Working the Crowd

I've been on Facebook since I was a freshman in college, and even though I'm about to graduate, I thought about leaving my profile up as is. After all, it took me a long time to put that thing together and I'm kind of proud of it. But now my career counselor is telling me that I should be using my social networks to meet people who can help me find a job for next year, and she's convinced that employers will actually be looking at what I have up there. I think I liked it better when Facebook was just open to your college network.

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Jenson, 22, Iowa

Social networking is the grouping of like-minded individuals online, and it's is a terrific tactic for gaining access to respected individuals you probably wouldn't have the opportunity to interact with otherwise. Most of you probably belong to Facebook.com or MySpace.com already and there are others (such as LinkedIn) that are specific to the business world and even particular industries.

Assuming you want to use social networks to bolster your career relationship-building activities, Diane Danielson and Lindsey Pollak, authors of The Savvy Gal's Guide to Online Networking, recommend that you start by researching where your colleagues and potential contacts hang out. Most networks also allow you to search by industry without signing up. For example, say Danielson and Pollak, if you're looking for decision makers in the health care industry, go to a networking site's search page and put in a job title (e.g. healthcare CFO). They also suggest taking a moment to check out the networks for which your friends and colleagues send you invitations to join.

Getting started on most social networks is pretty easy. You register for free and then create a personal profile that includes information like your work history, organizations to which you belong, your interests and hobbies, awards and honors you've received, and the types of people with whom you're interested in connecting. One of the best things about them is that you'll never have to trouble yourself maintaining a Rolodex or address book again, as your online networking contacts will update their own information as needed.

As I briefly discussed in Chapter 1, make sure your social network profiles effectively portray your corporate persona. And yes, this includes monitoring your friends’ pictures and comments that appear on your pages. Among some other helpful tips from Danielson and Pollak:

• • Meet first, ask later. When meeting people in a social networking setting, it's best to develop a genuine personal connection first, and then broach the subject of how you and your new contact might help each other.
• • Deliver what you promise. Do not try to make friends by promising follow-up you may not be able to deliver (such as guaranteeing a meeting with your boss or client). Overpromising and underdelivering is a quick way to lose friends and alienate new contacts.
• • Manage your expectations. It's unlikely that any one single networking encounter will result in obtaining a new job or new customer. Approach each connection with a specific, more tangible goal in mind, such as securing a second meeting or gaining some valuable insight or information.
• • Use keywords galore. Most people looking online for service providers search by keywords, whether in a search engine like Google or within a social network. Make sure to incorporate all the keywords someone might use to find you into your profile (e.g. database programmer, Linux expert).
• • Publicize links to and from your profile. Include a link to your professional profile as part of your e-mail signature line so people can click on it and learn more about you. Within your profile, include the URLs of articles you've written, organizations you belong to, and events where you're speaking.
• • Take advantage of all your network has to offer. Each week, set aside 30 minutes to explore the network and its different services. For example, the first week, you might look for people from your alma mater.
• • Peruse before you post. Each online platform—whether a social network, message board, blog, or listserv—has written or unwritten rules of engagement. Spend some time seeing how others operate so that you can effectively blend into the community.
• • Watch your tone. Social networks and other online platforms tend to be sensitive toward posts that come across as condescending or sarcastic, and those that could be perceived as personal attacks. And when participating in global communities, keep potential cultural differences top of mind.

Before we move on, let's look at the offerings of the most prolific business network, LinkedIn.com.

The Mechanics of LinkedIn

As the Website says, LinkedIn is an online network of millions of experienced professionals from around the world, representing hundreds of industries. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments and helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. By establishing a network consisting of your connections and your connections’ connections, you are automatically linked to thousands of qualified professionals. It's a painless means to get introduced to advantageous contacts through people you already know and to create new relationships, identify service providers or subject-matter experts, land jobs, and close deals – in short, a networking dream!

In his book, I'm on LinkedIn—Now What???, author Jason Alba suggests the following best practices for making the most of your LinkedIn participation.

• • Make sure you are showing enough information on both your public and private profiles. LinkedIn allows you to view your profile as others see it when they are not logged in. If you want to advertise who you are and why you are valuable, make it easy for people to learn about you without having to sign up or log in. Also, change your public profile URL from the default assigned value to something more descriptive (mine is: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandralevit).
• • If you don't have your own Website, use your LinkedIn profile as an online resume. Put the URL in your e-mail signature and in blog comments or online articles you write.
• • LinkedIn's Jobs section shows you the connections you have within particular hiring companies. Use this information to network with these individuals directly instead of sending a resume to HR.
• • Request endorsements from people you've worked with successfully in the past, and write them endorsements in return. Potential clients and employers are much more likely to contact you if you can prove that others have been satisfied with your work, product, or services. Don't go too crazy with recommendations, though, as too many will diminish their value and credibility.
• • Join relevant LinkedIn groups to expand your search visibility, and consider complementing a LinkedIn group with a Google or Yahoo! group for enhanced communication. The ability to search for new contacts within a LinkedIn group is particularly useful if you have a small or non-diverse network.
• • Use the Answers feature to ask a question and invite your network to respond. Questions typically range from knowledge-based issues (e.g. Does anyone know a good web-based survey tool?) to help in finding a job (e.g. Do you know of firms that employ environmental engineers in the San Francisco area?). Asking a question once a month provides an opportunity to probe your contacts in a creative way. Choose the “best answer” to bolster the reputation of the person who provided it, and thank everyone personally who participated. In turn, if someone asks a question that you can answer intelligently, do so, as this increases your visibility in the broader LinkedIn community.

Entering the Blogosphere

Over the last couple of years, career experts have been buzzing about the necessity of having a blog. Their rationale is that everyone who's anyone is out there participating in the online conversation, and that if you don't have something constructive to contribute, colleagues and employers won't be as impressed with you. Personally, I don't think it's realistic—or even a good idea—for every employable person in the world to go out and start a blog. For one thing, the blogosphere is cluttered enough as it is, and blogs that have no real purpose for existence will just muck things up even more.

You should write a blog because you have a unique opinion on an issue based on your own life experiences, not because you think it will make you more marketable. If you blog for the wrong reasons, no one will read it, and, for all of your efforts, you won't increase your visibility. Secondly, not everyone is cut out to write and/or maintain a blog that requires a concise outpouring of coherent thought several times a week. Lots of people love it, but, to many others, it sounds like the modern version of Chinese water torture.

If you're determined to use the blog medium to become an established expert in your field, or a credible potential hire who'll appear attractive to employers and recruiters, realize that a professional blog is no place for irrelevant musings or runaway diatribes. For example, my readers come to my blog, Water Cooler Wisdom, expecting concrete career advice from the perspective of someone with a consulting practice that helps young employees survive in the business world. Tough as it is for me to accept sometimes, they have no interest in hearing about my day—unless I can use the story about the crazy guy I met on the subway to make a point about career success.

There has also been a recent backlash against bloggers who are cavalier with facts or attribution of sources. Be careful of this, and also read others bloggers in your field and cite their work so that the opinions you express are not just your own. Think about what your readers really and truly need to know, and then scout out facts and tips that answer their burning questions. Tie your posts to current events and news headlines, and populate your blog with enticing titles and frequently searched keywords so that it's easier for new readers to find you. Network with other bloggers in your space (even the high-profile ones!) by commenting on their posts, and in return, answer comments on your blog in a timely fashion.

My final thought on this is that if you just want to write, you don't have to reinvent the wheel with a brand new blog. There's no shortage of already-established outlets just for twenty-something writers that would be grateful for your contributions!