LinkedIn

1. LinkedIn Job Search 101

2. Presentation Considerations • This presentation, and other LinkedIn presentations is available on my web site, www.TampaBayHR.com, so take notes or not accordingly.

3. Up Front Concerns • For those still employed, determine if your company has a policy on LinkedIn. If prohibited you can still have an anonymous account. Financial advisory firms have special legal concerns on the use of LinkedIn, so learn about your potential use limitations. • With the only limitation of the number of character spaces, you can customize nearly every aspect of the site to fit you. • To get your profile to 100% you’ll need at least several job instances (can be vague if necessary), your education, a few recommendations, and possibly joining a group or two

4. Job Hunting Paradigm Shift

5. The rules for job hunting have changed Abridged: The News Tribune TACOMA, WA -- Forget just about everything you think you know about finding a job. "Many changes have happened in the job market since 20 years ago, since 10 years ago - since last October," said Paul Anderson, a former hiring manager for Microsoft and Expedia. He believes that job hunters need to understand human behavior and outfox this new system. He offers a few ways to tackle a job search in the new world.First, scrap the elevator pitch. "Why the elevator pitch doesn't work," Anderson said, "is that nobody cares about you. They care about themselves. You have to change your mindset from self-serving to serving others." That means finding out what need you can fill for the recruiters. Second, at job fairs, don't bring a sheaf of resumes and hand them out to recruiters like Halloween candy. Instead, get business cards from the recruiters. Ask them what kinds of jobs they need to fill and what kind of candidates they like.

6. Third,leverage online social networks, such as LinkedIn.com, to connect with as many people as possible. Online networks allow you to find and seek advice from contacts who work for the companies you have targeted for your job search, it allows others to endorse you, and it allows you to post specific information about the job you want, Anderson said.

7. 2nd Paradigm Shift The move from thinking about places to people Think brick and mortar to internet as an analogy It started with kids & now is part of business. R U taking advantage of it?

8. The Web 2.0 way to connect to those who need your services • There are over 80 million people on Facebook and over 40 million on LinkedIn • LinkedIn is a searchable database • You can develop a network where you are recognized as a respected source of information • You can develop a network that utilizes the exponential growth of multi-level marketing

9. The Bottom Line • Formal Use Cases have been made for using LinkedIn • To be Found • To recruit • Selling through contacts to avoid cold calls • Finding an Expert Just in Time

10. Networking in the 21st Century

11. Why use LinkedIn? • LinkedIn brings your contacts closer • It exposes/connects you to more people • It helps you get answers to difficult issues of the day • It allows you to advertise not only your existence, but your unique value proposition • You can establish a reputation as an expert in your field • You become searchable, (if U choose) even when you’re only passively interested in other career opportunities • It enables you to stay in touch with those you network with in the physical world. • It helps cement the relationship

12. Profile of LinkedIn users • Anderson Analytics study – 2008 • Nearly 60% of users have incomes of $93K or more. • People with lots of connections tend to make more money, according to the study - those with incomes between $200-$350k were seven times more likely to have at least 150 connections than lower income users. (I’m not validating these numbers or assumptions, just sharing them.)

13. How do you begin LinkedIn? • Sign on at LinkedIn.com, provide your e-mail address & a password. • Create your profile • Customize to market yourself & present those skills you want to highlight • Customize to show the fuller you by connecting to groups that help a paint a picture of you that you choose • Customize by establishing links to your own site, notable items about you on the net, etc. • Change the last portion of your LinkedIn profile from the random assigned alphanumeric sequence to your name, with a numeric after it, if necessary, to make it more professional & memorable in appearance. E.g. http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/SteveFreedman007

14. Use of a photo in your profile • If you use one, make sure it’s a professional one, not a party shot. Using a graphic instead accomplishes little. • Pros • It will definitely help the viewer remember you from networking events or previous LinkedIn mail transmissions. It’s the equivalent or a real world, tangible (warm & fuzzy) connection. We help remember each other by our faces. • Cons • Our society is full of biases, sometimes recognized, sometimes beneath the surface. They can include race, age, sex, weight, and even attractiveness. • Ultimately this is a very personal decision you have to make. On age, you can leave off some old jobs and the year you graduated college, but other biases are less easy to work around. Think the issue through and do what feels right for you. You don’t have to use a photo, but it does adds a layer of depth & it helps others remember you.

15. Utilize your LinkedIn profile link • By clicking on your LinkedIn profile link anyone can be brought to a slightly abbreviated version of your LinkedIn profile, & subsequently click on your full profile, if they choose. • Put it on your business card • Use it on your resume & cover letters • Use it in your e-mail signature block • Yes. Shameless self promotion. If not you, who will tout your accomplishments?

16. Recommendations • In order to get your profile to 100% you will need to get some recommendations. • Contact your past supervisors, peers, satisfied clients, and previous business partners and ask them if they would be willing to provide you with a recommendation • If so, ask them to develop a “minimum” LinkedIn account and let you know when it’s accomplished. Subsequently send them a recommendation request through LinkedIn.

17. Using LinkedIn groups(Pick your strategy) • Strategy A – Join groups with a large number of members • This will boost your network quickly. • Strategy B – Join groups that reflect your different interests • Presents you as a complete person. • Strategy C – Join groups that reflect what you would like viewers to see to mold their perception of you. • Presents you as you would like others to see you. • Be aware of the LinkedIn limit of 50 groups.

18. Using LinkedIn groups (cont) • Discussion groups • Post & answer questions • Develop recognition among your peers • Utilize the multitude of opinions available from around the world to help gain a macro perspective to local issues. • Join physical world groups where you have a connection to enhance relationships, when they have their own LinkedIn groups.

19. How can you improve your visibility on LinkedIn? • In the “Question” area find your area of expertise, look for questions that you’re comfortable with, and answer them with as much care and generosity of your time as you can. • Get previous supervisors, peers, &/or subordinates to “recommend you.” This is definitely needed to build your profile to 100%. • The former helps label you an “expert” and the latter helps substantiate what you say about yourself, giving third party reviewers more comfort in accepting what you present.

20. Recognition as “Expert” • To become an Expert on LinkedIn you answer posed questions. If your answers are deemed to be the best answers by the person who posted the question, that person designates you as an Expert. Repeated occurrences leads LinkedIn to designate you as an Expert.

22. Quality versus Quantity discussion • Quality – connect only with those you know & trust • Pros – Messages you send can be quality enhanced by having your contacts praise you, along with your message, it adds power and interest to your message. • Cons – It’s slow to develop your network in this manner. • Quantity – connect with as many people as you can • Pros – Develop your network quickly • Cons – You have to rely on strangers to pass your messages along, …. or do you? • (paid account upgrade alternative)

23. What is a “LION” • One acronym, two translations, same meaning • Leading International Open Networkers • LinkedIn Open Networkers • The meaning is clear: • Individuals who self identify themselves, usually in their own LinkedIn name “title,” do so to convey the fact that are willing and eager to accept invitations. They may still self-police the incoming requests, but in general their purpose is to build their network quickly, accepting most invitations. They want to network aggressively.

24. A Blended Approach • Like good scotch, a blend of the quality and quantity approach can help you achieve the positive aspects of both approaches. • Pro – You build a large network in a fraction of the time • Con – You have to “rely on the kindness of strangers” • You’ll find that 70% of members want to help each other, either for karma or graciousness • If your network is large enough, you can attempt contact with many people in one company, increasing chances that one will respond to your request, even if they don’t know you or your contacts.

25. Adding connections • There is a degree of peril when inviting connections that you do not know personally. • On the receiving end of a LinkedIn invitation the recipient can choose any of the following: • Accept invitation • Archive • I don’t know (your name) • If your invitations receive too many “I don’t know your name (IDKs)” responses, LinkedIn may cut off your ability to acquire new connections. Accordingly, always include some language in your invitation similar to “… if you are not interested in connecting with me, please click the archive button, otherwise I will be penalized and not be able to connect with great people like you.” • ALWAYS customize your invitation.

26. Invites, what they don’t tell you • LinkedIn limits the number of invitations that you can send to 3,000. Beyond that it prevents you from sending invites. • HOWEVER, there is no limit on how many invites you can accept. There are people on the site who claim to have over 20,000 first level connections. Tactically seeking out who you would like to connect with, either by your invitation, or by asking them to send you an invitation, takes some thought and finesse. LinkedIn has just set a limit of 30,000 first level contacts.

27. If you want to make it easy for someone viewing your profile to send YOU an invitation, be sure to include your e-mail address somewhere near the top of your profile. Once you become a heavy user you will value your remaining number of invitations more highly. Upon request, LinkedIn may dole out another 250 invitations, but it is not an easy process to navigate.

28. Every day LinkedIn activity • Get Linked with everyone in all of the organizations to which you belong. Ask your phone book contacts to join you. • If one of your organizations has a “group” on LinkedIn, connect to it and participate in the discussion area.

29. Every day LinkedIn activity (cont) • At EVERY networking event, at the end of your discussion with a new connection, ask them if they are on LinkedIn & would they like to connect. If they do: • Send them a LinkedIn invite & ALWAYS customize it, referencing where you met them and any details of your conversation to help them remember you. (Business card discussion) • To cement the relationship further, after they accept, send them a thank you note. In the note, ask them if they know anyone, in or out of LinkedIn, who might be able to help you in your client search. The business pitch should be soft pedaled and the giving aspect of networking emphasized. It’s referred to as the law of reciprocity (a.k.a. the Giver’s Gain Principle also called Pay It Forward). Give first, receive second.

30. Periodic LinkedIn Activity • Send low threat or warm correspondence to your first level on a regular basis to stay in touch or make them aware of something new. Giving tends to get more respect & attention than asking. • Send “Thank You” scripts to those who accept your invitations or those who invite you & short thank you notes on any occasion where they have helped you. • Send “Occasion” correspondence to keep in touch

31. Business Intelligence on LinkedIn • Premise: either because you have an interview or you want to prepare for your encounter with a new contact in a particular company • Go to Search “People” • Type in “company name” or “company name + geographic location” • Go to “Companies” • Search industries • Get company specific information & information concerning your contacts who have left or joined the company

32. Business Intelligence on LinkedIn(cont) • When you’ve found one or more person who work(s) or worked for the company that you’ve targeting, send them LinkedIn mail, either through your connections, or directly, if you’ve paid to upgrade your membership. • As politely as you can, ask about their company culture, the style of management, the formality/informality of the organization, or any other piece of information not available through internet research. How does the decision making process work in this company? The more research you have on your target company the better your ultimate interview is likely to go.

33. LinkedIn as part of your self promotion strategy • Develop your profile as you would like other to see you. • If you get a positive performance appraisal ask your supervisor if he/she would mind posting it to your LinkedIn profile (don’t be afraid to reach out to past supervisors) • Highlight results oriented accomplishments as you would with a resume • Identify your interests, volunteer activities, & leadership roles • Networking must be done all the time. • Link your company website to your profile so viewers get to know you by your association with the company. • Consider creating your own web site. It doesn’t have to be grand, but gives you an opportunity to post positive things about U. • If you develop your own web site, use LinkedIn to help drive professionals to it, and promote it. • Remember the “Pay it Forward” mentality.

34. LinkedIn as part of your self promotion strategy (cont) • Use the new LinkedIn side applications • Amazon book list – helps add a color commentary of your different interests, presenting a more well rounded you. • Google Presentation – post some of your white paper/Power Point work • Miscellaneous Apps for sharing and monitoring data

35. What advice would you give a person wanting to maximize the value of LinkedIn?(I was awarded best answer on LinkedIn for this answer) My top 10 list: 1. Utilize your LinkedIn profile link on business cards, resumes, cover letters, and e-signature blocks. 2. Hook to your personal web site or blogs 3. Answer questions so you get known. 4. Join groups that both reflect your interests (to show the color beyond the facts of experience) and to maximize your reach into the database of people.

36. 5. Choose one or more apps to help people get to know you or get to know other aspects of you (like the Amazon reading list) 6. Conclude every physical world networking meeting with (a) "are you on LinkedIn?" and (b) "may I send you an invitation so we can stay connected?"

37. 7. Get in touch with previous clients, supervisors, peers, coworkers, and subordinates off LinkedIn and (a) ask them if they'd be willing to say something positive about you online, (b) if so ask them if they have a LinkedIn account, if not explain the process and their minimum participation needed in order to post a recommendation, (c) have them notify you once the account is created, and (d) send them a request for a recommendation. Recommendations from people who can speak to the quality of your work are superior in the eyes of reviewers to those garnered from other LinkedIn associates who you may help in a pay it forward fashion, but are often looking for reciprocity. (I'm not discounting the value of the latter, just making a comparative analysis.)

38. 8. Do research on companies where you might want to work or to sell a product. Work towards an informational interview or company culture information so you can either work into an insider referral for an interview or a warmer sales call. 9. ALWAYS send a thank you note to anyone on LinkedIn who has helped you in any manner possible. LinkedIn is all about developing relationships and we all like to think that our time is valuable and appreciated. 10. Create a marketing tag line for the top of your profile that helps to identify you with your occupation in a memorable fashion. The shorter and more meaningful the better.

39. An Illustration Be strategic in your selection of what you show & how you present yourself Target your LinkedIn Profile like you would a resume

44. First Level contacts within The Tampa Bay area only

45. Other kinds of searches • Use search people & put in company name • Use advanced search people, company name, and current only • Use Search Jobs (upper left button) – content “marketing” to find specific location jobs • Don’t use (upper right) Search Jobs – content “marketing” unless you want worldwide • Use Search Answers – content “Price Waterhouse”