IPhone
Android
Google
Tablets
LinkedIn
Facebook
Smartphones
Potential life outside the Milky Way
Cyber crimes

 

We have thrust ourselves into the next industrial revolution. The only difference between the 1880’s and now is that the end product is 1/1,000,000th the size. With more content, knowledge and information being shared every second, how do we absorb it. More importantly, when do we have time to interpret and respond to that content before the next piece is fed on our plates? We no longer have to share content in real time; we can schedule when real time will be.

The pressure is building. Which will explode first, the robotic brain or the human brain?

I am done with the dramatic portion of this commentary.

Where can I possibly be going with this?

I believe we are transgressing back to a simpler time when connections were about two people working together for the common goal. That goal can be a job, a collaboration or a project. Needless to say, relationships are becoming more and more critical in the employment community as technology is fighting harder and harder to build on innovation and gain market share.

This is an interesting conflict to wrestle with.

Let us look at the state of career IT solutions:

• Programs are developed in IT solutions that monitor activity levels.  As individual move closer to a change (loss of job, move, etc.) they tend to become more active including updating profiles and resumes.
• We are no longer identified by the wealth of experience we bring to the table but by a series of skill tags.
• We are not people but a brand.  Some a simple brand while others saturate the market with their image.
• Business cards are not exchanged, meetings are not had; We are officially engaged with a Facebook friend request, a LinkedIn request or a Google+ circle initiation.
• The summation of our growth and development is summed up with visual or verbal sound bites and our performance is rated by the number of +1 or likes we receive.
• Big brother is watching.  The difference between Big Brother of old vs. new; He doesn’t have to try very hard to find dirt on you.
• Jobs are posted everywhere but no one is hiring?  How bizarre.
• If it involves physical effort, there is an app for it so sit back and relax.

Where exactly does Groucho Marx come into the picture?  As you can see from his famous mirror scene, the impostor was trying to convince Groucho’s character that he was looking at himself in the mirror.  By mirroring his moves, he was creating a relationship.  One of deceit but still a relationship.  Throughout his career Groucho would  befriend woman, professors, government leaders and con men offering them the world and then dancing the night away in the end.  Sometimes it takes an old film to remind what is still the most important thing in our lives; the relationship.

Connecting with others, not by common tags or mutual friends but by the respect and passion their have for their career choices is critical for you to continue to grow.  We live in an employers market and most likely will for the rest our lives and perhaps our children’s.  Opportunities are limited and skill requirements more specialized.  Now is the absolute time to find those that share your passion; your energy and you desire to continue to grow.

Network with them.  Not through a network but human interaction.

Without that element, we are lost in a cyber melting pot.  Once you fall into the deep abyss, there is no turning back.