Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’

I was recently reading an article called LinkedIn – Is It Worth Being A Member? by the Job Search Ninja where he discusses ways that people can get the most out of their profile and networking opportunities. But as I was reading it, it occurred to me that the people he was referring to (the ones who complain that they don’t get anywhere by using LinkedIn) are likely going about it all wrong.

In fact, they are being lazy.

As human beings, we are always looking for short cuts and ways to get things done faster. However, some things are worth investing time in. Networking is one of those things.

I would argue that if you want to be successful when it comes to networking, you have to spend a lot of time doing it. There are no short cuts.

I think Todd (the Job Search Ninja), really hit the nail on the head in speaking about the importance of communicating with your LinkedIn network.

…this might sound pretty obvious, but it is no good just adding connections and then not communicating with your contacts. Remember, networking is about building relationships, and that requires regular communication.

This is excellent advice. You need to ensure that you have a relationship with each person in your network, not just a contact name to call on when you need a favor.

This article also has four other great tips for getting the most out of your time on LinkedIn. I suggest you take a look.

And the take away? Don’t Be Lazy On LinkedIn!

I am a big believer in LinkedIn. So when I read that Lindey Pollack (Author of Getting From College To Career) had posted an article called 5 Steps to a Fantastic LinkedIn Profile, I knew that it needed to be shared.

While the title is self explanatory, it does include some excellent advice that will improve the efficiency of your LinkedIn networking. And she should know. She’s a Campus Spokesperson for LinkedIn itself.

Of each of the five points, there is one that sticks out to me as particularly important:

Share your news frequently.

The best way to stay on other people’s radar screens is to update your status on LinkedIn (the box near the top of your profile) at least once a week. Tell people about events you are attending, major projects you’ve completed, professional books you are reading, successes you are celebrating or any other news that you would tell someone at a networking reception or on a quick catch-up phone call.

This is excellent advice that all job seekers can use, not just those looking for Entry Level Jobs.

I would encourage you to look at all of Lindsey’s advice and to take some time to explore her site. She has a wealth of knowledge to share and is an excellent resource for any New Grad trying to find an Entry Level Job.

Last week I received a LinkedIn request from a former colleague who I worked with years ago. He was asking for a generic LinkedIn recommendation that he could use as part of his profile.

I must admit, he’s a good guy. He does quality work and he’s fun to hang out with. We’ve even played poker a couple of times. And though we have not spoken in the recent past (over two years), I still consider him a friend.

But I’m having trouble bringing myself to write the recommendation.

Why you ask? See if you can tell based on his request (which I edited to remove the personal details):

Dear Trevor,

I’m building out my LinkedIn profile and am hoping that you can offer a brief recommendation of my work at [Our Company]. If you have any questions, let me know. I’ll also be sure to return the favor.

Thanks in advance for helping me out.

- Name Removed

Normally, I’m extremely pleased when someone personalizes a LinkedIn request. It ensures that I will at least add them to my contact list. However, it was the line “I’ll also be sure to return the favor” that has caused my concern.

Here’s my problem. I’m convinced that LinkedIn recommendations are worthless. They are being used as a badge of honor on a person’s profile. Liked Contacts on LinkedIn, Followers on Twitter, or Friends of Facebook, LinkedIn Recommendations are being used as a quantifiable judge of a person’s worth. The general idea is that someone who has more recommendations is “better” than someone with fewer recommendations. It becomes a race to accumulate accolades instead of a genuine way to post honest recommendations.

The issue I have is with the process of trading recommendations. If I were to write a recommendation for a friend with the sole purpose of getting a recommendation in return, what is that recommendation truly worth?

Nothing in my opinion.

So even though he should be recommended on the basis of his work, I have trouble doing this for him if I’m just going to be playing a social networking “friend” game. His career deserves better treatment.

Do you play the recommendation game? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment.

At long last, I am now up and running on LinkedIn. You can find my profile by clicking the button below:

So what do you need to do to join my network? There are three simple rules:

1. You have to let me know how you found my profile. Mention this post on Gradversity.com, or another favorite post on the site, and we can get started. This will allow me to keep out any random people who stumble across my profile.
2. Let me know why you want to join my personal network. There are a lot of good reasons, but I need to hear it from you. No reason, no access.
3. Don’t ask me for a recommendation. I will only provide recommendations to people I have worked with in some capacity. I don’t give recommendations out easily, so if you are expecting one just for joining, you will be out of luck. Ignore this rule, and you will be promptly “Disconnected”.

So that’s it! Feel free to stop by.

Don’t forget, I’m on Twitter too.