Take note of the reply to @allonso…”I didn’t hear dat yet.” This example will go down as one of the reasons why you need to be on Twitter.  If the Twitter community can break news before your boss, shouldn’t you be part of the conversation?

Brett Farmiloe is the social media manager at Jobing.com.  He and Zach Hubbell consult with small and medium sized businesses to offer social media solutions that best fit their recruiting strategy.  To learn more, please visit: http://phoenix.jobing.com/socialmedia 

We just got back from delivering a speech entitled ‘What Our Generation Wants’ to 300 chief executives in DC at an ASAE conference called FBOS. I decided to search Twitter to see what, if anything, was tweeted about during our speech. This is what I found:

How about that for instant feedback on whether your speech went well?  Speak wisely.  And beware of asking people to put their cell phone away during the speech…they could be twittering about you.

Chances are that you’ve probably heard this question from parents, teachers, peers, and asked it to yourself. It’s a darn good question. How should you answer it? A great guide of figuring out the ‘what should I do with my life’ dilemma can be summed up into three words: ‘Pursue the Passion.’

Quick story about me. I graduated a couple years ago with an accounting degree. I took a job I wasn’t really excited about and it sucked. I decided to quit in order to take a road trip I had been dreaming about taking. On this road trip, I planned on interviewing people who loved their jobs with hopes that their insight would lead me, and many others like me, closer to finding passion in work.

I lived on free Hot Pockets for 45 days while I tried to find funding for the website and the road trip. I went to places like MTV’s Pimp My Ride, my former college, and second cousins looking for money to get this idea off the ground. I got more ‘no’s’ than I can begin to describe.

One day, I quit eating Hot Pockets and realized Jobing.com was right down the street from where I was living. I approached them for a sponsorship, and after talking with the CEO, he agreed to sponsor our road trip and website. Me and three buddies hit the road for four months in a new RV.

We ended up interviewing over 300 people across 38 states and 16,000 miles. When we got back, Jobing.com agreed to give us jobs. In those jobs we got the opportunity to speak to thousands of people about our journey and create a program that sent over 2,000 high school students into their community to do interviews like we conducted. We’re now the social media managers for Jobing.com.

The point of the story is, you’ll never know where the journey will lead if you pursue the passion. In today’s economy, people feel lucky just to have work. The words ‘pursue the passion’ may not have the same meaning it once did when the economy and job outlook was bright. But for you, the recently graduate, the words still have meaning. It means to chase after whatever you’re excited about.

Back to the title of this blog- ‘So you’ve graduated…now what?’ The answer to that question is that you can pursue whatever you want, despite the economic outlook. You’ve graduated! It’s your life, your decisions, your time. Just make sure that whatever you do, that you’re always pursuing something with passion. You never know where the journey may take you. Best of luck.

Brett Farmiloe is the social media manager for Jobing.com. He wrote this blog in a hotel room in Washington D.C. after speaking to 300 CEO’s and CFO’s about the journey just described. It’s just more evidence that the journey leads you to some unexpected places if passion is behind the pursuit.

Last week we launched the first ever Pursue the Passion Entrepreneurship Conference to drive home this point to hundreds of FBLA high school students. These students all had an entrepreneurial requirement in order to attend the conference- they had to conduct their own Pursue the Passion interview with a professional from their community who has a job they’re interested in. Their reward was a ticket to a conference filled with engaging speakers and workshops, and more importantly, a ticket to that night’s Suns game.

Here’s a video featuring the conference speakers and the advice they had for the students who attended.

Here’s the five things I’m excited about, and I hope that you comment below with whatever is exciting to you on this Friday morning.

1) With the unemployment rate now at 8.1%, its highest rate since 1983 and the highest in my lifetime, I’m excited to have a job.

2) I’m excited that my mom is coming in town today. We’re going to catch a couple Giants spring training games, one of which is against the Oakland A’s.

3) I’m excited about a few of the interviews we’ve got coming up. We’re interviewing a couple people involved with Arizona BioDiesel next Tuesday, a jewelry cutter, a windpower manufacturer, the San Francisco Giants PA announcer, and some people who work in healthcare. That’s in the coming weeks.

4) I’m excited that the book process is coming along, although ever so slowly. I made a purchase of a ISBN number yesterday, along with a barcode. That officially makes us official.

5) I’m excited about the prospect of adding 35+ new career videos to our site. Although it wasn’t Pursue the Passion who completed the work, it would be us who is the beneficiary. Be on the lookout for that soon. In the meantime, here’s a sample of one of the videos…

What are you excited about?

First off, you can learn more about UpMo by clicking here.  But what Aswan and co. are looking for are people who would be willing to submit themselves to a 2 hour interview process so that you can mentor younger people trying to find their way in the world.  As an added bonus, by participating in the process you will receive a $250 to donate to a charity of your choice.  So you’re doing a lot of good.

Contact Aswan’s colleague Lisa if you’re interested in being a part of the process at lisa@upmo.com.    

Hopefully you have seen the new homepage compliments of our own Brett Farmiloe and Jobing’s incredibly talented Kristen Zirkler. I’m really excited about the the look of it but more importantly what it could mean for our visitors in terms of increased usability. It’s not done yet but it’s certainly an already improved work in progress. The new breakdown for interviews is a la career cluster, something students and teachers alike should be able to appreciate, and there is now a link to our featured video and write up on the front page. The career links are not fully functional yet, but if we didn’t have some developmental hiccups it wouldn’t be PTP.

In addition we’ve got an all new career profile for you featuring Joy Estes, Insurance Agent and Entrepreneur. Now, Brett and I are aware that the insurance industry has some stigma attached to it. But as someone who recently spent time in an emergency room, take it from me, coverage and courage share a symbiotic relationship. Joy’s also got a great story. The first female ever excepted to West Point Military Academy she has rebuilt her business multiple times until it looked and felt exactly as she had envisioned.

Let us know what you think of the new video and homepage. That’s the beauty of the internet, instant feedback can yield nearly instant change.

Talk to you soon and until then pursue your passion. With coverage.