Here's where I become the skeptic – I don't think we're smart enough to make the right plan. Things change too much. I think if we encourage everyone to be a “team player” all we do is close off potential routes out of this mess. I don't think we have the tools to accurately predict ahead of time what the best thing to do is.

So lets grow a forest instead of a farm. We'll quickly see what will work. Even better, we'll create an environment of innovation, which is what the economy *really* runs on these days. For a similar point of view you might want to read one of David Brooks' most excellent columns http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/opinion/06bro....

At bottom, we're in tension about how things succeed. Implicit in your worldview is the assumption that “resources lead to success”, and implicit in mine is the assumption that “things that work attract resources”. Both are probably true to a greater or lesser extent.

Here's where I become the skeptic – I don't think we're smart enough to make the right plan. Things change too much. I think if we encourage everyone to be a “team player” all we do is close off potential routes out of this mess. I don't think we have the tools to accurately predict ahead of time what the best thing to do is.

So lets grow a forest instead of a farm. We'll quickly see what will work. Even better, we'll create an environment of innovation, which is what the economy *really* runs on these days. For a similar point of view you might want to read one of David Brooks' most excellent columns http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/opinion/06bro....

At bottom, we're in tension about how things succeed. Implicit in your worldview is the assumption that “resources lead to success”, and implicit in mine is the assumption that “things that work attract resources”. Both are probably true to a greater or lesser extent.

Thank you so much for commenting! This is really helpful.

Can you tell us more specifically…

What does a quality resume include?
What social networking tools do you recommend for finding jobs?
What's the best way to gain real world experience, and how much (in years) do you like to see?

My personal experience is that I just can't find out about new nonprofit arts jobs. Potentially it's a different story in the for-profit arena. NPOs don't seem to be hiring, and yet there are suddenly new people in specific positions. I'm gainfully employed now, and am better connected via social networking than I was when looking for jobs in that market, though.

Anyways…

I know that the job market is rough out there, but to everyone that complains about a lack of jobs in Grand Rapids, I'd like to ask, where are you? Do you not use the latest social media tools? Do you use your network, or even easier, a network you build on Linked In to connect yourself with me, the person hiring?

Sitting on the other side of the table, I find the quality of job candidates to be very frustrating. Not only do most lack the basic skills to find the job openings, they lack quality resume's, portfolio's etc. and real world experience to get the job. And when you ask these same candidates what their salary requirements are, it makes me laugh. Somebody, somewhere along the way (whether it is their parents or their college adviser) led them astray and sold them a bill of goods. Most candidates, good and bad, expect too much, too soon, and work with a sense of entitlement.

I am not alone in this assessment, and discuss this with colleagues who are also hiring, in well placed companies, with good salaries and benefits right here in “beleaguered” West Michigan.

So my advice to all of you. Dig deeper, try harder. Get your foot in the door and excel. A career is a marathon, not a sprint, and when you treat it that way the people on “this” side of the table can usually sense it. Good luck!

Thanks a bunch for reading and commenting. Please see my comment above for more about the point of my essay, and for my thoughts on good, sustainable solutions to some of Michigan's challenges. (Disclaimer: This is all from the perspective of a Grand Rapidian. I’m starting to suspect the climate may be different in cities like Ann Arbor and Detroit.)

The main reason I wrote this essay – beyond simply wanting to rant publicly – was to highlight the many capable, passionate, young professionals who simply can't be effective in their disciplines without well-developed infrastructure(s), and, for whatever reason, aren’t currently able to participate in infrastructure redefinition.

I agree with you that this could be an exciting time–one of unparalleled innovation and – though I'm totally over this phrase – paradigm shifting. Yet, when the Real Talk about how to coordinate government, nonprofit, private, and individual efforts into a cohesive strategy, the conversation always seems to fall flat.

Other thing: My response to “…not everyone can do it.. So what? We shouldn't try?” is a “Eh. Probably not.” With caveats. I just don't think people should be encouraged to start things for the sake of starting them. They *should* be encouraged to find their niche is a systemic, sustainable plan for growth and development. It’s the difference between a shotgun approach – everyone starts something new, and only one or two awesome things make it – and a viable, coordinated plan for action – where people are educated and empowered to develop their ideas in a way that the majority of new initiatives have a real shot.

The Michigasm seems to promote shotgunism. (Yes, I like to make up words.) I don’t see it getting people excited about something sustainable, or connecting people to tools they need to create viable new enterprises. I think we have enough motivated, talented people – at least in GR – that we’re beyond pumping ourselves up with positive creative class PR, and should be moving on to serious long term strategizing.