Creating a Gem of a Career

Careers don't just reflect which jobs are available, they represent who we are as people. Fast Company was founded on that notion (among others). The ensuing 10 years have seen everything from the rise of online job boards to the Brand Called You, the birth of blogs to offshoring. All of these developments have had a significant impact on the way we manage our careers--and the next 10 years promise to be just as dramatic. A number of technological and demographic trends still in their infancy will shape the way you develop and guide your professional life in the decade to come. Here's how to ride those waves.

Spin Out Your Network

Networks are morphing from small, closely knit circles into expanding webs that can reach just about anywhere--and collect virtually all the information you need. "It used to be that a young professional's network consisted of six friends and their dad's uncle," says Elliot Masie, president of the Masie Center and author of a weekly industry newsletter that goes out to 55,000 corporate executives. Now even an average student who doesn't think much about networking in the traditional sense will already have dozens of "friends" in his or her Facebook network (an online directory for college and high-school students and alumni) before leaving campus. "We are amazed by the sheer number of grads staying connected to others today," says Christopher Morris, the director of MBA career management at the Wharton School. Because sites such as Facebook are viral, the new friends you acquire give you access to all of their friends. The result? People are entering the workforce with hundreds of contacts--and they're eager and ready to deploy them.

Today's power networkers aren't just hoarding contacts but sharing information in unprecedented amounts at unbelievable speed. "They're far more open about discussing their private lives, from what they did at that party this weekend to salary information about their jobs," says Morris. "What used to be difficult to get, you can now just ask [for]." Masie sees this warp-speed, ultraconnected culture at work in his own company. "Students who do internships with me use Facebook more than email," he says. Their conversation threads regularly focus on work experiences: What did they learn? Who did they meet? Was it fun? Did it pay well? Where do they want to work next? "One used Facebook to decide not to take a full-time job she was offered," he says. "Her network told her it wasn't a good place to work."

"This is a group with a team, a project, and a collaborator mentality," says Alice Snell, VP of the talent-management research division at Taleo, a San Francisco-based company that produces human-resources software for companies such as Citigroup, Honeywell, and Dell. If there's a tech problem, their first instinct is to instant-message a geek buddy for advice on how to fix it. If they're on a product-development team, they'll reach out to friends for input, not necessarily caring whether they're observing traditional corporate boundaries. And if they hate their boss, maybe they'll post that on their blog.

The increasing breadth and power of employees' personal networks to disperse information about work experiences will force companies to rethink how they organize teams and departments. Look for interdisciplinary teams that involve employees from different generations in an effort to take advantage of as many perspectives and sources of input as possible. It's possible that companies will flatten their hierarchies even more than we've already seen in an effort to make junior employees with their brainstorming networks feel more empowered to speak up and contribute ideas at work. It will also affect what sorts of controls they try to exert on communication with peers outside company walls. Trying to shut down these informal networks obviously won't work, even if companies find them threatening. The only option, predicts Masie, will be a "high level of honesty and transparency" and the incorporation of rewards for those employees who use their networks on the company's behalf.

If you're not 21 and burning up your Facebook account, next-generation networks aren't closed to you. Try out business-oriented Web services such as LinkedIn and Ryze to track and expand your personal network. Or go the old-fashioned route: Pull out a big piece of paper, stick it up on the wall, and map out everyone you know, how you know them, and how they connect to one another. "If it's not visual, it's easy to miss things," Masie says. "Look at it and realize this is an asset you can legitimately mature." The next step, he adds, is looking for ways to expand beyond your own peer group. "Operate up," Masie says. "Too many people forget to do that." Recognize the value of mentors and identify those above you who can help you learn.

And most important of all, adds Morris, remember that technology is just a "new enabler. These are still relationships. They have to be cultivated."

A long list of names is meaningless unless it represents real relationships, developed by offering your own help and input over time. Then, when the day comes that you need a job lead, a problem-solving tip, or just the inside scoop on the new boss, you'll be in the loop, not banished to the outer circle.