New challengers

At first, when you join LinkedIn, it seems exciting, because you invite your friends, and they in turn invite their friends and colleagues, etc.

But eventually, everybody realizes that in this world, there's no free lunch.

The good stuff always goes to the most deserving people (although sometimes, cosmic justice doesn't always work according to our timetables).

Yes, there will be many more opportunities to network than before, but there will also be many new challengers who will compete against you for the best jobs and contracts.

New battles will have to be planned for and fought.

"Career management" will become "career combat," and will require fighting skills that most professionals may not have.

The most ambitious people will have to go out there, meet important people and send the right messages.

It will require premeditated planning, but also real-time, spontaneous cunning. Many careerists will try to seduce, cajole, bribe.

In a word, the career game is no longer what it used to be. It has become much more intensified, and will likely demand that careerists fully understand the political and strategic implications of everything they do, say or even think.