Life’s a B##@h and Then You Die

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As I was walking down the college corridors early afternoon to my last class of the day, I overheard two firefighting students incessantly bewailing that they’ve spent an immense amount of capital, time and energy on their program academics, only to find out that a student with poor grades, bad attendance, less effective on their practicals, essentially doing the bare minimum, having the upper hand in finding a permeant position, (very rare to find a job immediately in fire fighting unless its volunteer or out west during wild fire season), due to having an “in” with someone the other student knew through networking or on some personal level.  As my mind began to wander, creating responses and opinions I would contribute If I were apart of their conversation and not just some creep eavesdropping in on two strangers conversation, I found myself circling back to the same occurring question; could it actually be “Its not what you know, its who you know?”.  

While you digest that question for yourself ill state a few obvious pop-up thoughts I’m sure majority of us share;  “Yes and no”.  “Education matters too”. “One degree isn’t enough anymore”.  “If you work hard, people will notice and you’ll get the recognition you deserve, leading to better career opportunities”.  “Social media can give me the same platform of exposure as knowing the right people if I market myself right”.  I’m sure theres plenty more we all agree on but these main ones covering a broad train of thought we all end up steaming towards on those metal tracks .  Naturally, I immediately took out my phone and hit up the best search engine in the entire world; Google! I searched statistics on networking and how it makes a difference in career excel.  According to an article by LinkedIn and serval reliable sources, states as of 2015 to 2016 the most actively employed individuals did so through some sort of networking.  

Needless to say, networking is an extremely important element to having a successful career, but its just ONE of the essential tools in building that future.  Don’t make that all or nothing bet that just because you know someone, somewhere and you land a great job that it means it's going to be a lasting place or position for you.  Opportunities through networking can be a foothold into the door but you cant hold a job position based on just knowing someone.  

The same case can be debated on education one may have.  A typical job description describes required skills, experiences, degrees, personality traits and academic degrees.  Yes, its important to have the education and all the requirements.  However, what a job generally descends down to are four or five objectives that an individual can preform.  A successful individual hiring or being hired for a job will have specific performance traits to be the most efficient in their career path by seeking out or portraying this. For an example being able to build a project team, manage and motivate efficiently, present X amount of business plans for your boss by the end of the term and lower budget costs for company by 15% in the next year and a half.  It's the skills and tools you hold through life experiences and being able to effectively lead in whatever career you end up in.   

I’m sure this topic of “it's not what you know, its who you know” could be debated forever but I choose to believe thats an extremely simplistic way of summing up how one may go about choosing their career path or perhaps even employees one day.  I’m curious to know what your thoughts and opinions are.

Let me know!



Christina Donnelly

 Word Count: 617


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