LinkedIn - your network advantage

Yesterday I was at Ryerson University in Toronto, to give a presentation to the 2011 MBA graduates from the Ted Rogers School of Management on the importance of LinkedIn to their job search. I thought this would be a great jumping off point for this column, and YOUR job search!!

LinkedIn is your 9-5 professional networking tool vs. Facebook is typically your evenings / weekends social networking tool.

When you are actively looking for a new job, using LinkedIn is one of your best options.  Some of the core reasons why professionals choose LinkedIn:

• to provide future employers a snap shot of who you are beyond your resume
• to connect with professionals who are relevant to your industry and specialization
• to directly reach out to hiring managers and other professionals about open vacancies
• to leverage your network of past and current colleagues and their networks too

When you have a job and are not actively looking for work, LinkedIn is a fantastic way to continue to build your professional network, and become what we call a passive job seeker.

Getting started:

It's OK if you haven't already got a LinkedIn account... it's not uncommon for the average professional who has been steadily employed for the past 5+ years.  The important thing is to start building your profile, and ensure you keep active on the site, to maximize your exposure to the recruiters and hiring managers out there who ARE using this tool on a regular basis.  Begin by building your basic profile, and then add a few connections; these should be people who you've worked closely with, who know you, as you are going to have to request that they add you as a connection.  If you start asking people who have no idea who you are to become connections, you may have your account locked down.  It's a three strikes and you're out system... then you will have to haggle with LinkedIn to get communication back.  

The idea is - that you are connected to their connections now, and so on.  (For more information on how LinkedIn works click here.)

Here's a snapshot of my Network Statistics, which shows how powerful this tool is!

Some of the best FREE features for both active and passive job seekers to take advantage of are:

• GROUPS:  Joining industry groups, special interest groups, and alumni groups are one of the easiest ways to instantly expand your network, and your ability to reach out to people on LinkedIn directly.  This is MY personal favorite feature, and one I drive a LOT of positive activity out of.  While typically you can only message people directly if you are a 1st degree connection, when you share a group with someone, you can reach out to them directly.  You can join up to 50 groups, and you can elect to show the groups on your profile, or not, depending on your desire for privacy.  I suggest showing the groups; this way a hiring manager who wants to reach you, can see what groups you're in, and if they really want to reach out, they can join that group too - allowing them to send you a message without having to pay for an InMail.  I also suggest you turn off the group daily digest options... unless you want to be bombarded by daily emails.   As this is a professional networking tool, try to restrain yourself from  joining the "I love shoes" groups... :)

Example of a few of my groups

• ADVANCED SEARCH:  This is the jumping off point - to search for anyone or any company, or a list of people who share the same job title, or professionals who have common experience, etc.   Play around with this feature to get a handle on the capabilities.  Remember... if there's someone you want to get in touch with, but you're not connected to them, you should first check to see if they're in any groups that are relevant to you; if so, join the group and try sending them a message directly (free!).

Why LinkedIn?

Companies are starting to invest some of  their "recruitment budget" (which would typically be allocated towards Monster and Workopolis), and have now started spending money on LinkedIn.  They are also looking for a different way to screen candidates; On Monster and Workopolis, when a hiring professional posts a job, they get hundreds... even thousands of applications, that they then have to labouriously screen through.  That takes a LOT of time, and sometimes they don't even review all of the applicants!  

Wouldn't you rather be on the short list that hiring managers are reviewing, than the bottomless pile of resumes they are dreading screening through?

Hopefully you found this post helpful, or insightful.... I welcome any additional questions or opinions you may have about LinkedIn.  (I don't work for LinkedIn, nor do I pay them for their services...)