Archive for the ‘Networking’ Category

I just wanted to take a minute to draw your attention to an article written by Alison Doyle over at About.com. She has a post up called LinkedIn for College Students and Grads which provides detailed information and resources you will need to get set up on LinkedIn.

I would seriously recommend checking it out if you have some time. LinkedIn is an extremely important part of the modern job hunt. It provides an excellent avenue to connect with people who may have previously been out of reach.

Check out the full article here. You won’t regret it.

This is a really tough question. I was recently reading a post on Brazen Careerist called Does Your Twitter Handle Belong in Your Resume? which tackled that very issue.

Here the author suggests that your Twitter handle (and other information such as blogs, etc.) belongs on your resume:

In my opinion, yes. I put my twitter handle in my resume. Where you decide to put your social media information is personal preference, but I decided to make my twitter handle very noticeable and included an entire section under “skills” where I include which social networks in which I am active.

While I don’t disagree, I want to add a big, fat caveat to this. You should include your social media profile ONLY IF you are extremely careful and professional about what you post. Writing insightful, meaningful content will help you land a job. Bragging about the great kegger last week will not (especially if you include pictures).

I’m open for debate on this one, but I would strongly caution you to sanitize your profiles before sending them to a potential employer.

I love this article. The Three R’s of Networking for Grads is a great example of how Networking can be boiled down into very simple goals.

In an ideal world, you would strive to get one of the following three “R’s” out of your references:

Referral
Recommendation
Reference

You need to ensure that you keep these elements in mind when you are building your network. Always be aware of how your contacts may be able to help you, especially with respect to these three R’s.

You can find the full text here.

As you start to become better at networking, it’s important to keep all of your contacts straight. I would suggest keeping a contacts file in whatever email application you are using. Be sure to include Names, Titles, Addresses, Emails, Phone Numbers, and any other special information that may help you out down the line (spouse’s name, kid’s names, likes, dislikes, etc). This type of information is invaluable while you are networking and will help you avoid the embarrassment of forgetting something important.