Let me ask you a question.  Does the fact that Tiger was aiming for holes that weren’t on the course make him a less-proficient golfer?  If I’m hiring him to speak on marriage, maybe I pause.  If I’m hiring him to play golf (what he does), then that’s not a problem.

In today’s workplace, would you rather be an interchangeable cog, whose only real differentiation from someone else is how much you charge per year?  Or would you rather be the piece so unique and intricate that your misshapen ass barely fits into the machine?

Jessica will be the first to point out that you can be passionate and professional and unique while using social media.  Common sense dictates that unless you’re applying for a job as a dancer, stripper, or porn star, you don’t publish naked pictures online… and let’s assume for the most part that aside from the occasional stupid mistake, most people are “within reason”.

If you’re muting your personality to the point where 70% of your interactions are “strictly business related”, you’re not being the real you, now are you?

What happens if you only present 30% of yourself when you’re 100% douchebag? (bad for the company)  Or 100% pure awesome? (bad for your job search)

Either way you are a liar, you’re ruining the economy and you’re an idiot.  And you’re going to keep being a liar until you’re 100% you – the only you there is.

Tiger is a good example of personal branding gone wrong.  He does what he loves, no qualms about it.  Occasionally, he f*cks up.  Personal Branding made it worse – he couldn’t be professional “Tiger” and honest, truthful “Tiger” at the same time.  He’s still Gandhi on the golf course.  Some day, he’ll remember who he is and that you can’t be sane and two people at once.

Your professional self is your personal self, one in the same, one person, growing over time.

What kind of company would want to hire someone they knew only 30% about?  What kind of company would penalize you for having a complete, unabashed social media presence if you were a wizard at your profession?  Why do we reward people who want to work for a company that only wants 30% of us?

I’m 100% behind Maggie’s frustration. It’s not entirely her fault; most old (wink wink) people I know are actually quite savvy. It’s just the ones that aren’t savvy but claim that they are, are so friggin vocal and inches away from actually being mentally deficient. When they label themselves gurus, I’m amazed they have a grasp of the necessary sentence structure. They then proceed to spell doom for other old (wink wink) people.

There’s a -real- difference between using social media tools to market and surfing Facebook ad infinitum or even having a Twitter account; it’s marketing that separates the people who know what the hell they’re talking about from the people who claim to be all-knowing.

I graduated with a dual degree in Computer Information Systems and Marketing… and I’ve seen the worst of the worst when it comes to job listings: for the record, marketing is not cold calling or phone sales. I’ve seen job listings for “10 years experience” in programming languages that have only been around for 2. I see a lot of social media job listings with the same requirement (ie, 10 years experience on Twitter… yeah. #FAIL).  And people wonder why I work for myself.

Then again, I work for myself because I couldn’t be trusted to get up at 8AM unless there is some sort of fire alarm going off, and even then it’s a gamble… but I’m with Maggie – screw this myth that only young people know where it’s at.  Some of my age-peers are clueless as the walking dead when it comes to blogs or social media tools (particularly the ones who claim to get it). There’s no reason Maggie, with a little under two more decades of wisdom on her belt, couldn’t do just as good a job as I could whipping up a social media marketing plan.

What’s more, “social media” as most people refer to it is just a collection of tools and (hopefully) a mindset to actually listen to your customers where they’re talking. And are there gurus?  Swamis sent from above, blessed by the gods who just get it?  Hell no.

Are there any telephone gurus in the house? Try saying that out loud with a straight face.

I’ve learned -a lot- from people who are twice my age or more, particularly in the realm of social media and marketing. But I’ve also had to sift through so much crap from so-called gurus that I’m surprised there are any car salesmen, lawyers, or Made-for-TV personalities left.

Social Media is such an inbred field… the A-Lister “gurus” have spent so long pandering to the masses and tooting their own horns that words that actually should mean something, like transparency and authenticity, are now buzz-words for “things you should be doing, and by the way, where’s my check for being awesome?”

More alarming than discriminating against the gray and dusty is the reverse – discrimination against the value of youth, as if young people’s opinions don’t matter or count or that they shouldn’t even have opinions because they haven’t formed the body of experience yet. I think that’s all relative – everyone has something valuable to contribute; trust your wobbly legs and stand up, Bambi!

This boils down to stupid businesses cloning stupidity to new fields.  If they’re that stupid in public forums, such as recruiting, then you can only imagine the drool-inducing sort of conversations occurring in the board room.  Flee as far and as fast as you can and don’t look back.

Baby Boomers: 50% of Gen-Y is unemployed. Tell your friends. For the record, a lot of us think it’s crappy most of you have to spend your retirements greeting the masses at WalMart.

Gen-Y: Most baby boomers realistically can’t afford to retire. Even if they did, most companies would cease to exist because you were never trained to take their place.

Gen-X: Rock on with that Medicinal Marijuana stuff. Outstanding use of the free time you have since they wont promote you and you can’t quit.

Now… if we’re talking about money instead of age – then hell yes it’s Us vs Them; I think it’s high time we go to Wall Street and kick some ass. Everybody but Gen-X, that is (who’ve misinterpreted my use of the phrase “High Time”). Just point ‘em to the Cheetos.

I wanted to tell you, I’m still here. I’ve had one of those “Ah-Ha” moments where I feel like if I don’t put this stuff in the right context, I’m helping aid your transformation into cogs. I want to do this right, I want to help you; not hurt you. Not all jobs are created equal. My goal is to help you find the (unfortunately rare) job that will appreciate you for who you are.

I’m also going to shift my… erm… radical business ideas to a different blog so that I can return the focus of this one to job searching.

Stay tuned. A new look and new content is on its way.

The topic: the importance of inspiration on your job search! This will soon also be available as a podcast.

A lot of millennials are in the same situation she is, I’d like to share my response publicly.

You might not have any work references, but you most certainly have academic references or people who can speak to your character.

You might have a favorite professor (college) or teacher (high school) whose class you excelled in, consistently performed well, and so on.  To this day, my best references come from my favorite marketing professor.  I graduated in 2007.  Think about teammates on sports teams you might have been a part of or classmates who worked with you on projects, anyone who can speak well of you and isn’t directly related to you.

If you are still coming up short – find a mentor, volunteer position, open source project, or something else you can work on for a length of time. Pick something interesting – like habitat for humanity or volunteering at a local Better Business Bureau. Over time you will gain someone who can speak as a reference, whether it’s a volunteer co-worker or the coordinator or even the recipient of the volunteer work.

No Work Experience wasn’t always this scary, but the economy that we’re facing at the moment is rife with peril for new entrants. My advice? Do as much networking as you can – get involved on MeetUp with a professional organization, do an Ignite speech – hell, start up an Ignite group if your town doesn’t have one.

Do anything and everything you can – claw for every inch.  Collaborate, connect, and dream – but most importantly, DO SOMETHING.

A BarCamp is based around the idea that the coffee breaks are much more valuable than the actual sessions… and so the “sessions” consist of self-organized coffee breaks to talk about specific subjects.  There are no highly-paid presenters, there are no hoity-toity sales pitches, and there isn’t a lot of free, but useless, swag.

I’m convinced that the idea of attending people-created BarCamps, TweetUps, going to MeetUp.com and finding local business events, and attending unemployed-centric events is the most effective way to network.  Not only do you get to showcase your skills or share ideas with a highly-energetic and tuned-in audience, but you get to rub elbows with people you never even knew existed!

How do you succeed at a BarCamp?  Well – you take business cards… or set up a free Contxts account so you can share them via SMS text message.  Then, you think about things you are knowledgeable about as they relate to the theme of the conference.  At a WineCamp and know something about vintage port?  Write your idea up on the whiteboard and if people like it, they’ll attend.  Having a creative or funny name for your “discussion” is a big help!

Attend other people’s discussions – listen and pitch in! Ask questions, participate!  Don’t go into a BarCamp with the expectation that it’s all about you – it’s about you SHARING your knowledge with other people. It’s true that what you put in will dictate what you get out of it – the more you share, the more people are going to want to talk to you (as long as you’re not a raving idiot).

Most of all, network! Introduce yourself to anyone and everyone who looks or sounds interesting – write down memorable questions and ask if you can e-mail people later.

You never know, you might just be hobnobbing your way to your next job!