Is LinkedIn useful or just a distraction?

I remember the days of a long time ago when I was fresh out of University and looking for employment. In those dim and distant times, it was about scouring the local and national newspapers and professional magazines to find a role - and sending a handwritten letter and a handwritten Curriculum Vitae. These were the days before the arrival of the internet and email and even then we complained about the cost of stamps.

Now it is rare that anybody would send a letter or a handwritten CV. We're now in the era of instant job adverts and instant applications. The internet has made it very easy to apply for roles from your office while at home on a twenty four hour basis. There are myriads of job boards and recruitment agencies all have an online presence.

So now a job seeker has absolutely no reason for not finding roles. The task is to find those that fit and hope that you are the best candidate at the end of whatever the recruitment process might be.

I have noticed that LinkedIn, the social network for business, is becoming much more of a recruitment board as well as a method of connecting with like minded folks who want to be a connection. And with this element of growth, what is happening is that many businesses will do a search on LinkedIn and they might actually know about you before you even apply.

The important message here is that an online presence is just as critical as your Curriculum Vitae. The two will work in tandem to get you where you want to be. So keep your profile up to date, correct and accurate. If you can then get recommendations from people who you have worked with. These are important because they show the effect you have had in that business. Make sure that you have also added achievements for your role - it is exactly the same as in your CV - achievements shout loudly on a CV rather than just a list of your responsibilities.

So for a job seeker, as a minimum you need a current CV and an online presence. There are other business networks but LinkedIn is the most prevalent and with 150 million members worldwide (as of February 2012) in a job search it cannot be omitted.

Nowadays, I can get my CV to many recruiters instantly and they can see my competences and achievements in seconds and start to think about where could I see Iain working. A powerful tool, I think you will agree. If you want to see my profile then click here now and you will be taken to it. Please feel free to share it with your connections as well. I'm not shy - as long as you do it for legal reasons!!!

But it can be a distraction when you are job searching. It is important to get a wide representation because you never know where the next role will come from but not all roles are advertised there and it can become a competition to see how many people you are connected to. Having a large number of people as connections is not a sure fire way to getting a job - but it helps. 

Don't forget to keep ears and eyes open for the other outlets of roles, always remembering that not all roles are advertised.

Incidentally, today my connection list passed the 500 mark. I'm not particularly in a mood to celebrate that event but I'm sure it will help at some point.

Anyway today I've been on the phone again because the online presence will never replace the fantastic effect of interaction with a real person. Messages from today are a repeat of what I've been saying over past few weeks - get Easter and financial year end out of the way and we will possibly see more roles come on line.

And I will keep my work on LinkedIn going as well as the light relief of my new life as a "journalist" with this blog.

(c) Iain Williamson 2012