A few weeks ago, I found an old high school acquaintance on LinkedIn. Shortly after my invitation was accepted, she sent a blizzard of requests for introductions and job search help. No complaints there – as a recruiter in this economy, I’m used to getting asked to help with job searches. But it was glaringly obvious that my acquaintance  had not even read the profiles of the people targeted by her introduction requests.

I’m pretty strict when it comes to people using my LinkedIn network. My philosophy on LinkedIn is that introductions have to make us both look good. My bar is pretty high, which helps me keep my connections from a lot of spurious traffic. I know that this is different than other people’s introduction philosophy. So when this intro blizzard arrived, I explained my philosophy and recommended she make a few changes her introductions.

I wish I had been able to point her to Scott Hepburn’s posting on the Media Emerging Blog about How NOT to Get a Job via Social Networking. Scott makes five points on how to use these tools to wreck your job search:

• Blank/Incomplete Profile
• “I Need a Job” Bio
• Connect But Don’t Engage
• Asking for Referrals Before You’ve Earned Them
• No Blog (Or Other “Content Central”)

Scott has some great tips on how to deal with these issues. Check them out here. He’s also asking for your thoughts on Twitter.

BTW: My new LinkedIn connection didn’t take me up on my suggestions.

hat tip: Linked Intelligence.

Today’s issue of ComputerWorld asks the question:
Which is better for business,
Facebook or LinkedIn.

ComputerWorld (CW) looked at six different areas, comparing both tools for business networking.

LinkedIn	Facebook

CW called it a tie, which IMHO shows their bias. Here’s my analysis, which is at least as unbiased as theirs:

Topic	CW	TCB
1. Look for a job without your boss knowing	Tie	LI
2. Find information about a job you’re interviewing for	LI	LI
3. Find a contract worker for a three-month Web project	FB	Tie
4. Solicit ideas and discussion from team members	FB	FB
5. Get feedback on a nasty IT problem from peers outside your company	LI	LI
6. Keep track of former associates	Tie	LI

A few notes:
1. Find job – Facebook’s lack of privacy and security are well known problems that CW didn’t even address. Plus, Facebook ties your search to Jobster, which is a huge negative in my book.
2. Find information – Facebook only allows users to research certain areas, and is known for editing profiles to remove vital information like titles.
6. Track associates – ComputerWorld seems to assume that all of us are college kids. Okay – I’m over 40, and can only find a few of my friends and associates on Facebook. However, I can find plenty of my friend’s children on Facebook!

I liked what Chad D. said in the comments:

As far as Facebook. It’s a “social” network. Why do people continue to try and make it anything but what it is? Do I really want my brand and professional reputation within arms length of teenagers poking, biting and tagging? Stop trying to force a round peg into a square hole. Let Facebook be what it is… a virtual playground.

LinkedIn rolled out a new interface this past weekend, which means it is time for a bunch of horded LinkedIn links. I’d call this a Carnival of LinkedIn, except that I’m the only one posting. A small part of a carnival is that round rotating structure with the oscillating beasts: A Carousel! Here’s my LinkedIn carousel for 03 March 2008:

• What Do You Think of the “New” LinkedIn?
  by Judi Sohn, on Web Workers Daily

• Use Face-to-Face Interactions to Get More from LinkedIn
  by Kevin Purdy, on LifeHacker.

• Is LinkedIn a Better Utility than Facebook? For Professionals “Advantage LinkedIn”
  by John Furrier on Furrier.org – Business & Technology Blog.

• The LinkedIn Corporate Solutions Team has introduced their Pro Plus Account package. This includes 50 InMails, 3 Job postings and a way to save notes.

• Best Description of LinkedIn…Ever
  by Scott Allen on LinkedIntelligence

The description Scott found is great:

What really cracked me up, though, was this description of LinkedIn:

      It’s like Facebook, except with fewer piercings.

YES!

Thumbnail images of the Elitch Gardens Carousel in Denver courtesy of Dr. Richard Gardner’s Philadelphia Toboggan Company Carousels page. Thanks, Doc! Click these to see the best carousel in the West!

Scott Allen has a great blog called Linked Intelligence. He specializes in the Smart Ways to Used LinkedIn. I’ll admit, I’ve sampled the LinkedIn Kool-aid, and I’ve found it to be a useful tool. (See my other LinkedIn posts here, here and here.)

Scott compiled his 2007 top tips into one Linked Intelligence post, and this one post is worth reading:
Best of Linked Intelligence 2007

Check it out, especially his Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn.

The LinkedIn editors got in the act too, promoting an article about Using 8 Tips in Under 8 Minutes.

Over on the LinkedIn Questions pages, recruiters are sharing their hilarious examples of What is the funniest (or worst) resume gaffe you’ve seen in 2007?

A few shining examples:

• “I like to use a hot glue gun as a hobby.”
• “Great oral skills”
• “Experienced Writter Available”

Go see – more examples are added every hour.

This week, two people whom I have hired at previous employers have pinged me with a request for help in starting their job search. Both got caught in a layoff, and I don’t have a current requisition that matches their skills. Here’s the advice I’ve shared with them.

1. Update your resume.
2. Start networking – let everyone know you’re looking. My last three jobs have come through networking. It does work.
3. Create, amplify or build up your LinkedIn network <www.linkedin.com>.
   • Put your resume into your profile. List all the companies you’ve worked for (this makes is easier to find collegues). Make sure you have some keywords in your summary.
   • Use the Find Colleagues tool to locate people you know, and send out a customized invitation to them.
   • Change your profile address from http://www.linkedin.com/pub/odd numeric string to something more reachable like http://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. The first name+lastname style is standard.
   • Make sure your profile says you’re interested in new jobs.
   • Get recommendations! We recruiters look for those.
   • Make sure your e-mail address from your current company’s is in your preferences. Once you leave, you can’t add it.
4. Sign up for a job aggregator like Indeed <www.indeed.com>. An aggregator is a search engine for jobs. You can set up and save key word searches, and every night Indeed will e-mail you a list of openings that match. Indeed spiders HotJobs, Monster, CareerBuilder, Jobing and a bunch of other job boards. There are a bunch of other aggregators out there, but not all are good. I recommend avoiding Jobster (long story).
5. Get on the jobs mailing list for the Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group <www.rmiug.org>.
6. Check out your local user’s groups. Most disciplines have them – groups like CTRN, BAHRA, RMIUG, APICS, SWE, ASTD and BWA, among others.
7. Take advantage of all the outplacement help that your employer is giving you. The average participation in these programs is usually around 50%.
8. Stay current – read a few blogs to keep up. Industry blogs are good, as is that NotJobs blog. That guy’s Tips section is pretty good, if I do say so myself.
9. Work. Be prepared to devote some serious time to your job search.

Mike O’Neil gave a great talk on LinkedIn at the North CTRN meeting on Wednesday. O’Neil owns Integrated Alliances, a networking company, so providing LinkedIn training fits into his mission. He shared a few good points as a teaser. Mike said he’d try to schedule a class on the north side, and invite CTRN.

Some of the points he made were things I have already done, like changing my public profile URL from a string of digits to my name. He made a pitch for using “words that sell” in our profiles. (He used his as an example, see it at http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil). He also mentioned that LI has a lifetime maximum of 3000 invitations. I learned some useful tricks about their search engine, which will help with finding people. He also gave examples of the importance of upgrading the text when submitting invitations. We also discussed the ethics and etiquette of linking.

It was a great teaser. Check out Mike’s Training Page for details on his next class.

UPDATE 26 June: See Guy Kawasaki’s “Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn” suggestions. Actually, as he usually does, Guy gives you more. He has eleven ways.