Are You a Tech Addict?

Blackberries, cell phones, and iPods, oh my! I love technology. I truly do. My digital camera recently broke and I had to temporarily revert to my 1997 Nikon camera (*gasp*!). It's bulky, it's costly, and worst of all, it's not at all instant. Unlike digital shots, I had to actually wait two whole days to get my photos from Walgreens. What gives?

Here's my concern with technology such as the camera. We need it and can't remember life without it.

But are we living from e-mail to email, from text message to IM without a dose of reality in between? Granted, at any hour of the day you'll find me online as a recruiter searching for qualified candidates or burning the midnight oil at night when I'm writing articles for AOL and MSN - heck, I love writing for online sites, but my concern is living in a world where instant gratification is king.

What happens when it becomes a hindrance - dare I say - addicting? I don't even think twice when my editors and I exchange e-mails at midnight on a Sunday night. Workaholics? You bet. We're passionate about our work but at what point do we log off? Better yet, when do we get to be retro again? For instance, I tried googling a statistic for one of my articles and came up empty so I called the US Department of Education to speak to a representative and got the stat - fancy that!

Let's get back to basics.

A friend of mine is looking for a new job; after all, she's making a career move into a new industry. Good for her! She's networking on LinkedIn, she's seeing a career counselor, and putting everything in motion. I have no doubt she'll be successful.

The only key elements are time and patience.

With technology there is no essence of time; in fact, it's timeless and facetimeless as well - you connect with people albeit at a distance. Although it creates efficiencies like searching for a job online, I ask you this: how would you approach the search if you could not use your computer for a day? What’s your strategy? Who would you call? What would you say? What would you do? Where would you go?

As for my advice as a recruiter, try to enjoy the process. Take time to explore, network, build relationships, reconnect with your alma mater, attend industry events. And most of all, exhale.