Not to put too fine a point on it, but it's really true these days. If you are a job seeker...of practically any age or profession/occupation and you aren't using LinkedIn, you aren't on the radar screen of recruiting firms or HR professionals within companies. Now, that's not the only reason to use LinkedIn and I don't consider myself an expert - but I might know a few! What I will say, as a long-time hiring manager and more importantly a professional that has been a job seeker a couple of times over the last seven years, is that LinkedIn has been a real game changer.
In the last few weeks I've met with college interns, professionals early in their careers and old-timers (like me). One thing is true...connecting with people that can help you in your search is a key to success and doing this without the benefit of LinkedIn is painful.
Let's go deeper:
Let's say you are interested in working at XYZ company. You have 50 people that are on your contact list (not on LinkedIn) and you ask them all if they or someone they know work for or have worked for XZY company. All 50 say "no".
Here's the problem. These 50 people certainly know for sure whether they have worked at XYZ company. But can all 50 of those people say for sure that within their contact list they don't know someone at XYZ company or that their contacts don't know someone who works at XYZ company...you get the picture. With a few key strokes LinkedIn can help you determine if you, someone you know or someone they know, works or has worked at XYZ company. It's brilliant and powerful and it works!! (It's a lot like Six Degrees of "Kevin Bacon")
People want to help you, but you have to tell them how! Like the Yellow Brick Road, job search is scary, uncertain and long, but there are people along the way who can help!
You can do this!
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