Build your network before you need it

It still amazes me how many people are dismissive of social networks and lump them all into the category of a ‘waste of time’ (these same people are secretly playing Farmville on Facebook ;).

Sure, you don’t have to join them all and may not see the use for all of them but I would highly suggest if there is one social network you join, it is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social network for professionals; it is a place to connect with other people in your industry and network.

I’m not looking for a new job

Sure, you may not be looking for one right now but let’s face it- NOTHING is forever. Gone are the days where we were going to stay at one place forever and collect our pension check from them (cringe).  As Julien Smith said in his book Trust Agents, “build your network before you need it”, meaning you may not need a network today but you never know when you might.

Opportunities

I first joined LinkedIn back in 2006, while I was still happy with my position. I had heard about it and casually joined not thinking too much about it. I filled out my profile with my past positions, added everyone I knew and let it collect dust. Fast forward two years later, I started to think about where I wanted to be and my career. I knew I wanted to get into Product Management and wasn’t  impressed with the (lack of) choices I was finding on my usual job search agent Monster when searching “Product Manager Montreal”.  I remembered my LinkedIn profile, dusted it off a bit and did the same search and an interesting job turned up. I then realized that the same position hadn’t been posted on Monster. Why? On LinkedIn recruiters can also search for candidates and it is much more targeted.

I have always been slightly skeptical of applying to jobs online, blindly through a company’s site, having done this numerous times but with no luck. All my past employments have been through traditional networking and referrals; but after successfully applying to the job through LinkedIn and landing the job, I began to see the network’s potential. The referrals and networking are still happening but have moved online.

Even though you may not be looking right now, whose to say an interesting opportunity won’t find you?  Have you had a success story with LinkedIn (or fail?), I’d love to hear about it in the comments!