Ryan Stephens Marketing

… with smarter people
… with people who work harder
… with people who have more (or less)
… with people that are hungry
… with people that will make you realize what you’re capable of

This post is part of a revived series entitled, “25 Ways to Get a New, Better or Different Job.” The series is an effort to provide something actionable that anyone (not just Gen Y) can do that may directly or indirectly help you get a job. I revived it because I felt compelled to based on reading stats like 80% of 2009 graduates don’t have job offers. If you have any suggestions please e-mail me or leave them in the comments. After all, this series is for you!

Why are MBAs usually successful in the business world? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can get a similar education with a library card (start here maybe), and doing internships, free work, or starting your own business.

They’re successful because they’re surrounded by other people who want more; they’re surrounded by people striving for success. People that can help them attain that success, push them to excel, and serve as a measuring stick.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide who you want to determine for yourself who you want surround yourself with, but I’ll offer a suggestion if you’re a young professional:

Why?

Because of the people.

Brazen just re-launched as a social network for young professionals, and I’m excited about this opportunity for their community; one I’m proud to be a part of. The site is an intersection of your ideas and your resume so that business professionals view more of you than a few bullet points on a piece of paper they probably won’t read anyway.

That’s great, but it remains to be seen if headhunters will shop there.

What I like most about the shift is that it takes the emphasis off the blogging (some were great, some were terrible, let’s be honest) and puts it on the people, and the connections.

I’ve connected with a laundry list of some of my most intimate online friends solely because of Brazen Careerist. I won’t list them all here, but if you do a Google blog search for “Brazen Communist” within 48 hours of this post going live you’ll see many of them sharing their opinion on the re-launch.

Homework: Spend the remainder of this week reaching out to 5 people who you view as peers (at or just above your level). Tell them what you like about their work, appreciate about their approach, or just why you wanted to connect with them.

When you’re finished come back and tell me who you reached out to, and why the rest of us should get to know them.

Who do you surround yourself with? Where do you ‘hangout’ online? How have those people impacted your job search, your career, your life?

Tweet This: (Copy & Paste into Twitter)
Surround Yourself… –> http://bit.ly/rntRu

Previous installments of this series are included here for your convenience:
Start a Blog
Get a Personal Branding Toolkit
Watch Gary V’s NYC Keynote
Read Never Eat Alone

If you find this series to be helpful in your job search, please consider subscribing or connecting with me via Twitter to ensure that you get all 25 actionable posts.

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