Linked Into The World

You may have left a company behind, but odds are you still remember the people you worked with, some fondly, others not. Very likely, they remember you, too. Why not cash in on that established network of contacts built over your whole working life? LinkedIn, one of the fastest-growing networking sites on the web, does just that.

You may have left a company behind, but odds are you still remember the people you worked with, some fondly, others not. Very likely, they remember you, too. Why not cash in on that established network of contacts built over your whole working life? LinkedIn, one of the fastest-growing networking sites on the web, does just that.

LinkedIn is for professionals: colleagues who have worked together or gone to college together, or perhaps belong to the same professional society. It is like a vast virtual cocktail party/job symposium, for the site allows people to update everyone in their network with news about their current projects, updates on promotions or moves, and people can post professional recommendations of their contacts. 

By inviting your colleagues to connect with you, you establish links to their connections, which makes you part of a huge LinkedIn network. That in turn allows potential employers to find you, or job seekers to view the profile of potential employers as well as do a little self-promotion.
Because LinkedIn is business-oriented, it winnows out the potential silliness of MySpace or FaceBook as a social networking site. Members invite into their personal network people they have worked with professionally or have other business relationships with. This provides a much more focused and trustworthy place for potential employers to find qualified candidates, but also allows the essential word-of-mouth marketing that has always been more trusted than any résumé. 

With more than 35 million registered users in 170 industries, LinkedIn is a tremendous resource for both businesses and business professionals. It is an excellent resource for hiring managers looking for qualified individuals to fill open positions, as well as a tremendous bulletin board for job seekers wanting the inside scoop on companies they are interested in. In the current job market, it is well worth checking out, no matter which side of the employment line you’re standing on.