Q. Jon asks, "Should I use LinkedIn to find contacts during my job search?"
A. LinkedIn is a great tool - and not just during your job search. Unlike social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, LinkedIn is a professional networking site you can use to:
- Find valuable contacts. Say you want to find a mid-level professional contact at a large company but have no names and your networking and research have turning up nothing. Do a search of your LinkedIn network for anyone currently in that function at the company. The search results will include anyone who matches your search parameters who is directly connected with you, their connections, or your third level connections. Also included will be anyone who matches who are members of any of the LinkedIn groups you have joined.
- Showcase your professional background and skills to others - including corporate and third-party recruiters.
- Stay in touch with others who you may otherwise lose touch with as you and they change companies, careers, last names, and cities.
