Comments for I'm On LinkedIn - Now What???

Comment on Job Seekers Don’t Know About LinkedIn …. Whuh??? by john harperjohn

john harperjohn — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:22:38 +0000

I gave a presentation to CPC Job Connection in Danville CA last Saturday http://tinyurl.com/59k6fb

It continues to amaze me how many job seekers do not know how to leverage the Internet for their careers.

I met with one of the attendees a few days later and showed her my LinkedIn profile. We were sitting across the street from Kaiser in Walnut Creek, CA. I asked her what kindo of position they might have that she would be interested in. I posted a question on LinkedIn and within 5 minutes had a contact for her in the Kaiser HR department.

Comment on Job Seekers Don’t Know About LinkedIn …. Whuh??? by Jason Alba

Jason Alba — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:08:04 +0000

@Tom - you are right, it’s good to put this into perspective. Sometimes we forget how different we are from others. And yes, we can share with others.

@BN - hm… I wonder what I would have guessed. I think it has a lot to do with the demographic of JobDig visitors. They advertise their site in their own newspaper, which you can get in the stands at grocery stores and places like that. I would have guessed maybe 25% of professionals didn’t know about LI.

Reminds me of a comment I heard a few months ago that “LinkedIn has gone mainstream.” Perhaps not.

Comment on Job Seekers Don’t Know About LinkedIn …. Whuh??? by Business Networking

Business Networking — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:58:53 +0000

I’m surprised that it was even that high. I would think it would more like 75% “never heard of it”. Online business networking is only being used by early adopters at this point. Think about it, Linkedin has 22 million profiles. That’s less than 10% of the population in the US. If you consider that Linkedin is also global, subtract the Chinese, Indians, British, and other major countries, you are probably down to 10-15 million profiles from Americans. Also consider that they have 5 million monthly users, mostly recruiters and salesmen. If you are not looking for a candidate or client, you probably don’t go there every month.

I run a business networking site so I know we are in the very early days of online networking. It will be mainstream in 3-5 years.

Comment on Job Seekers Don’t Know About LinkedIn …. Whuh??? by Thomas E. Kenny

Thomas E. Kenny — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:33:19 +0000

This information helps to put online professional networking into some perspective. Meaning, LinkedIn isn’t the one and only end all professional networking solution that everybody is using.

You’ve inspired me to blog on the same topic although from a different view point of not assuming others know what we know and the value of sharing what has worked for yourself with your network.

Maybe that is networking (or blogging) 101, but it can be easy to some times overlook sharing the basics, thanks!

Comment on Want to own a LinkedIn Group? Expect lots of e-mails! by Thomas E. Kenny

Thomas E. Kenny — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:42:52 +0000

I wish LinkedIn would get more serious about maintaining groups.

I’ve had membership in two groups pending for months. It has become obvious that they have been abandoned by the owner of the group. Not a real issue but just a minor annoyance. However, I would think if a group owner doesn’t respond within X months then the group should be deactivated.

On the other side of the coin there are some topics that have several groups, which I think is a foolish.

I’ve also found some individuals that have established an incredible number of groups to help them boost their connection count by being a group leader. Personally I think there should be a limit on the number of groups an individual can create. However, if such a limit existed they’d probably just create bogus profiles to get around it.

In general LinkedIn groups really seem to be the wild west of LinkedIn and is very unlike the higher standards of the rest of the site.

Comment on LinkedIn and YOUR Video! by Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:48:28 +0000

Jason,
Always a wealth of knowledge. I greatly appreciate it and am uploading YouTube videos as I write with the plan to do some linking!
Thanks!

Comment on How many connections do you have? by Rob Lewis

Rob Lewis — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:45:54 +0000

Great post! It is absolutely true, how many of our connections do we actually know? Up until recently, I could have answered with a very low number. Now with the realization that these contacts are not only brilliant, but they are WILLING to network and help you build upon your own experience with only the expectation that you do the same for them. Social Media is the new frontier, BUT only for those who utilize it, not just BRAG about it.

Comment on What is LinkedIn going to do with $53M of new funding? by Larry Steinberg

Larry Steinberg — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:28:06 +0000

The first thing they need to do is build the robustness of the platform as it falls on its face for those with thousands of contacts, of which I am not one. Second, they need to beef up their non-existent customer support. Third, they need to pursue multiple strategies for how to monetize what they have because with the ever changing landscape, the one thing we know for certain is that whatever they plan, the reality down the line will far different and the more strategies they plan for today, the more likely they will still be here tomorrow.

Comment on What is LinkedIn going to do with $53M of new funding? by Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:25:55 +0000

LinkedIn as an intranet? I could speculate on many things such as partial replacements of: SAP, PeopleSoft, Active Directory. However, I’d seriously doubt that any large enterprise would move off what they are using now.

I also wonder if LinkedIn is thinking of integrating private walled gardens with some thing like Ning for corporate groups. That might be a good thing to give employees to share and collaborate. However, would a corporate big brother need to be watching?

Looks like the valuation of Ning may be to high for an acquisition. So then the options would be partner with Microsoft with SharePoint. Otherwise implement some sort of Wiki integration.

I’m seeing many MS ads on LinkedIn in the past few months. Hmm, could LinkedIn integration with SharePoint and ActiveDirectory be what they are planning for small and medium business that don’t already have an “intranet” solution?

Comment on LinkedIn Recommendation Thoughts by Evan

Evan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:04:51 +0000

I think of my resume/bio on LI as an advertisement of my services. This means that I seek recs that would appeal to either a hiring mgr or someone that I might do business with. I value recs from managers or clients — those who have direct insight into my work.

I have noticed that most recs in profiles come from colleagues. Those recs may be nice to see on a profile but they don’t carry the same weight as a rec from a mgr or client. Many coworkers simply want to be nice when approached for a rec. They may base their rec more on their impression of a person rather than direct knowledge of their work, skills and expertise.