.

How is professional experience any different? Stop looking for specific experience and start looking for certain characteristics and personality traits, because I guarantee the personal values of people are more important in the long run than the exact professional experience they’ve acquired. And, if you look for different experience combined with the values you’ve identified as important to maintaining your company culture you’ll find someone who brings character as well as good and NEW ideas to your corporate table.

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Here’s the thing I need you to understand: I’m not trying to tell you to totally throw experience out the window. Not at all. What I’m saying is there is no human silver bullet, so stop looking for one. You can’t keep piling on barriers to entry and maintain the expectation you’ll find the right person.

Success is not all about experience; a lot of it is about adaptability. Success is about a company knowing itself well enough to ditch the established confines of what a professional team in its industry should look like and build one that will actually make things happen.

All this is about organizations getting down to the nitty gritty and giving real people a shot for having the right qualities, not just for looking good on paper. When you’re hiring, look for passion. Look for intelligence and intuition. Look for a hunger to learn. Watch for people who love what your company is about. Make your matches based on culture fit because the rest will fall into place if you find someone whose values align with your culture.

The beauty of human beings is that we’re teachable. Our brains are elastic. We can keep learning. Our values and character don’t change much over the course of our lifetimes, though, so if we have values and character that don’t match up with those of your business there’s no way we’ll do you any good. But if we do…you’re in for a treat.

What say you? Do you feel any of this makes sense, or are you one of the many who maintains that professional experience is it? Would you take a chance on an eager and passionate job seeker if they didn’t have the exact experience you’re looking for?

Oooo, Look! A Vlog! #2

Yeah, I’m all in your face, continuing the talk about this unemployment business. Let me know what you think!

A Quick Update and Thank You

The last post I wrote got incredible response — so much, in fact, that my mind has been racing these past few days to drum up ideas as to how we can use this momentum to open up the conversation about the struggles we’re ALL facing in this economy and brainstorm strategies for getting out of this mess.

I’ll be posting a video blog tomorrow with some thoughts and I hope you take the time to watch and leave your ideas, too. In the mean time I’d really like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to those who read and those who shared their stories. Putting your experiences out in this space helps me and whoever stops by gain incredible perspective. Knowing what you’re going through makes me understand how important it is to keep talking about this, and you’ve reminded me that I am lucky and not alone. Now it’s time to move past identifying the issue to doing something about it.

That’s next. Thank you again for your understanding and support, and, most importantly, for sharing.