ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > November > 29 > Entry
The Power of Relationships
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can the company that you keep affect your professional life? Yes! Friends, social networks, and ‘chummy’ business associates speak volumes about you to others. Like it or not, people still believe that ‘birds of a feather flock together.’
The people you surround yourself with on and off the job, either pull you up or pull you down, but their impact on your future is never neutral. Each of the people you spend time with, listen to, take advice from, or just hang out with help shape your future, for better or worse.
Imagine having an interview, and later bumping into your interviewer in an awkward social situation at a nightclub - before the hiring decision was made.
Particularly when you are just walking in the door of the club at 11:00 pm with a hard-partying pack of friends.You can bet that impression is more lasting than your really good answer to an interview question.
Or, imagine breezing through an interview and leaving a smashingly professional image only to later find out that the prospective employer discovered your expletive-laden blog with ‘hot babe’ MySpace photos.
Both true stories, these young professionals’ careers have been altered because of who they know and how they behaved outside the ‘career space.’ And yes, many employers now regularly scout the internet to learn more about you! So be careful.
The power of relationships can be subtle, yet significant, because they help define who you are. Whether you know it or not, you will be judged in the marketplace by who you know. That could be your overachieving role models and enthusiastic references, or that could be your functionally-alcoholic college buddies who post less than flattering shots of them half-dressed and worshiping the porcelain shrine.
In the end, who you know can affect who you don’t get to know. And, right or wrong, it can make a difference in who ultimately become, personally and professionally
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