You have the ability to search for groups on LinkedIn. Groups can provide an excellent way to network with professionals and thought leaders in your field. I searched on the term "Finance" and generated 3,173 groups on LinkedIn. I narrowed my search by typing "Finance and Virginia" and received five results. In your career transition, networking is one of the most important strategies in your job search. Group involvement on LinkedIn is a terrific way to network, let others know you are in a job search, and show your thought leadership by answering questions that other group members pose.
You can add applications to give your LinkedIn account more functionality. I have the "Blog Link" by WordPress that automatically imports my blog to LinkedIn after I've made a post. "Company Buzz" is similar to doing a "Google Alert" on a targeted company's name that you are researching to pick up on what is being tweeted, written, or blogged about on that company. I know some companies actually set up alerts on their competitors to see how those companies are doing and where they can make strategic moves to compete.
The next area I want to give attention to is the "Answers" area. This incredibly powerful component of LinkedIn gives you the ability to express your thought leadership. Part of my communications strategy is to come in at least once a month and answer a question in my areas of expertise. As you can see, you have the opportunity to ask a question that will go out to your connections or answer questions. LinkedIn generates recommended categories for you to provide answers. You also have the option of "browsing" a list of topics and selecting the one where you'd like to review the questions to answer.
LinkedIn offers an array of search functions - people, jobs, companies, and so on. You can really gather some rich data with these searches. I did one to find connections (and potential connections) in social media within fifty miles of my zip code. My search yielded 124 results and showed how they are connected to me. Now, what if you want to connect with someone who is a 2nd- or 3rd-degree contact? You can look to see to whom they are linked to in your 1st-degree connections. When I moved to South Carolina a year ago, I was targeting a certain company to do some contract work. I located the company on LinkedIn and was able to find out who was one of the decision-makers in the company. One of my close colleagues was her 1st-degree contact.
I asked my colleague for an "Introduction" to her. Within a matter of days, she had contacted me for a networking lunch date - it was then that I really came to understand the true power of LinkedIn. One feature I really like about LinkedIn is the "Company" search. I always encourage people to come up with a targeted list of companies for which they'd like to work when they are in a job search. You get incredible data in this area that helps you to gather the research you want to do prior to the interview. Also, you'll notice that you get information about who is in your network that currently works in the company.
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