I was talking with Michelle at an event in Austin, and we started talking about her passion for cars. I told her that I had a huge crush on the Cadillac CTS-V, and she said it was a decent car. Then, Michelle went off about how most American cars have lots of power, but that they don’t know how to transfer it to the ground. She said it’s a problem with most suspension systems. So, the cars can be powerful, but because they can’t transfer that power efficiently to the wheels and into the ground, it’s somewhat wasted.
I tell you this because I woke up realizing that this makes an apt analogy for why people often have trouble finding jobs.
Your capabilities don’t matter much if you don’t have a robust enough network to get them out to where they can do the most good.
It’s great that you know how to do all kinds of things. It’s wonderful that you’ve got all kinds of experience. If people don’t know you, if your name doesn’t readily come to mind, it doesn’t matter a lick.
At the end of 2008, I wrote a free ebook to help you understand how to use the social web to find work. If you or a friend needs work right now, please give it a read. It might help.
What do you think? Does that analogy make sense? If you can’t transfer your power to the ground, what good is it?