I am!
Well, I have a profile now. But I'm still looking for contacts.
And frankly, I'm amazed at how few of my contacts have LinkedIn profiles. As someone who hammers into her students on a daily basis how important networking is to finding employment, I find it interesting that of all my colleagues in the Career Services sector, only three have profiles!
Maybe LinkedIn is too new and they just haven't discovered the importance of it yet, but that fact does not seem to be missed by other career professionals. In a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, writer Matt Krumrie states that, "Using LinkedIn is a must for job seekers and professionals looking to connect with others."
I totally agree with this given that the statistics are that 80% of jobs are not advertised and found through networking.
To be fair, a person can network on Facebook or MySpace just as much as they could on LinkedIn, but networking on Facebook is more like meeting someone at a party whereas LinkedIn would be the equivalent of a professional networking event or visiting them at their business.
At LinkedIn, everyone is expecting professionalism. When a prospective employer looks at your LinkedIn profile, they'll hopefully get a good handle on your work experience and capabilities. If they are checking out your Facebook profile, they are more likely to find out about your weekend activities, family, and vacation photos.
That's not necessarily bad, and really everyone looking for a job should make sure their Facebook page is cleaned up. But LinkedIn is by far the more professional first impression you want to present.
So, to all of you who are not yet LinkedIn, Please! Please go create a profile. Upload your resume. Add a PowerPoint presentation you've done (God knows we've done enough for these classes!). Synch your email contacts. Find a professional picture of yourself and upload it. Write a killer summary of your experience and talents (If you can't, get someone to help you becuase this particular part is really important to getting noticed.).
And, by all means, add me as a contact in your network!!
I'm not LinkedIn. I've thought about it recently but haven't made much attempt to it. I don't really understand what a person does with their LinkedIn profiles. On Facebook, I share photos and write to my friends. Do you write to professionals on LinkedIn? And what exactly do you talk about? Or do you not really talk about anything? I actually might consider going on there next semester, though. I will definitely have to take some time to think about what exactly I want to put on there since it is such a professional site. Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that only three of those individuals are on LinkedIn. I am not on this site, mostly because I am not currently searching for a job,and I had not previously heard about it. What is the point in using a site like this if nobody useful is on it? Do you think that more and more people will start using it? I think so. Like you said, it is the professional version of Facebook and with social networking sites becoming more and more popular, I can definitely see the job market reaching out to sites like this.
ReplyDeleteI really really feel that I should get LinkedIn but just have not found the time yet to do it. It’s a poor excuse because I am graduating in May and would love to have a job or at least some possible jobs to get once I graduate. I would hate to have been graduated and not find a job for months and just keep working these odd jobs. I would love a well paying job Monday through Friday and be able to live comfortably and not have to worry so much about money as I do know. I know I am just the average college student trying to make it through college and get a good job, but I would love to be one ahead of the pack. I feel that LinkedIn would be a great start. I have gotten emails from some people in my future job market that sent me emails asking me to join LinkedIn but that was when I had no idea what is was. Now I wish I would have accepted them and made an account. I will have to go back and find them now and see what the future holds for me.
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