Networking Made Easy - LinkedIn

In my continued pursuit of a job and an understanding the world of social media, I have found a new ally: LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has been called by many the "professional Facebook." That is probably the easiest way to describe it. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is structured to be professional and cuts out some of the really embarassing parts of Facebook such as the ability to tag people in party pictures. It happens to us all. Yeh, you might want to go detag yourself from that one right now.

LinkedIn is organized like an electronic version of your resume. There are spaces specifically designated for your work experience, current position, goals and special skills. Instead of "adding a friend," you "make a connection" which is intentionally similar to the lingo used when networking in the real world. You remember real world networking, right? When you used to shake people's hands, make small talk and actually hand them a business card or resume. It is a thing of the past, my friends!

The network function of LinkedIn also gives you the ability to use your network to ask for introductions to other people. With the ability to see the resumes of your connections, you might find they have past work experience at places you’d like to be. Think about it. If you want to be like Joe Somebody, you might want to start by working where he started working 5 years ago so you can be Somebody ,too.

In a blog post last month, Guy Kawasaki talked about this new age form of "schmoozing." Check out his article for 10 tips on how to use LinkedIn to get a job.

If you're not LinkedIn, you'll get left out.