Being at the tail-end of the Boomer generation, I become ever more surprised at the number of my peers (the technical as well as ”non-technical” ones) who are quickly becoming, well, downright stodgy. These are the people who have computers but do not have a Facebook or Myspace page…answer their emails about once a week or less, and complain that their kids and grandkids know more about the computer than they do. They also complain that they are no longer getting promoted, or able to figure out what their younger co-workers are talking about.

These are not unintelligent folks… they are in professions that are not dynamically involved in networking, or at least in positions that they perceive to be “not networking oriented”…and when they lose their job, through attrition or economics or because they don’t “fit” anymore…they are at a loss.   Why is this happening?

Aside from the social divisions, there are self-imposed divisions within any culture.  The self-imposed divisions are the hardest to overcome.  People who make an effort to stay on top of what is going on in the world at large, not just the news, but what people are doing, how they are doing it, how new jobs are coming into being – those are the people who are teaching themselves “new tricks” and are able to be adaptive and “embrace changes”.

Learning doesn’t stop when you leave school.  Technology, whether you like it or not, is continuing to evolve and if you can’t keep up you will not stay marketable.  If you aren’t sure where to begin, start with Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies ; then go open your Facebook or Myspace account and findout who you know that is there… you’ll be surprised.   I stay in touch with many of my Godkids more frequently through my Myspace and Facebook pages than I do on the phone, email, or snailmail.  Although I was surpised to have to explain just what “snailmail”* was to my 16 year old godson – *snailmail is paper mail sent by regular post.

If you work for a living and you don’t have a Linkedin.com account – why not.  It is the main US career-oriented site out there.  The one place where your “resume” being out there doesn’t instigate retaliation by a boss who thinks you are actively looking… this “open networking” is important for you should you ever need to find a job.  Remember the old adage “It isn’t what you know, it is who you know“. It isn’t strictly correct, of course, you do have to have skills and experience, but you also need an introduction to the people you want to work with.

Recently a friend of mine was interviewing for a position she really was excited about…she was represented through a recruiter who went AWOL for a few days. During that few days, the company was trying to reach the recruiter to set up the second/decision making interview.  She lost out on the job, and she was very understanding of the recruiter that had a family emergency and was AWOL.  She is still on unemployment and hoping that she can find a job before she winds up having to move in with friends.  She still doesn’t have a Linkedin profile.  She does have Myspace and Facebook, but doesn’t ever use them to network.

My unspoken thoughts (she is my friend and I was comiserating with her) were:

• Why didn’t the company have your direct contact info and why didn’t you have theirs?
• Didn’t you send a thank-you for the first interview, another opportunity to get your contact info to them?
• Why didn’t anyone else in the Recruiter’s office handle this for him?

When I asked her, gently, why she didn’t follow-up directly with the company, she was horrified at me… in her mind, the recruiter was representing her, and she would have been rude and inapproprate to contact the employer directly.

In my mind, once the introduction is made, it is as much my responsibility (since I am the one who wants the job) to communicate as it is the recruiter’s.  The recruiter works for the employer, not for me.  And I know that the recruiter will be compensated based on my placement – and has “skin in the game”, but I would not let that prevent me from trying to get the job if I really wanted it.  And unless the recruiter specifically asks me not to contact the person I interviewed with at the company, then I see nothing wrong with it.

This is an example of “old dog” behaviors that have not evolved with the technology.  In the coming year, and in the current economy, unless you are able to teach yourself new ways of doing even the most basic things, like saying “thank you” after an interview, you will be behind the curve.

I am going to go check my email now…and tweet some folks.  And after I make another pot of coffee, I may clip and share some news on Social Median.  Check it all out…