LINKEDIN WEBSITE

                                              http://www.linkedin.com

                                    CCC – SHM - Bob Zoller – June 25, 2008

 

Linkedin has many features, but we will only cover the basics here.

 

What Is Linkedin? - Linkedin is an online network of more than 16 million experienced professionals from around the world representing 150 industries.  It is used for professional networking.  Your professional relationships are key to your professional success.

  • Find potential clients, service providers, subject experts, and partners who come recommended
  • Be found for business opportunities
  • Search for great jobs
  • Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
  • Post and distribute job listings
  • Find high quality, passive candidates
  • Get introduced to other professionals through the people you know
  • Find old friends and co-workers
  • Find old college or high school friends to find out what they are doing now and keep in contact.

Linkedin is free to join.  However, they also offer paid accounts that give you more tools for finding and reaching the right people whether or not they are in your network.  For most uses, the free accounts are fine to work with.

 

When you join, you create a profile which summarizes your professional accomplishments.  Include a "grabber" opening statement - then really detail what you did in your jobs.

 

Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners.  You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join Linkedin and connect to you.  Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.  Note: 90% of the people in Linkedin are employed.

 

Other similar Networks (not really for Professional Networking) are Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and Plaxo.

 

Linkedin Basics:

1st Degree Contact - Contacts or Colleagues you know (I have 70.) (You can contact them directly.)

2nd Degree Contacts - Friends of Friends (I have over 10,700.) (You can invite them if you know an e-mail or get introduced.)

3rd Degree Contacts - Their Friends' Contacts are the hiring managers themselves (I have over 2,095,800.)

 

                                                        Home Page Information

 

Tabs At The Top Of The Page:

People - A keyword search field where you can search for people

Jobs - A keyword search field where you can search for jobs

Answers - A help section to Linkedin where you can ask questions

Companies – A list of companies who use Linkedin

 

Left Side Menu:

Home - A page showing news about your network - i.e., people adding connections or new company colleagues joining the network who you might want to connect with.  Contains: Inbox, Your Company News, Network Updates, People You May Know, etc.

 

Profile – Shows your own profile with options to edit

Contacts - Shows your own network in an alphabetical listing

Inbox – Shows invitations that have been sent to you

Groups – These are groups that you may be a member of in Linkedin

 

 

Creating A Profile:  A profile is like a web page advertising you on Linkedin.  First, create all of your information in MS Word using bullet points, etc.  You can then use this document to cut and paste into Linkedin.

 

Items To Include:

 

Header Area - Your professional "headline"

My Profile – Your current position

Recommendations – List your references

Summary (detailed) - What you are doing now and what you would like to do in the future

Experience (detailed) - List all past jobs and work experience (don’t use too much text)

Education - College, schools, etc. - others can search and find you as alumni (don’t use too much text)

Additional Information (detailed) - Websites, interests, honors, etc.

Contact Settings - Include e-mail and phone number (don’t include your address).  There is a little [Edit] hyperlink next to every editable selection that you can change.

 

 

Note:

 

Notice that I have edited my Public Profile (or URL) removing the numbers with my name - i.e., "bzoller".

 

Remember to use key words that you wish to be found with by others.

 

The Summary is a very important section - be sure to make it very effective with good key words that grab attention.

 

Select "Edit Your Public Profile" or Public Profile setting: FULL VIEW [Edit]

(i.e., what you would like to make public from your profile):

 

 

 

 

Contacting Others:

 

Invitation - You ask someone to join your network - already knowing their e-mail address.

Introduction - When you request to meet another via a 3rd party who has a closer connection to that person.

InMail - A feature that comes with the paid option of Linkedin (Business version) - lets you contact anyone you want directly without knowing their e-mail address.

Note:  When invited by someone else to join Linkedin, always send a thank you reply.

 

Quick Ways To Expand Your Network:

 

You must know the person's First Name, Last Name, and E-Mail Address.

 

     ●   To send multiple invitations - Select the yellow button "Expand Your Network" on the top right side.

 

     ●   To send a single invitation - Select "Quick Invite" on the right side farther down.

 

It is strongly recommended that you personalize your message to the other person.  Because, if the person you are inviting does not know any better and refuses you by selecting "does not know you", Linkedin limits the numbers of refusals that you can receive, and you will be banned from using Linkedin.  Always personalize your notes.  DON’T USE the generic note that Linkedin suggests.  It will be more effective since you don’t want to be refused by anyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Searching:  Refine your search by using "Advanced Search" (on the right side of the search field).  Examples to use are:

 

     ●    Company that you are targeting

 

     ●    People you have heard of who may be in your extended network

 

     ●    Colleges that you have attended - alumni are always more sensitive and want to help other alumni

 

Note:  Remember to use the "Sort By" field on the right and the "Location" field to localize your results to the Denver area.

 

 

By selecting the individual, you can see how you are connected to that individual (right side of the screen).

 

   linkedin1

 

Since Ron Bates is a 2nd degree connection, you cannot send a direct e-mail to him with the Linkedin free service, since I do not have his e-mail address.  Therefore, I have to ask for an introduction.

 

Inviting:  To the right of his name, select "Get Introduced Through A Connection".  The 3rd party person you are using to help with the introduction will receive an e-mail where they can just add something like:  "I would like to introduce you to Bob Zoller who is a Systems/Software Engineer with many years of experience in development and support."

 

Note:  If you select "Invite Ron To Connect On Linkedin" (you need to know his e-mail address using the Linkedin free service), you will get a screen looking like it will send an invitation.  But, as soon as you select "Send Invitation", it will return and say that you need to be a Business (paying) member.

 

 

 

 

The above example has 8 choices of people.  Select from these choices which people you would like to use to get introduced.

 

Introductions:  If you want to contact a Linkedin user who is two or three degrees away from you, you can request an Introduction through one of your connections.  Your connection will then decide whether to forward it on to the desired recipient (if in your 2nd degree) or to a shared connection (if in your 3rd degree).  Additional Introductions (beyond the 5 provided with a free basic account) can be obtained by upgrading to a premium account.

 

 

Find Colleagues or Classmates:

 

Select "People You May Know"

 

 

Select "Find Colleagues" (lower right hand side)

 

 

 

Under Ford Motor Colleagues - Select "Find now"

 

 

 

TIPS:

 

     ●   In the Summary, mention you are looking for a job.

 

     ●   Edit your URL for your Public Profile with your name and make the font blue.

 

     ●   Edit your e-mail and make the font blue.

 

     ●   When including a space in your search, use "(list title)": i.e., "Production Engineer", then sort by connection number.

 

     ●   Use MS Word or another word processing software to add bullet points.

 

     ●   Include a "grabber statement" at the beginning to get someone’s attention and something that you want to be known by.

 

     ●   Be sure to include your college in your profile so that other alumni can find you.

 

     ●   Ron Bates has the most connections in Linkedin - it will only show 500+ (connect with him).

 

     ●   Mike O’Neil probably has the highest number of connections in the Denver area (connect with him).

 

RESULTS:  Within a couple weeks after I started working, I was contacted by the HR person who handled my paperwork to join his network.  Since then, I have been contacted by other colleagues including two from Rome, Italy who asked to join my network.  These people searched their network for our company name and found me.  Several other people at NOCONET have been contacted by recruiters, HR or others for jobs or just old friends and colleagues.  I have also found several co-workers who I used to work with at Ford 15 years ago who live in Detroit who also happen to be on Linkedin.  They are now part of my network who I could get recommendations from.  I have also used Linkedin to find people at several companies I was targeting in Longmont who I could contact.

 

 

To learn more about Linkedin, contact:

 

Mike O’Neil, President, Integrated Alliances

E-mail: moneil@integratedalliances.com

Website: www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil

Telephone: 303-683-9600

 

Integrated Alliances hosts Linkedin workshops which cost $49.  Occasionally, they are only $39 if you can get a promo code after attending a free session in the Denver area.