Recently, I got an email from LinkedIn that read, “2010 was a year of change. 30 of your connections started something new.”

Considering that “30” represents nearly 50 percent of my LinkedIn connections, that’s a substantial number. Granted, it’s likely inflated by the fact that I’m a recent college grad, and therefore many of my connections are also recent college grads, who didn’t so much change jobs as they did stop playing Call of Duty in a dingy, five-bedroom Victorian and find jobs. But that number would likely be higher if all of my connections actively updated their personal page (which I’m sure they don’t).

Of my 30 connections in transition:

• Eight have been out of college and in the working world for at least three years.
• 11 are 25 years of age or older.
• Two are over 40.
• 27 either changed full-time jobs, or moved from temporary internships to new positions.

For LinkedIn, this substantial amount of change helps reinforce the site’s core value – that it’s a great way to keep track of your professional contacts in an ever-evolving business climate. For the general workforce, it means two things:

1. That the much-talked about and overarching shift in career philosophy is real. The “company man” days of spending 25+ years with the same organization are over. People don’t just change jobs – they change careers. They go from corporate executives to social entrepreneurs, from computer programing to selling homemade ceramic dishes out of their basements. The term “career path” is obsolete, because it implies a logical beginning and an eventual destination. A career is not a path – it’s a wilderness, in a perpetual state of metamorphosis. This is a long-term trend that is important to recognize early. The modern workplace values flexibility, multiple skill sets, and a willingness to create a job when looking for one that already exists stops working.
2. It means that organizations are, in fact, hiring. And they’re hiring the type of people that care enough about their professional future to take the half-hour required to create and update a LinkedIn. 30 people changing jobs means that 30 jobs were available. A subpar economy is not an excuse to sit, wait and lament one’s lack of employment – if that was acceptable, LinkedIn would happily send me an email reading, “2010 was a year of stagnation. 30 of your connections ate potato chips on their parents’ couch watching ‘Law & Order’ reruns.” Proactivity is key.

So how have you been proactive recently? What have you done beyond the traditional job hunt and tired search methods to make yourself stand out? Share your insights below and, as always, follow Eastwick Communications on LinkedIn to see what jobs we have to offer.