Never have I been so sure about what it is that I’d like to end up doing. A great conversation with a friend in a pretty ill-planned trip to Blue Mountain yesterday allowed me to think a little bit more about the transitionary period that will need to occur for me to accomplish my goals. Still working on some transitionary stuff before I can really reveal anything (Google is a useful tool; work is important right now, as rent is a cruel mistress), but I’m excited to be able to share with you guys a solid plan as to where I’m going in my life, and how I’m going to get there.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented and e-mailed me over the last little while in regards to some of my posts and requests. I really do appreciate everything that you all say, and keep it in mind. If you ever want to contact me about anything, the e-mail’s at the top right of the menu bar above.

That’s really all I’ve got - back tomorrow, hopefully.

Just a couple of things on my mind this afternoon.

Firstly, my buddy Josh is embarking on an adventure of his own starting in May. His is truly without borders - a one-way ticket booked, and nothing solid planned save wandering. He put it very eloquently in his blog entry about it, which can be found at http://bootsandabackpack.blogspot.com. (Sorry for the lack of link, that seems to be the one downside of this app.)

Secondly, thanks to everyone who have reached out with advice or information for me regarding my last post! Ironically, it served to prove the networking post true, as you never really know whom in your network may have these pieces of information. I have read and considered everything that has been put forward, and will use the information in formulating my attack plan.

I want to reach out to you, though, in a time when you’re getting out of the holidays and “back to the grind” and ask you what motivates you in your current occupation? What is it about what you do that keeps you coming back for more, or that verifies you’re in the right spot for you? I suspect that given some of my readership I’ll get varied answers, which I hope to see. Please leave your answer in the comments, or send me an e-mail to dan at danhocking dot com. Thanks!

Recently, I’ve been taking a look at what exactly it is I want to do with my life. It’s a big question, I know, and not one easily answered. I was inspired by watching Shake Hands With the Devil, the story of Gen. Romeo Dallaire and the Rwanda genocides. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I don’t have that question answered - but I have come much closer to an answer as to what I’d like to do with the remainder of my 20s.

This decision has come from a few conversations over the last while - both in person and online. I find that the corporate lifestyle doesn’t really satisfy me at this point, and I suspect that I was pretending that was what I really wanted to do at this point. That’s not to say that I don’t want to do the corporate life eventually, but this isn’t the time for it, at least in my opinion.

Your 20s are a time for you to take chances, to do things that may not work, to screw things up. There is very little that you can do at this age, at the mere beginning of your “working” life that will cause serious long-term damage to you. (Yes, Jaime, I totally cribbed this from you - my apologies.)

With that said, and my current mindset, I’m looking to work towards the goal of making meaningful change while I’m still young and motivated to do so. The specific attack plan isn’t developed yet - and I’m in my lease until September, so I’m in my current digs for a while - but one of the things I’d like to do is head overseas to work or volunteer. Not to teach English (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but to build things, help people, and use my situation and skills to help those in need. I think that the experience provided by this would be invaluable, and humbling.

If you have any ideas or thoughts for me as to programs I could get involved in, please let me know - I’m definitely all ears. I wish Canada had a Peace Corps - that sort of program would be perfect for the sorts of stuff I’d like to do at the moment.

I’m looking to take a lot of chances, with the aim of making change and helping people. I may fail, yes, but I’ll be able to come back from it. If you’re young, and stuck doing something you don’t like to do, why don’t you look to make a positive change in your life, and perhaps consider making changes in others?

On my previous post, Ken commented:

I’d love to see a post about true networking — I think there are many grads out there who think they understand it but don’t properly put it into action. Networking is so much more than just walking up to people and saying “Hi.” It’s knowing where they are, what they’re up to, and cultivating a relationship that pays you dividends in the long run. It won’t just help you get a job, it will help you be successful when you finally land it, and create a back-up support system if you lose it.

While I’m a little flattered that Ken thinks that I’m an expert on networking, I also felt obliged to share my thoughts on how to network.

Here’s a list of things to remember when networking for any purpose - be it for career purposes, for social advancement, or whatever other purpose you may have:

1. Be genuine, and form genuine relationships.

That’s it. If you’re interested in someone merely because they can help you find a job, that’s not networking (and that’s also not going to work the vast majority of the time.) In order for you to truly form a network where you are able to utilize the resources within it, you must represent yourself as YOU. I can’t emphasize this enough; if you’re trying to be what you think people are looking for, you’ll get exposed eventually. Sure, over the short term it may work, but if you truly want a network of varied individuals, you need to show your variety. This is where Ken’s comments really ring true - networking isn’t about saying hello, it’s about forming that relationship where you know where someone is and what they’re doing. Form those relationships, and you’ll be someone who is thought of when something in your skill range or interests come up.

I know Katrina and I have bantered a little bit about how direct you should be when meeting people (she thinks you can be very direct, I don’t exactly agree) but that approach all depends on what sort of character you are. Sometimes, I wonder if my approach doesn’t necessarily work all of the time because of how I carry myself. In a way, I have a lot a political traits to myself - I’m a name and face person, I can carry on a conversation in just about any subject, I’ve been called “socially adaptive” - and I wonder if that comes off as either too slick, or as fake. Sometimes, being direct gets you the sort of attention you’d like right away - in my opinion, it depends on the situation. Are you at a networking event which brings together job seekers and key decision makers? Go nuts in trying to reach for a job. Are you at a charity event for a worthy cause? Maybe it’s not the best time for your pitch.

An important thing to not do is to take someone giving you a business card as permission to bombard them with your message. Yes, exchanging personal details is an important step to creating that genuine relationship, but that doesn’t mean that you should be pestering them with your resume, or job requests - unless this permission has been explicitly given.

So, the bottom line is: be yourself. You have lots of unique things to offer that no-one else does; take that confidence with you and you’ll do fine. Remember, networking isn’t necessarily easy, nor is it something that you can accomplish in a day’s time. In order to properly develop your network, you have to put the time and effort into it; half-assing it will result in mediocre results. Networking is work, yes, but it’s fun - so go out, meet people, form relationships and put yourself out there - you’ll do just fine.

(In the future, I’ll cover the difference between electronic networking approaches (social networks, etc) vs. person-to-person networking approaches - these do differ.)

Before you start your process, or before you start applying again, ask yourself the following questions, and make sure you can answer them. Please note: to properly position yourself, you may need to do some work that doesn’t seem directly related to applying for a job - but trust me, everything ties in. 

Where do I want to be?

This is the most obvious question to ask yourself, and one that many of you have already asked yourselves, I’m sure. This question is relevant both to those unemployed and those currently working at places they don’t want to be at. When asking this question, you should consider what role you want to have, what industries, what environments (casual, corporate, start-up, etc), and what locations. Again, all pretty obvious stuff - but too many people don’t fully ask themselves this question. You can’t properly put together an application process without answering this one fully, so don’t neglect it as the “easy” question.

What is the normal process for someone applying to position “x” in my industry?

Now that you know where you want to be, what is the approach that the majority of people take to apply to that position? Is it through a response to a job board posting? E-mails to a careers e-mail address? Calling the company? Using a third-party recruiter? Through referrals or internships? With the possible exception of the job board posting and recruiter, many of these processes may be very difficult for you to differentiate yourself through. If you have to apply through HR, you need to worry about ensuring all of the keywords relevant to your skill-set are predominant in your resume, as many HR people aren’t experts in the relevant skills required, and rely on keyword searches. Job board postings and recruiter postings generally imply that someone will at least review your resume; if you’re being proactive, they may just place your resume on file with the rest.

Referrals are the best approach to take, in my opinion - someone from within the company sending your name along will cause you to be more noticed, provided that person is someone with respect within the company. With their reputation along with yours, you’ve leapt ahead of the resume-submitters. How do you find these people? That comes a little bit later, if you don’t already have the contacts. Again, following the same process as most other people does little to differentiate yourself, even if you’re a superstar extrovert who would be a perfect fit to that company.

What sort of feedback am I receiving?

Let’s say that you have 100 companies on a list of where you’d like to apply to. You spent your time applying to the first 10 listed, and have received one or two responses where they indicated that they are not interested in you. You continue submitting your applications. 

STOP.

Have you looked at the feedback and what it said? Maybe it’s offered that you aren’t appropriate for that level of position you are applying for. Maybe it has made mention of your presentation. Maybe it’s a form letter. Regardless, whenever you get feedback, you should evaluate it against what you’re doing. If you get an opportunity to refine your process, why not take it? What you hear from that first company may make the difference in that 15th application, one that would be enough to get you to the interview phase.

How do you represent yourself/what sort of presence do you have?

This is a VERY broad question. Not only does it cover how you present yourself to the potential company - resume/cover letter/portfolio/etc - but it also covers how you can be evaluated outside of these pieces. I think this is the most important question that you can ask (of course I do, as a social media advocate), and paying attention to this question and what you can do with it will give you your largest advantage.  

A couple of quick ground rules regarding your printed work. First rule: no default resume templates allowed. Second rule: no Times New Roman. Want a way to make yourself look generic? Break these rules. Seriously, don’t do it. I don’t have many other print tips that you can’t find anywhere else, so I’m not going to focus on this very much.

What I do want to focus on is your overall presence. Let’s think about it this way: everyone wants to hire someone who is ambitious, mature and an expert in their field, right? How can you position yourself as such?

Firstly, you need to Google yourself. Yes, as self-serving as it sounds, you should have an idea of how you’re represented online. Not all employers will be doing this, but some very well may. Knowing how you’re represented on Google - if at all - is an important step to figuring out how you may appear outside of your resume. If your Facebook profile comes up, you are going to want to make sure it’s not anything embarrassing. Same for MySpace, or any other social network you may use. If there’s anything else up there “incriminating,” make sure you at least have a reason for it. Look at what happens when you Google me. The first result is my website - a good sign. Second is my Twitter account. Other items include a few other social networks, as well as profiles from my time in school. Nothing incriminating there - and all 10 results are on the first page are about me. Definitely a good start.

Secondly, especially if you have no presence, you need to establish yourself online. This is the part that takes time. I’m firmly of the belief that everyone should be maintaining a personal site online. Sorry, this isn’t negotiable with me. Especially if you’re looking at an entry-level position, or moving into a field where you don’t have a lot of professional-level experience, you need to be able to establish a presence this way. This should include some sort of writing area (like yes, a blog.) Now you may say: “Dan, why do I need a blog to apply for a job?” It comes down to establishing yourself as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). By writing on items relevant to your field, and properly supporting your opinions with research, you can demonstrate that you actually know what you’re talking about. Providing this to a potential employer would allow you to show understanding outside of your resume, and you may even get job offers just by doing this. It’s a no-brainer. 

Thirdly, you need to particpate actively in your relevant industry communities. This is the big advantage that social media offers with this. Although Katrina and I disagree on this point, I believe that you can’t just be approaching people in your desired area of work, introducing yourself, and immediately asking what they have available. You need to establish a genuine relationship with them. In a way, it’s like selling yourself as a product - if you’re too aggressive you come off as pushy or desperate. By forming these relationships, you never really know what may come your way in the future. I wrote more about this here.

Lastly, you need to think of your entire presentation. Now that you have your online presence, include a link to it in there. If you use LinkedIn and have references on there, provide them. If you can, provide your information to the person who is responsible for the actual position. While they may send you off to HR, you’ve given them an opportunity to notice you. They have the ultimate control in who gets hired, so why not approach them first? Do things that will set you apart immediately - while it may not work everywhere (HR doesn’t always like really creative resume presentation), it should give you a better chance of being noticed - and in this market, that chance will translate into better opportunities for you.

I could write so much more about this, but for now I will stop it there. Remember, you should be asking yourself all of these questions so that you have control over your job process, rather than letting whomever may be reviewing resumes do it. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any tips? Leave them in the comments.

In fact, it’s really, really easy to get caught up in the passion and the buzz that is currently surrounding the Toronto start-up and creative community. After a successful launch of HoHoTO in 2 weeks, you could really see the interest from the local community, and there are a few other movements afoot involving some of the key people from HoHoTO, as well as other important voices. Someone today expressed their concerns with timelines that were approaching for a few projects because of things like holiday distractions; to be honest, I don’t really see it. I think we’re seeing the sort of movement in Toronto that Silicon Valley and the like are famous for, and if we don’t capture it, we may miss out on the change that it brings.

In fact, for me, this was a great time to get myself involved in the community - by being able to be involved in things from the ground level, I can help influence change. By seeing people that are so motivated, and so able to get things done, it’s really motivating. In fact, maybe that’s all that the movement takes - just a few key influencers who are able to get things done.

Regardless, Toronto, we need to seize upon this opportunity. Let’s launch those projects; make the changes that we want to see; and let our generation influence where the city and the world is going. We’ve got the motivation; now let’s act on it!

I couldn’t help having the above quote echoing through my head last night before attending #HoHoTO, a holiday party for the Toronto Twitter community, raising funds (and foods) for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Any time you gather “people of that ilk” together in a large group, one never really knows what to expect. Last night’s event, though certainly not without a couple of people that didn’t quite fit in, really relieved any of the concerns I had, and has already become a must-attend every year for me. After the break, a few thoughts of mine on the experience I had with everything surrounding the event.

- Prior to the actual event, I attended a dinner hosted by Andrew at Bar Italia. This was a perfect icebreaker for me; not knowing many people prior to the event besides what they had posted on Twitter, I got a chance to spend some time talking with a small group of varied personalities. It was a good, entertaining group of people, and I was definitely glad to have had that experience; it’ll make me more likely to attend things like TwitterBrunches in the future.

- Upon arrival at the Mod Club, the venue for #HoHoTO, I was… overwhelmed. There were a LOT of people there, and the group I arrived with quickly dispersed into the crowd. I like the Mod Club, and I think that it eventually proved itself to be an awesome venue for the event, but at first, it was a little bit too loud for the types of people that were there - if you wanted to talk to anyone, you had to shout, which wasn’t so good at first. Duarte and Ryan, our awesome DJs, figured it out, and things got rolling really well after that.

- You could tell the intoxication level of the crowd by looking at the dance floor - early in the night, people were mostly standing there talking, as the 620 attendees pretty much filled the Mod Club completely… after a while, people really started to dance - credit goes to the music choices; both the crowd requests and the DJ selections were timely and upbeat, although I didn’t really do any dancing. Of course we got RickRolled, and of course there was Journey - and the crowd LOVED it.

- One of the downsides of not knowing many people is that when I arrived and the crowd I came with spread out, I didn’t really have anyone reliable I could hang out with. Luckily, two lovely ladies that I had recently met on Twitter recognized my name and came and said hi, and we ended up spending most of the night together. As the young ones there, things really worked out - I was able to talk to Leah about football (like who the small coaches in the NFL are) and get Vanessa embarrassed on the big screen - it was good times. Thanks ladies!

- I also had those whom I had been talking to in the past come up and say hi - Jaime, who was so happy to be meeting a friend whom he only knew online; Katrina, whom I have been trading blog comments with over the past while, and Lisa, whom although I ran into her awkwardly in the bathroom hallway, remembered that she gave me hair stylist advice! You guys are all awesome, and I look forward to spending more time with you!

- Finally, it’s a real statement on how powerful social networking is with the impact of this event. The planning for it only started at the very end of November on a whim, and together, we raised over $20,000 for the Daily Bread Food Bank, making the Toronto Twitter community the 5th largest 3rd party contributor for 2008. This from a group of “geeks,” and a bunch of people who mostly knew of each other. Amazing! Rob, Duarte, Ryan, Alexa, and the whole #HoHoTO team, you all really deserve commendations for the hard work you put into this event, and for the response you all drew out of the community. I’m looking forward to future events solely because of the success of this one, and the people I met, which you all deserve credit for. Congrats, guys!

My family is notable for the fact that we can each make reference to any number of episodes to a number of different TV shows or pop culture moments for every situation. My dad’s got Seinfeld and the Sopranos covered; my brothers and I can name anything from the first 8 or 9 seasons of the Simpsons; Kyle and I know much of the Office; I can also provide a bunch of different movie references.

That’s why tonight’s Family Guy episode (a rerun from last month, I know), replete with not just a Home Alone reference but a Planes, Trains and Automobiles reference as well made me really smile. You see, PTA is one of the Hocking family movie traditions (and in fact, one of two that involve Steve Martin; Parenthood being the other), and Peter’s take on John Candy’s speech after Steve Martin trashes him and everything about him was just spot in. Family Guy’s take was just slightly different, but Lois’ setup and Peter’s delivery sent me back to watch the scene again.

PTA is one of those movies that you understand if you ever had problems on a road-trip; it’s also severely underrated, and offers one of Candy’s best performances ever. It did get positive reviews from critics at the time, but isn’t one of those movies that everyone has seen - which it should have been. John Hughes (he of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Home Alone, and others) put together a great script that just really worked really well with Martin and Candy. It airs often enough on TBS - sorry, PeachtreeTV - that you should be able to catch it on the tube, but it’s definitely a must rent. Eric Snider of film.com recently did a write-up of the flick which fleshes out a little bit more of the movie.

I’ll probably reflect on some other movies that are significant to me that may not have been to others; if you have any of your own, or any thoughts on PTA, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Alright, so you made it past the break - congrats! Let’s talk about what you can do to passively pursue your passions, or how you can find a new job without spamming resumes. This works best if you’re at least socially competent; otherwise you have other skills that you should be working on.

In the article, Chris brings up the example of Greg Cangialosi, who is involved in the community he’d like to sell to, using podcasts and sponsorship on top of just being a voice to be human, and be there. In this age of social media, this isn’t that much of a surprise - any Twitter user has experienced the use of bots or company accounts in order to advertise their services, sometimes with legit content with them as well. 

However, even with social media, the old adage holds true: in the job world, it’s all about who you know. Having contacts who can pull strings behind the scenes for you, or who can let you know about something coming up before it becomes public only provides you with an advantage in the process. The more people you know, and who can speak positively in your favour (and I’m talking about knowing them, not just having them be a random social network connection with whom you’ve never spoken to), the more opportunites will present themselves to you.

This is all a no-brainer, right? The real question is how do you get to know these people, right? Well, unless you’re lucky enough to grow up at a country club (guilty as charged, although not as beneficial as you may think), or have a network of very affluent people, it may be tough to get to know the Key Decision Makers you need to in order to see these opportunities. What you need to do is make yourself part of the community. Become a defacto expert, by doing your research and making sure what you say and write is factually correct. Utilize social networking in a productive way, writing meaningful messages with each request and starting meaningful conversations with those you are connected with. Upgrade your skill-set by asking some of these people questions that you may not be sure about, also creating meaningful conversations. Seem like a human, not just spamming contacts with resumes or job requests. All pretty standard stuff.

However, one creative thing you can do is to hang out with your desired community, both online and off. Every community has hotspots - be them local conferences, regular events, parties, or even the local coffee shop. Figure out where these places are, and just go there. Put yourself out there, not to pitch yourself or to hand out resumes, but to get to know these people as people, and for them to get to know you as the same. You shouldn’t even mention a career search until you’ve had at least 5 meaningful conversations with these people; just get to know them. Who knows, maybe the career you think you want isn’t actually what you think it is, and getting to know these people may let you know that. Become a genuine part of the community; it’ll pay off dividends for you in the future.

This isn’t a short-term fix; if you’re looking to get a job starting tomorrow, this may not be your approach. But by taking this approach, you may find it has suddenly become easier for you to see the path to your dream career, and how you can actually get there. By “soft selling” yourself like this (and really, you’re not doing selling in any more of a way than by being yourself), people will regard you as an equal, and treat you as such.

Doesn’t this sound like a much better idea than spamming resumes out non-stop? Or at least, more fun? Going to parties and talking to people to advance your career? I know I’m sold (although I suppose I’m a little biased.)

Ben Morrise makes a good point on his personal blog when he talks about what to do next regarding idea development - he identifies 5 things that you need to get an idea off the ground:

1. An idea - Obviously this is essential
2. Time - Time is a big factor. Mostly people can do anything if they have enough time.
3. Skills - Most people think up ideas that fall in line with the skill set they possess. It makes the tasks easier.
4. Money - In my experience, money is almost always required to do something worth while.
5. Support - This is something I don’t get and it makes projects harder.

In my comment, I pointed out how important the support factor is to this, and I wanted to expand on it a little bit more here. In my opinion, it’s actually fairly easy to fulfill steps 1 through 4 on this list - there exist lots of people with ideas, time, the skills to complete the idea, and at least the ability to make enough money to get their idea off of the ground - but the support factor is the key here. Without the support of family, friends and colleagues (to say nothing of the experts in the business your idea deals with), it’s way more difficult to move anything forward. Without this support, you have no sounding board for your ideas, no-one to give you suggestions or point out hurdles, no-one to motivate you when you’re feeling low about your idea, and no-one to celebrate your progress with. It’s enough to drive anyone away from what they’re doing, whether they’re strong or weak.

That’s why it’s so important to try to support those around you who have taken a risk and are trying to go after an idea they have - you may think that their idea isn’t feasible, or that it has significant flaws, but that’s where you can help, by trying to prod them past hurdles, or to help them adapt their idea to work.

After all, wouldn’t you want the same thing?