FollowAs I have not yet got my first book published (any day now), you are reading this online and one can almost assume that you have been invited to join LinkedIn from a friend or coworker. Did you join? If not, read on. If you did, use these reasons to evangelize to everyone that’s not joined up yet, just like I do!
If you are online you cannot have avoided joining one of the social media networks, Facebook with over 350 million users is by far the biggest. Whereas Facebook is great for catching up with friends and family, LinkedIn focuses on your professional life and even serves as an online resume. LinkedIn currently boast just over 50 million users, which means your boss is probably on there. If you managed to sign up for Facebook, joining LinkedIn will be a walk in the park, albeit a little longer one.
LinkedIn is a networking tool that gives you access to people and companies that can help you and your career grow. By joining up, you can reconnect with current and old colleagues, school mates and other people that you have crossed paths with in life.
Personal Brand
Your personal brand needs to beamed out to the masses and LinkedIn is your best channel to reach out. You want people to search for you and find the information they were looking for, and hopefully be pleasantly surprised. To raise your profile further you can join in discussions, join groups, get recommendations and create events that will bring you to attention.
Online resume
How many times have you lost your resume and had to trawl through your email accounts for an old copy? By sticking all your career data on LinkedIn, you and everyone else can see exactly what you have done in your working life by simply clicking on your name. By having it online constantly, it’s obviously easier to update it and it can be done from any computer anywhere in the world.
Job Search
If you are considering moving jobs, LinkedIn is the place to be as it gives you a presence in your industry and a visibility to recruiters and HR folks that pull up searches based on key words and location. LinkedIn allows you to be found, as opposed to you searching for a job, a project or the other way around. So whether you are actively looking for a job or passively “open for suggestions” you can let others do the work for you. If you are happy in your job, don’t worry as LinkedIn is not solely based around changing jobs like for instance Monster is.
Sleuthing for information
LinkedIn is great for finding information on people and organizations. Just like others will spy on you, you can sleuth around LinkedIn and find out what your new boss has done in the past, what they look like and what interests they have. You can gather background information on your suppliers, on prospective customers and anyone else that deserves a scrutiny by you. LinkedIn is not as closed as Facebook for instance, all profiles are open to everyone although you can only contact people direct if you are connected.
Conclusion
LinkedIn will not create your career but it can help to tip the balance. If you are up against one other person with the exact same skill level when going for a job, having 5 recommendations on LinkedIn will certainly be in your favor and could be the deciding factor. Recruiters, headhunters and HR people have long used LinkedIn as a primary resource for finding and looking up people. Line managers are doing the same and so should you. I would venture to say that if you take your career seriously, you cannot afford not to join LinkedIn.
Anybody still not converted? Tell me!
PS. Before you ask, no I am not on commission from LinkedIn sadly!
Jorgen Sundberg is a Personal Branding Consultant based in London. He helps sales people, entrepreneurs, business owners and executives to create, build and promote magnetic brands to attract more business online. After 7 years of marketing people in recruitment, he started Personal Branding UK and he blogs at The Undercover Recruiter and JorgenSundberg.net. You can connect with him on Twitter @jorgensundberg.
Karalyn is the Founder of InterviewIQ and chief champion for all her clients. Get personal coaching to make 2023 your most successful year yet. Check out our job search booster services here>>Give me smarter ways to find a job .
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have been invited to join linkedin but as I am a cynic by nature I was searching for comments from people who can provide examples of actual benefits they have gained from membership. I do not regard being a part of a large network and displaying my profile to millions of people as inherently advantageous. For instance; it could make one a target for unsolicited advertising.
Furthermore; a person’s profile written by him or her self would naturally be complimentary and may be misleading.
As I said, I am a cynic but I believe more critical analysis of being a linkedin member is required.