To end the week we are very happy to feature Dan Schawbel, aka the Personal Branding Guru. Not only has Dan helped the company he works for explore and benefit from Social Media, but he has also used it to position himself with a blog, a magazine, worldwide syndication, the creation of the Personal Branding Awards and a book deal for Me 2.0. Check out what Dan has to say about Gen-Y trends, taking online networking offline and how corporations can keep up!

Gen-Y Magic: Is all of this personal branding that is going on with Social Media, good for companies? Is their loyalty to a company anymore, or is it all egotistical and self-promoting?

Dan: Companies cannot escape the widespread adoption of personal branding, so they must embrace it. Since talent is equal to brand, every company must consider each employee as an ambassador, not just the CEO. The difference between me 1.0 and me 2.0 is the fact that everyone in a company can stand in front of their corporate brand, not behind it. Now, with a blog, podcast or social network profile, you can represent both yourself and your company at the same time for better or worse. Social media is necessary for companies that want to listen to customers, better their products and services and be apart of communities where their competition is already playing in.

It does appear that loyalty is dying, but whose fault is that really? The average college graduate will switch jobs on average of 1.6 years, which is quite the stat. In my opinion, companies can't treat millennials like other generations because, let's face it, we have a different world view. When comes want to recruit us, they have to play on our turf (Facebook, etc) and not their own corporate website. An individual has the ability to choose if they want to be egotistical or not. The more successful personal brands will figure out a way to help their company, while helping themself. In order to gain Gen-Y's loyalty in the workplace, companies need to be more flexible, give instant gratification and set realistic expectations from the start.

GYM: Gen-Y is all about work-life balance, or so it may seem. I've seen countless numbers of young professionals, including you, working till they drop. Where is the balance that Gen-Y seeks?

Dan: There is no such thing as work-life balance anymore because we are a hyperconnected species. Our cell phones are an extension of our body. I know it may seem scary, but the reality is that we are always occupied with something. In order to be successful, you need to treat life as one giant networking event. Each new interaction could lead to a new opportunity! Not all Gen-Y's work till they drop, but the smart ones do because there is no such thing as job security anymore. Facebook ended work-life balance when it allowed anyone to join, leaving college students completely exposed. Sometimes in order to do what we really want, we have to work after our full-time job, to prepare for the future that we truly want to live. Blogging, of course, is one path to that future.

Gen-Y wants to be connected to their friends all the time, which can sometimes become a distraction, but we are social creatures. Your network is your net worth and when you are interacting with like-minded people, you can solve problems faster and become more successful.

GYM: Is Gen-Y expanding/growing/advancing too fast for Corporate America to keep up?

Dan: I would argue that most companies aren't doing a great job dealing with Gen-Y because they don't differentiate this group from the older generations, so they get the same treatment. Gen-Y readily adapts to technological advances and adopts this technology to communicate with people in the office. The issue is that older generations prefer email, phone calls and face time over instant messaging and Facebook chat. Corporate America is certainly behind and the first step in redemption is awareness.

GYM: There are a lot of young nonprofit leaders that we have profiled and are in talks to. How can they begin to brand themselves to a point where real change can happen?

Dan: It takes a long time to make change. It might even take a lifetime for some. The lead, influence and build followers isn't an overnight goal. The first thing everyone needs to do is to go through self-discovery, to find out who you are and what you want to do for the rest of your life. Once you have an idea of who you would like to become, then use social media, your network and all other resources in hand, to make it happen, one day at a time. You should bond with others that have similar goals and help them out first, without asking for anything in return.

GYM: How can all of this online networking, group forming, change calling and branding be applied in this "real world?"

Dan: A social network is a virtual companion to your real world network. Everything you do in real life is reflective in your online life and both must be consistent. By building your brand online, you are attracting people who are like you and you can take those relationships offline and deepen them. A blog is like a neg for catching these individuals and social networks are a way to store the relationship online and refer back to it when you want to engage in conversation. It's much easier to connect with people online. It's much less awkward to send someone a Facebook message rather than introduce yourself to them in person. Social networks have eliminated a lot of people's "nervousness" when they first start networking.

GYM: Can you give us a brief instance of a time when you created magic in someone's life?

Dan: I used to be a big brother to a young child who had divorced parents. I would take him various places and befriend him and I believe it really made a difference in his life. I was seen as a role model, not because of everything I've been doing in my career, but as someone who is older and who can give advice. I believe that any new person you meet can change your life and in this situation, I was able to give him support when he needed it.

GYM: Thanks Dan, you are off the Gen-Y Hot Seat!

Check out this interview Dan did with Lee Cockerell on the Personal Branding Blog