Networking

As many job seekers can attest to, LinkedIn can be a great way to find out who's who at a company, get a good feel of the backgrounds of current employees at an opportunity, and even reach out to decision makers to connect with them directly. There are a few nuances of LinkedIn, however, that are not always explored. Here are a few helpful hints to assist you in utilizing LinkedIn to help your job search.

Personally, I think LinkedIn.com is the best way to start networking for a job, but I also think it's a good way to stay fresh and in touch with former colleagues. It's the one site that I mention to everyone asking for my advice as a recruiter.

This particular post will be exceptionally short because I really want to point you to another site created to help you out with your job search and how to make the most of your photo on LinkedIn.

Read it!

Many articles that have been written for "those in transition" emphasize the need for networking. I am 100% agreement with the concept. Networking is essential for any professional to maintain solid contacts within their industry and to create and maintain a personal brand. The problem is many of us don't network until we need something out of our network. Many of the networking events that I've attended in the past six months have been chock full of people new to recruiting, shoving resumes and cards in the faces of the other networkers. That's not networking.

Who do you think successful athletes have standing beside them?

A coach, a mentor, a teacher, a parent?

There's a good chance that have had at least one of these of people around them. In fact, I'd bet you big bucks (sorry - comes with the territory - I'm a recruiter at a stock market trading firm) that they surround themselves with people that help them gain a perspective that they can't on their own and with that in mind their game is drastically improved.

If you've spoken to any recruiter in the last six months it's very likely that they shared with you a growing trend. There are simply more candidates than jobs.

While in the past recruiters used the big job boards like Monster, Career Builder and others to tell candidates about job openings, many of these same folks shy away from them in today's economy. The reason that they do this is because every time they post a job they are flooded with resumes by the hundreds and yes, sometimes the thousands.

Every week I have conversations with people looking for jobs. They find me in one place or another online or through friends. I wish I could help everyone of them find a job, but the reality is that I have few positions to fill and the ones that I do require a very specific skill set.

What I do though is share with them the importance of networking. One of the best places to network online is LinkedIn.

If you have a LinkedIn profile then read on and make sure yours updated as follows.

When you (if you) play Craps, and you have lots of chips on the table, do you put all of your chips on one number and just hope that that Lady Luck shines on your side? Or do you spread the wealth on the table, perhaps making several varied bets, giving yourself better odds at a positive return?

In the midst of todays up and, as of recent and more consistently, down economy, no one is guaranteed a job. Not one person! Just today the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate jumped to 7.6% and nonfarm payrolls fell by the largest amount in 34 years. To put job numbers around those statements for one month says we lost roughly 600,000 jobs in the month of January 2009! Just one month… and we have 11 to go! Do the math: At this rate, we could wind up losing around the neighborhood of 7 million jobs by year end on top of the 3 million last year!