Surround Yourself with Smart People

Recently, my friend, mentor, and colleague Carol Ross pointed me to a blog post about the advantages of surrounding yourself with smart people. Certainly, Carol is a very smart person and I am fortunate to have her in my circle of friends and colleagues. Yet, in stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, I realize that I’ve made it a good habit to connect with and be surrounded by smart people – and from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Of course, I’ve connected with lots of career professionals who bring lots of smarts to what they do. Interestingly, I’ve meet many of them online – mostly on Twitter. Over time, I’ve learned what they do for their clients and valued their shared expertise. In many respects, they have stimulated my own thinking and contributed to my own professional grow. That’s the value smart people bring to you, they help you grow.

So, imagine my pleasure in learning that several of these great folks have formed a group and asked me to join. Called the The Career Collective, this group of 21 professionals:  “…help job seekers via a new online community …[by using]… his or her own blog to respond to a timely question that vexes many job seekers. Career Collective participants will then link to other members’ responses so readers will have easy access to a variety of viewpoints.”

So, once a month, I’ll be addressing career management questions here on my blog, and linking to colleagues’ posts. I think this is important and timely. In the words of The Career Collective: “It’s not a “come as you are” job market. Today’s successful job hunters must be armed with information and the ability to use tools that may not have existed the last time they were vying for a new opportunity. The news reports that there are anywhere from four to six people for each job and the Bureau of Labor Statistics marks the average job hunt at 25 weeks, with many highly qualified professionals in much longer searches.”

So, yes, timely and critically important. I hope you will join us for great career advice from some of the smartest folks you can surround yourself with.

Comments

[Miriam Salpeter, Keppie Careers]

Walter - We are delighted that you are kicking off your participation! I'm looking forward to your posts and thrilled to have you as part of our Career Collective community!

[Walter Akana]

Thanks for your warm welcome, Miriam! I'm pleased to be a part of this terrific community of experts; and I look forward to adding to our shared perspective and advice for careerists!