“Gone are the days of walking into a business and going, ‘Here’s what I can do for you, let’s talk, hire me,’” he says, and the more I think about it, the more I agree. An inbox folder full of application confirmations (and rejections) isn’t the only evidence I have that obtaining a job isn’t as easy as it used to be.
A vague feeling of dread makes me turn my attention to commiserating, as if blaming society will help me climb the financial ladder. It could also be that I live in a college town, where there are more degrees than jobs available.
As I scan the job listings each day, I find that the market holds either extremely lucrative jobs that require more experience or menial, physical-labor jobs that are more suited to a time when I was earning my degree, not after having taken possession of it. It’s hard to be excited for the future—a home to call our own, a garage we can both work in and no neighbors to share the most intimate experiences with—when you can’t make more than $30,000 a year.
About a year ago, I stumbled upon Gary Vaynerchuk, a man who has made quite a name for himself on social media, and found some hope. While we don’t share too much beyond the fact that we love to create, I picked up Vaynerchuk’s book “Crushing It!” to see if I could glean any further wisdom. I learned that Gary V. took a company that was doing rather well and seized upon every opportunity he could to build it into the $60 million business it is today. You’ve got to respect a guy that has accomplished that much.
I’ve realized that, as he states, we are in the age of a digital revolution. Having a presence on social media has changed in our society—it has replaced the old ways of obtaining a job and getting your foot in the door. (I’ve personally avoided sites like Facebook altogether because my family seems to drum up enough drama the way it is. Call it personal preference, but I never saw the value in social media.)
My eyes have now focused upon a new facet of social media: LinkedIn and Instagram. Those are two platforms most businesses ought to invest in. Gary V. talks a lot about the benefits of being on those social media platforms but the true value that lies in his book “Crushing It!” comes from the emphasis on being an entrepreneur.
“Personal branding” is a hot phrase in these times, and critical to making it in the digital world. Just take a look at the number of young people who’ve made their mark on YouTube. It is a profitable and sustainable business model to create and post YouTube videos. I repeat: it is profitable and sustainable to shoot video of yourself and your friends and post it online.
Isn’t that amazing?
This is exactly the stance Gary V. takes, and it’s one I’m excited to hear. I rely on the internet to grow my own on-the-side business of being a writer and editor, and to hear that someday I could potentially quit the menial job I work—one that rots my brain instead of enhances it—and make it big doing what I love . . . it’s like hearing that you can take a vacation, and yes, pick anywhere and the whole trip is free.
An immense feeling of joy rises up and the ambition to achieve great things bubbles inside my nerves.
What really matters here is that we’re in a time of shift, a space where graduating from college and moving straight into the firm you interned for isn’t as common as it used to be. Employees don’t commit to spending two decades of their life in one career. Turn-over rates might be higher, sure, but people are finding out that having to put your head down and plow through the corporate minefield isn’t a requirement anymore. If you can find a good opportunity and work as hard as is humanly possible, those stacks of paperwork and corporate bum-kissing days are long gone.
Right now, I’m hardly making rent with my writing and editing, but someday, somehow, I’m going to support myself and my boyfriend on my ability to fill pages with swooping strokes of my pen and creative character-block landscaping. I advise you to check out Gary V.’s book the next time you’re in a bookstore or the library. To start, watch a few of his videos. The time of making yourself known online is now.
Here’s hoping I land myself a better job. I just might have to create my own space to do it.
Rebecca Henderson holds a Master’s in German and a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing. Best expressing herself through the written word, she enjoys the smell of burning rubber and can recite the ABC’s of the automotive world upon command. Rebecca hopes to shift your world perspective through her words, because looking out the same window every day hardly makes for an interesting life.
0 comments on “Who Do You Work For?”