Weekly Updates and News

Weekly Updates and News Weekly (4/29/13)

This week’s contents:

Topic of the Week: Are You Linkedin?

Thought of the Week

Weekly Comic by Jerry King

Blog of the Week:

Top Five News Headlines

List of the Week: from CareerBuilder.com

Topic of the Week Are You Linkedin?

DO post a profile.
DO recommend and endorse.
DO stay active.
DON’T lie.

Are You Linkedin? Time Take Your Networking to the Next Level

We all know that when it comes to work, networking is the answer. No matter what the question that was asked. Or to put it another way, “know how” is helpful, “know why” is even better and the most effective people exert their influence through “know who.” But who has time to network these days? That’s why this week I dipped my toes into the world of online networking. Yep, Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. Okay, I already had accounts set up on all three, but I don’t think sending one tweet really qualifies me as being active. I’ve included my learning from this experiment below. Which reminds me of a recent conversation in a restaurant with a waiter. He said that he hadn’t seen me in six months, which was weird, that was just about the last time I’d been at that particular restaurant. He then pointed to the table where I’d sat six months earlier.

Creepy? Of course. But it turns out I’d made him laugh during my last visit and he said he always remembered his favorite customers. Making a positive impression matters and the easiest way to do that for work today is online. Since there are over 200 million members on Linkedin, it is the obvious place to start your networking journey.

DO post a profile. I had the lamest profile possible on Linkedin and Facebook. When I got a note from Facebook saying that I was in the top 5% of all pages visited I realized that I was blowing a major opportunity. When I started putting energy into it, I learned about a producer who now has a powerful new job that I only learned about from Linkedin. This stuff really works!

DO recommend and endorse. You can talk up your contacts two ways. You can write a recommendation or you can click a button to endorse. Shortly after starting my Linkedin makeover I got a couple of amazing recommendations that make my online profile a far more compelling resource than my resume.

DO stay active. I’m not a big believer that people care about what I’m eating for lunch or who I’m meeting with. Heck, much of the time I don’t even care. But Linkedin does give you the ability to ask poll questions, post links to blogs, or just to provide commentary on events that are happening in your industry.

DON’T lie. According to a study by ADP, 53% of people lie on their resume. While 78% of resumes would be considered misleading. Ouch. If that many people lie on their resumes, imagine the whoppers you’ll come across on Linkedin, but I suggest that you resist the temptation and keep it to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

With a waiter recognizing me six months later, clearly I’d be easy to pick out of a police lineup. Use Linkedin well and you’ll increase your odds of being picked out of a pool of applicants for a job.

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author and award-winning journalist. For free job and work advice, check out the award-winning workplace911.com. Check the revised edition of his Wall Street Journal best seller, “The Boss’s Survival Guide.” If you have a question for Bob, contact him via bob@workplace911.com.