Getting LinkedIn – Part I
This week’s poll asks the following question: Are you on LinkedIn?
I remember when I would get "LinkedIn" requests a few years ago and ignore them for as long as possible (along with Hi5 requests and a few other sites whose names I don’t remember). I was never sure which one would make it as the primary online vehicle for storing professional information and managing professional contacts.
Well if it isn’t obvious – LinkedIn won… And it’s imperative that you use it in your job search. (Some people may read this and think I am restating old news – but I meet many job seekers who ARE NOT on LinkedIn)
Before I go further, a former LinkedIn employee offered to give a web-based seminar on using LinkedIn more effectively to JoblessJoe members. Please tell us if you would be interested!
I got to hear Tim Walker speak at a recent Launch Pad Job Club event. Tim writes about social networks and social media in his blog Hoovers Biz. He asked two questions:
Are you on LinkedIn?
Is your profile 100% complete?
The answer to the first question was almost unanimously “yes”. The answer to the second question was closer to 50% “yes”. (My personal LinkedIn profile was about 75% complete...) So I wanted to come up with a quick schedule to get someone up and running on LinkedIn if you aren't already. (Future LinkedIn blog posts will cover more advanced topics beyond "getting started")
Day 1: Complete Your Profile
Completing your profile is kind of like writing your resume – something that you may spend more time dreading than you should. It’s really not that bad. Work on it for one hour when you get up. One hour after lunch. And one hour in the evening. You’ll be done. Be creative when filling in the profile section. Keep in mind what makes you different. In the end, it's very likely that a unique skill of yours is what will get you hired. Make sure you showcase that skill. Then on to step 2 – building your network.
Day 2: Building Your Network
Start with people you have worked with in the past. Send them an invitation to join your network. Don’t send them to EVERYONE you’ve ever met! Send them people who you trust, respect and would want to associate with again in the future. Spend two hours going back through your contact lists, email/outlook contacts and any other lists you may keep and send them invitations.
TIP: Create a custom e-mail signature in whatever email program you use and add a link to your full LinkedIn profile.
Day 3: Review Contacts
Hopefully some people have accepted your invitations. Read carefully through each persons profile and look for the following:
Where they are now? Is it someplace that might be interesting for me to work?
How about where they’ve been in the past?
Any cool things they do in their profile that stick out – you could do something similar with your profile.
Has LinkedIn used the information you provided to suggest other “People you may know” but didn’t think of on your first run through? If so, send them invitations to grow your network.
Day 4: Network!
Now you have connections. Talk to them! Tell them you are looking for a job. Tell them what kind of job you are looking for. This is how you get your network going. You tell Bob you are looking for a job doing XYZ. His company is not hiring, but he knows Mary and her company is hiring and looking for someone who does XYZ. That’s how it works!
You could do this all in one day. But job searching is a full time job and using LinkedIn is part of the job, not the entire job.
This is Part I of what will be a multi-part series outlining my experience with LinkedIn.
