Social Networking for Jobs

Should Monster be scared?

Read this article about employers and job seekers using LinkedIn. Viadeo is missing in this comparisons between different websites.

LinkedIn is still growing, but...

So LinkedIn just enlisted it's 10 millionth user. Here is LinkedIn progression since early 2006:













A 1st fact is that since early 2006 LinkedIn is growing linearly, while one could expect it to grow exponentially as more and more users would invite more and more people.

A 2nd other interessant fact is that the ratio between people I can reach and the total LinkedIn users is increasing these last weeks, while my number of 1st level connections does not grow as fast as this ratio. Ratio was 55.5% jnuary 2007 and is 60% today.

It means that inside LinkedIn, people are connecting between themselves faster than new users are entering LinkedIn. I have more and more connections, but in a closed world.

How to use Linkedin and Viadeo to find a new position in 4 steps

Step 1 connect with as many people as possible

The main goal is to maximize the chances to see and be seen on LinkedIn and Viadeo. An additional goal is to minimize the path for reaching people you want to contact.

Connect with 3 different kinds of profile in addition to your near colleagues:

• Connect to people who share your professional goals.

• Connect with recruiters. There is a huge number of these people on LinkedIn and Viadeo.

• Connect with people having a lot of contacts (several thousands) on Viadeo and LinkedIn like eric.mariacher@gmail.com.

To add me as your LinkedIn connection:

0. register on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com

1. copy/paste eric.mariacher@gmail.com

2. click on http://www.linkedin.com/addContacts?displayAddByHand=

3. paste eric.mariacher@gmail.com in the email field

4. click on "search"

5. click on "send invitation"

To add me as your Viadeo connection: Invite Eric Mariacher on Viadeo

As a general rule do not use standard boiler plate invitation (3rd advice). People with more than 1000 1st level connections usually accept every invitation provided it is not too standard.

To find the most connected people on LinkedIn: click on http://www.linkedin.com/search and sort results by number of connections.

To find the most connected people on Viadeo: ask me

Step 2 get recommendations

One of the real plus of tools such as LinkedIn and Viadeo is the recommendation feature. You get feedback from former colleagues in real time. people looking for those recommendations can contact those former people to get additional information.

Step 3 use Q & A feature on LinkedIn

Another plus of LinkedIn (and to a lesser extent of Viadeo and Xing) is the Q & A feature where you can show your expertise concretely.

Step 4 read my "My 2 cents about Online Business Networking"

http://eric-mariacher.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-2-cents-about-online-business.html

“Grow your network while you don’t need it”

Technorati tag this: mariacher, linkedin