I found out in my second job that my new employer was equally interested in my network of contacts as they were in my work experience. When I moved into sales and marketing this was even more so.

I read with interest a post (thanks for link to Steve Rubel) that at a recent conference presenters were saying just how the new generation of workers will expect employers to be embracing social media and having it as a tool.

That got me thinking about me when I first started work versus my son and daughter and the value of our respective networks to our employers.

My ‘network’ was primarily made up of school and sports clubs people. All my own age linked by school or membership of the clubs. I had their addresses and phone numbers but found when I moved to London for my first job over the a year or two most of the contacts dried up.

Fast forward to today. My son (20) and daughter (21) have been on the internet and using mobile phones for a few years now. (When I was young I remember my parents getting a phone in the house. It was like a sacred instrument. The BT engineer showed us how to use it. Probably my imagination but it felt like we all slept and ate near the phone until someone actually rang us. For weeks the phone ringing would send a shiver of excitement through us all. I remember my parents booking a call via the operator to our relations in the USA in 1963 when my cousin got married! We were given a time slot and the operator had to make the call and connect us. I told everyone at the village school and gained a lot of popularity telling and retelling the story.)

So back to my kids. They are not exceptional. Most of their peer group will enter employment with an amazing network of social contacts. People they text and speak to on mobiles and now facebook, MySpace and their other social media sites. Their network of contacts is vast. Far in excess of mine at their age. They are also much more active. Technology lets them be.

Now when will the first job vacancy advert appear that has a job requirements specification item that says?

·         Active social media user wanted

Will graduates and others be able to charge a salary premium for large networks of friends just as experience does?