Culture

Career, Employment, and Subculture

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Subcultures.  We're part of them.  We watch them come and go, persist and die.  We identify with them or avoid them.  We like certain bands, read certain books, play certain games.

We're usually aware of our subcultures when it comes to the "usual" – games, sports, religion, politics, even economics.  I'm wondering, as the results of the Great Recession stumble on, as the world alters, about what kinds of employment subcultures are evolving.

Think of it for a moment.  Your job experiences, your career experiences, define you as much as anything else.  There are people you relate to because of your career, and people you don't get – or are in danger of not getting.

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A Geek Walks Into a Verizon Store . . .

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So I walk into the Verizon store recently to get a new phone (Android, what else?).  This does sound like the beginning of a joke, but as opposed to doing "a geek walks into a store" joke, let me instead hold forth on what I learned from going there.  The Verizon stores, if you've been paying attention, have been changing, and I think we're seeing some trends in consumer electronics that they illustrate.

Anyway, so there I am in the Verizon store and there's some changes, a slicker look, and a helpful gentleman with a tablet he uses for data, credit cards, and sales.  I'm sure that you're thinking what I thought.

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Build Your Own ‘Inside’

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"I'm not on the inside."

Have you ever heard that excuse from some sad seeker of employment?  Have you ever lowered yourself to employ the excuse yourself?  My guess if you've encountered one if not both cases.

It's a common story – and a common excuse.  People think they can't succeed because they're not part of the "inside" the elite group, the . . . well whatever elite or group or team of influencers that makes things happen.  We fear we're not connected, never going to be connected, and are thus going to fail.

I won't lie – connections are important in career and life.  Networking and being connected pays off in far more ways than just a job search.  Decrying it however misses the point.

You're not "on the inside"?  Then build your own inside.  In fact, you're a progeek, you have an entire "inside" just waiting to happen.

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