Build a career instead.
I am more than tired concerning all the TV hype about "finding a job" and "all the things you need to do," produced and reported by people who actually have jobs and are doing precisely what they want to do.
While everyone else is playing Depression Economics, I also need to point out an enormous difference between the situation today and the 1930s.
As I sometimes like to say, you're soaking in it.
The Internet. The Web was only spun 15 years ago, yet today the resource reaches into nearly every town and hamlet, all around the world. The Internet has already transformed every industry we have. It lets you guarantee yourself the best price, it lets you learn about any topic instantly (whether or not what you find is true is another story), and it is the greatest educational resource the world has ever seen.
Use it.
We are all looking to find our way in life. For most of us, most of the time, we're led to where we go. By schools. By parents. By bosses. Those who break these bonds are considered the exceptions, those who do it successfully are heroes.
Today anyone can be a hero.
I have been working in this medium for 25 years. (I became a full time computer freelancer just two years after this picture was taken, on a 1981 bike trip.) I can't say I have always made a living through it. But I have been able to use it to make the life I dreamt of when I was a child on Long Island.
I started quite simply. I printed up some business cards. I had just been fired from my business journalism job and I was looking to express my ambition simply, completely. The cards read, "Have Modem, Will Travel."
Over the years I have seen thousands of people do similar things. PR people. Computer programmers. Educators. Doctors and lawyers. This medium, when used wisely, can make your reputation. When used poorly it can break you.
So let me propose a three-step process to replace what the wise-asses are telling you should be your job hunt:
- Find your dream. Don't settle for what you were doing, or what you may have been trained to do. What do you want to do? You can use this medium to find out what it will take to get there. You can use this medium to acquire the skills you need. Don't have broadband? Go to a coffee shop and use WiFi. Don't have a PC? Go to the library and use the PCs there. When librarians find out what you're doing they will be happy. They may even help.
- Grab your dream. Even while you are gaining the skills you need, you can be using this medium to build the career of your dreams. Look for Wikis and newsgroups and Web sites where your dream is discussed. Lurk. Collect links. Follow them. Learn all you can, and then filter that through your own mind, until you know what you can contribute to the field, what makes you different.
- Advertise your dream. When you are ready, when you know your field and when you know your own mind, it is time to stop lurking and start doing. Network. Blog. Express yourself and advertise your availability. Find people near you who have similar dreams. Seek out mentors, and respect them. If anyone follows you, follow up.
Remember that the most important asset you have here is your good name. Protect it. Don't screw it up. Don't speak out until you feel sure of your ground. Always act ethically online. Avoid flame wars. Let people disagree, just ignore or avoid them.
This medium is always building a dossier on you. You can use that fact to your advantage. You can learn about that dossier by simply Googling yourself. Google mentors before you attach yourself to them. Google followers to learn if you can trust them. Anyone without an online trail at this point is suspicious — investigate them thoroughly before proceeding.
Make yourself the only choice for whatever it is you most want to offer. That's marketing. You're responsible for it. You're an entrepreneur, and your product is you.
This can work no matter what your age, no matter what your circumstance. All you need are basic computer skills, determination and time.
True, everyone else can do the same thing. But as I said at the top, this is the difference between now and then. This medium not only gives you as an individual a chance to get out of this ditch. It enables all of us, together, to climb out of it.
Let that be your New Year's Resolution. Give your best to this medium, and it will give you a return.
“Anyone without an online trail at this point is suspicious”
Dana, that statement is nonsense. We are not all articulate bloggers. Some of us a just plain shy, so we I don’t build up an Internet footprint to speak of. Others of us may just be careful what we let out.
In my case, I have worked in computers for more than 30 years, and used the Internet extensively for 20, but I am nearly invisible to google. Sometimes that’s a disadvantage, other times not.
“Anyone without an online trail at this point is suspicious”
Dana, that statement is nonsense. We are not all articulate bloggers. Some of us a just plain shy, so we I don’t build up an Internet footprint to speak of. Others of us may just be careful what we let out.
In my case, I have worked in computers for more than 30 years, and used the Internet extensively for 20, but I am nearly invisible to google. Sometimes that’s a disadvantage, other times not.