“Paying dues is so old school .” So declares the Brazen Careerist.

When you read it, it almost sounds like blasphemy. Paying dues is indeed a long established concept that seems to include the notion that doing otherwise is somehow cheating. But the generations coming to fore in American business uniformly dislike the idea of paying dues that usually take the form of 60 hour work week and no time for family.

The rules of the road for America’s millennial generation do not allow for sacrifice that cuts your life to the bone.

“Tahmincioglu echoes what most people today feel about the job of a CEO: Ridiculous. The 80-hour-plus work week is nothing to aim for, and once you decide that you’re not going to climb that ladder, why pay dues? The dues are what you pay when you’re at the bottom in order to get a proverbial ticket to try climbing to the top.”

Todays business talent reap greater rewards from investing in their peer to peer network than they do investing in a hierarchal corporate culture. Contacts, liaisons, business opportunities, recognition based on ability, and no rungs to count until you “finally make it.”

“The trick to all of this, of course, is being able to market yourself to the people who can give you the work you want. ‘‘Position yourself in a way that is true to you, not just as a fit into someone else’s mold,’’ says Jennifer Kushell… ‘‘You need to know what’s special about you and what makes you different,’’ she says.

Like many things in life, what’s good about not paying your dues is also what’s bad: You get to do work that is true to you, but you have to figure out what that work is to ensure you are good enough at it to get work. So yes, that’s tough stuff, but many will say that it’s much less tough than paying your dues. And really, why do it if you don’t have to?”