At the NACE conference, I had the pleasure of meeting people in person whom I had previously only communicated with online or by phone. While I had good relationships with many of the people I knew virtually, something changes when you connect in person, waiting in an interminable Starbucks line together or sitting side-by-side on a bus to an offsite conference event. More trust is shared, relationships become a little deeper and stronger bonds are forged.

The secret to successful networking in the 21^st Century is what my friend Diane Danielson, with whom I co-wrote The Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking, calls a “clicks and mix” approach: equal parts online and in-person networking.

Read the rest of this post on my “College to Career” blog at MyPath.com…

As a woman small business owner myself, I was really intrigued by this news. It also reminded me that many students and young professionals miss out on great opportunities because they overlook the potential to get a job at a (man- or woman-owned) small business.

In this week’s podcast, I share my thoughts on the opportunities available in small businesses, how to find these opportunities and the pros and cons of working for a smaller organization.

As always, I look forward to your feedback and comments!

Listen to the podcast now.

Shawn is associate director with the MBA career management center at UNC-Chapel Hill. He knows that job searching isn’t always fun for students and young professionals, so he decided to use the dating metaphor to make the process more palatable. It works. Shawn’s tone is friendly, knowledgeable and detailed, and the dating metaphor is clever (e.g., cover letters as pick-up lines).

My favorite part of the book is the sample scripts, where Shawn outlines exactly what to say in various situations, such as calling a networking contact or approaching a recruiter at a career fair. He also provides some tips I haven’t seen elsewhere, such as a guide to the best places for men and women to buy interview suits (helpfully ranked by price).

Recommended for Gen Y job seekers looking for expert advice combined with a fun twist on the career search process.

Click here for a preview of tips from Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job.

For more, check out Shawn Graham’s Courting Your Career Blog.

If you know your dream job, how do you get it? If you don’t know, how do you figure it out?

The answer to these questions will be vastly different for each person. However, the many paths you may choose to answer these questions are more aligned then you might think. Here are some keys to help you find your passion:

First and foremost, be true to yourself. Be open and honest with yourself and others. This, unfortunately, is not something we are often taught or encouraged to do, but do it we must. If you know yourself and are true to yourself, then you have taken the first step towards the job (and the life!) of your dreams.

Second, be confident about yourself and your choices. Once you know yourself and you make a promise to continually develop and understand the true self that is you, don’t be swayed by conformity or outside pressures that tell you to be anything other than that which you know is true. You are the only person that has to live your life, so be you and be happy.

Third, in the words of Lindsey Pollak, don’t curb your enthusiasm. Your enthusiasm, passion, excitement and true love for a goal should be the driving force that moves you through the world. Others recognize (consciously or unconsciously) the confidence and passion that you exude. There is something warming, encouraging, and powerful about being in the presence of someone who is self-aware, confident, enthusiastic and fueled by passion.

If you feel that you’re not quite there yet, then strive to surround yourself with people who do exude self-awareness, confidence, enthusiasm, and passion. This idea leads us to the fourth key idea: find passionate people—I call them “passioneers”—and surround yourself with them. This process of finding and surrounding yourself with self-aware passioneers can start with reading a book or an article, hearing an interview on TV, or meeting someone at a conference or party. Passioneers—are all over if you know where to look. A passioneer is simply this: someone who follows his or her passion, is guided by the inner self, and encourages others to do the same.

Authors, writers, speakers, doctors, lawyers, business owners…. Whoever it is that inspires you, reach out and ask some questions by sending an email, writing a letter, making a phone call, or visiting in person. Believe it or not, most people will feel honored that you asked

When you have the courage and the confidence to explore and ask for assistance, a world of possibilities and dreams can be fulfilled. The future is not something we enter, but something we help create, so get out there and make your future happen!

Evan Oppenheimer currently works for the JCCA Compass Project, providing transition programming and career advisement for high school and college students. For more information or to schedule a consultation, please contact Evan Oppenheimer at EvanMOpp@gmail.com.