The big news on the career/tech front this week was that Brazen Careerist transformed itself in “an all-out social network focused on flipping the conventional wisdom surrounding the resume by focusing on “idea feeds.””

While Brazen Careerist has been a great place for Gen Y bloggers to find one another, its renewed focus this week could change the game for employers and employees alike.

The main frustration I hear with recent graduates is that no one will hire them because they don’t have any experience. And they can’t get any experience unless someone hires them. This is the awful Twilight Zone paradox of trying to land a job in our world. After all, how can you really demonstrate that you will do a good job, even if you just haven’t had the chance to do a good job yet?

I hope that Brazen can change the career game by showcasing the great ideas of its community members. Then, I hope this trend will catch on and allow all of us to showcase our great ideas when looking for work. And ultimately, I hope that companies and organizations the world over will begin to find ways to measure the potential of new employees, and not just the past.

Tell us: when looking for work, how do you draw attention to your ideas?

photo credit: rickilevy69

I’m an unrepentant Bear Grylls fan. His show on Discovery Channel, “Man vs. Wild,” always inspires and encourages me. Most of us will never encounter the challenges and outright risks and dangers Grylls does, but this weekend’s show got me thinking about how we may not be so far apart after all. He used the phrase, “a proper wilderness,” and that feels like a great metaphor for so many people striking out to find their new best careers and goals.

Grylls served three years with a special forces unit of the British army. One can really only officially be on active duty in the army for so many years before one has to start thinking about other things; particular if one has broken one’s back in three places during service! But what if what you do, what you love, what you were meant to pursue and prove and teach, is the very thing you feel required to depart?

Today’s economy and the dramatic shifts in the work place have required many of us to take a step back and start thinking about how to answer this question. If you find yourself required to make a change, don’t be too hasty to assume that all of what you loved about what you used to do is now out of reach. Spend some time in self-analysis, identifying not only your hard skills but your favorite pursuits and activities. Think not only about yourself as an individual, but about your skills on a team, and within an organization.

Grylls left the special forces, and one might think he would never skin a rattlesnake barehanded and eat it raw for a living again; yet here he is, still doing what he does better than anyone, and doing that in which he finds the most personal and professional satisfaction.  (He earns a nice paycheck as well.  Coincidence?  Probably not!)

Give yourself a taste of something new and off-the-charts innovative this week, but bring your favorite existing skills. You might just find yourself rethinking what is and is not possible for your own next adventure.