Are You Linked In?
by Debbie Hatke, MA, PHR

Have you heard all of the buzz about social networking? Think it’s a “fad” that will soon go away? Think again! According to technology experts, online social networks (such as MySpace, FaceBook and LinkedIn) will soon be as ubiquitous as regular websites and many heavy hitters (like Cisco) are aiming to create tools to let everyone from ordinary people to large corporations create social websites tailored to their own customers, employees and friends.

So what is “it”? Internet-based social networking sites provide services that allow its users to create online profiles that spotlight their interests and help them connect with others who share their same interests. Many are purely social, such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com which are among the top visited networking sites on the Web. They are known for their relatively young audiences of teenagers and college students who share video clips and more about their personal lives (the 18-25 year old crowd, although users of ANY age can be found there). You may recall hearing stories of would-be employers searching these social networking sites for information about candidates prior to hiring them for employment. These two sites are the behemoths of the social networking world. According to ComScore.com, in June of this year MySpace attracted more than 114 million global visitors to its site - a 72% increase over the same time last year – and gets over 72,000 visitors monthly. By comparison Facebook jumped 270% over last year to 52.2 million visitors and logs over 22,000 visitors each month.

But let’s talk business. LinkedIn.com is a social network targeted toward business users. It’s a bit smaller than its social networking siblings, but serves a niche market of executives and corporate decision makers that makes it a must-have tool in a recruiter’s toolbox (the typical user is 35-45 years of age, but not limited to that age range). To understand LinkedIn (LI) think of the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"; a game based on the concept of the “small world phenomenon” where you link actor Kevin Bacon to other actors by no more than six connections (two actors are “connected” if they have been in a movie together). If you are familiar with this concept of “six degrees of separation” then you will understand LI.

Started in 2003, LI’s “membership” boasts over 11 million users and in the last year traffic at LI grew by 323% and continues to rise. Providing a more focused product of business networking, LI connects members based on their profile which includes information on current and previous employers, education, professional affiliations and other interests. You can search LI for members with similar attributes to your own or, for recruiting purposes, search for members who fit a characteristic you are looking to find (job title, educational degree or locale). As a member of LI you are linked to other members through invitation – you can ask someone to join your network as well as be invited by others who may find your profile interesting. Your “relationships” to other members are primary, secondary, tertiary and so on, and can number in the hundred-thousands (or higher). Primary contacts are those that link directly to you. Subsequent links are those who are “linked” to you via a relationship with one of your primary links. For example, Kevin Bacon is a primary link to me, but I am also linked (secondarily) to Tom Cruise via his link with Kevin. It is through linkages that you amass your network and have access to millions of professionals on a global scale. Membership in LI is free, but with limited access; as with many other online services, premium service that allows you more functionality comes at a price. Other similar business social networking services include Ryze, Spoke and Jigsaw.

So why use LI? Passive candidates are the key to a successful recruiting plan. It’s no longer enough to let applicants come to you or to post a job online and hope for a response. Recruiters now have to search out passive candidates to fill their jobs and LI can be a great source of untapped passive candidates. Another key use for LI is to attract diverse candidates. As extolled in the book Bridging The Generation Gap, by Linda Gravett and Robin Throckmorton, members of the generation X and Y groups are less traditional in their job searches. More technically savvy, these job hunters don’t utilize typical recruiting resources such as print media.  According to Hitwise US , in July 2007, 31.3% of the traffic to LI came from the 25-34 year old age group – which makes LI a prime resource for a company looking to add generation X and Y candidates to their recruiting pool. In addition to sourcing candidates, LI can be used to connect with other professionals – need an HR consultant…just check LI. Hoping to find another great candidate from Company X…check LI. Having trouble contacting a candidate’s references…look for them on LI.

So how do you use LI? First you must start with yourself. Creating a profile in LI is fairly simple. If you haven’t already been invited to join LI, go to LinkedIn.com and click on “join now” and set up your profile. Make sure you profile contains numerous key words to help others find you. You’ll need to be as specific and detailed as possible. Fill in all the profile information – it may seem tedious and unnecessary as you are just getting started, but the more information you provide the easier it will be for others to find you and link to you – and that’s the point. After you have a fairly rich profile, start adding links. These can be colleagues, former employees, relatives and friends – anyone with whom you’ve shared a connection. You can search for these individual using LI’s search function or your Outlook contacts file (LI will conveniently search it for you). If they are not members of LI, you can send them an invite to join you. All they need to do is complete a free profile. As you build your network you’ll be amazed at the total number of links you have made.

You may not immediately think LI is a good networking tool for you. It takes some cultivating to get it to a useful state, but as you become more familiar with LI’s functionality and start adding to your network the opportunities for its use become more apparent and adding to your links can become addicting. Give it a try – it’s free and may prove to be one of the most useful tools you have in your arsenal of creative sourcing.

Debbie Hatke, MA, PHR is a Human Resources Management Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (http://www.StrategicHRinc.com). If you have questions or comments about this article, you can contact her at Debbie@StrategicHRinc.com.