The Power of LinkedIn for the MBA

Victor Jarosiewicz, Director of Valuations, PCE Valuations, LLC

Michael J. Kazazis, VP/Co-Founder, Censeo Corporation

Social Media – What Is It?

TALKING

SHARING

PARTICIPATING

NETWORKING

Social Media - Overload

Social Media – The Top ThreeFacebook• More than 400 million active users• More than 95 million users log on to Facebook at least

once each day (for an average of 55 minutes per day)• More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of

college• The fastest growing demographic - 35 years old and older

LinkedIn • LinkedIn has over 60 million members in over 200

countries and territories around the world.• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every

second, and about half of the members are outside the U.S.

• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.

 Twitter • 75 million users worldwide• 55% outside the United States

Psst! MySpace is so middle school!

LinkedIn – Why Should I Jump In?

“We no longer interview…we go straight to your LinkedIn page!”

Searchable

“Online” Reputation

Research

Professional Connections

Advice

To give you the competitive advantage!

Jobs

LinkedIn – Why Should I Jump In?

TIP: Remember, your extended network will include recruiters, investors, hiring managers and prospects / customers. Your profile should be sensitive to all.

LinkedIn – Building the Profile

Define your personal LinkedIn goals:

Why do I want to be on LinkedIn?

What commitment will I make to this tool?

One example:

“I want to work as a marketing exec for Google. Using LinkedIn, I will participate in and develop relationships in marketing Groups and forums visited by Google employees. I will develop a competitive advantage for “brand me” as I build up connections and referrals that will get me my resume hand delivered to the VP of Marketing for Google.”

LinkedIn – Building the Profile1 – PHOTO - Select an appropriate one for your profile:

LinkedIn – Building the Profile2 – SUMMARY: Your PROFESSIONAL experience and goals - a one-paragraph summary of your current and past accomplishments and future goalsYour specialties in your industry of expertise - a list of your specific skills and talents (specific job skills as opposed to the daily responsibilities)

• Be concise

• Pick three to five of your most important accomplishments

• Who, What, Goals format

• Use the right keywords

• Be honest, but don’t be shyTIP: Create your profile in a MS Word document. This will allow you to organize your thoughts.

LinkedIn – Building the Profile3 – EXPERIENCE - The Experience section isn’t just for paid full-time employment.

Add position information for any contract work, non-profit assignments, or other valid work experience you did that added to your skill set.

If you’ve written a book, maintain a blog, or have a regular magazine column, you might want to list that as a separate position.

Briefly explain what the company does and your main responsibilities and accomplishments.

Use clear, succinct phrases and break them into digestible chunks.

Be sensitive to financial numbers, launch plans, etc that your (previous) employer would consider confidential.

LinkedIn – Building the Profile4 – EDUCATION

List all of your programs of study, including distinctions.

Don't neglect any special training or certification programs relevant to your career goals.

March 5, 2010 - Today LinkedIn rolled out changes to allow users to rearrange the order that sections are displayed. (e.g., education, work samples, group memberships…..)

MORE CONTROL FOR THE JOB SEEKER!

LinkedIn – Building the Profile5 – Professional Headline (a.k.a. The Most Valuable Real Estate!):

Not just your current job, it is your marketing slogan…your Name and Professional Headline are sometimes the only things people will see.

Yawn

You want to stand out!

Wow

Sales and Marketing Consultant

Sales and Marketing Consultant, making you a “ferocious competitor”

Event Planner Event Planner, creating the most memorable experiences in Orlando.

Seeking management job May 2010 MBA grad with F-500 internship experience will deliver results for you….

LinkedIn – Building the Profile6 – ….and more:

Status Updates

Websites, Blog, Twitter CAUTION!

Contact Settings

don’t-hire-me@I-have-a-silly-email-address.com

LinkedIn – Building the Profile6 – ….and more:

Profile Settings Applications

LinkedIn – Building the Profile6 – ….and more:

LinkedIn – Let’s Get Busy

LinkedIn - ConnectingWho to connect to….how? Always personalize the invite People you meet at events, classmates,

instructors Experts in your field of interest

Enjoyed meeting you last night at the Crummer reception. I found your views about the banking crisis to be very interesting. If ok, I’d like to add you as a LinkedIn connection. Mary Smith, PMBA 23

LinkedIn - Connecting

LinkedIn - Connecting

Remember: Every time you invite someone, you are potentially exposing your whole network.

LinkedIn - Recommendations

Warning: When people ask you for a referral, ask yourself this: What do I get from this? If all you get is a nervous feeling in your gut, an increased risk of litigation and a writing homework assignment, then run away from the request.

Online recommendations can assist in establishing credibility, and when possible, should come from a mix of superiors, colleagues, subordinates, clients, business partners, etc.

Any and all recommendations (provided and received) should be genuine.

Mutual recommendations appear contrived.

Every request MUST be personalized. A thank you MUST be sent after you receive one.

LinkedIn – GroupsGroups – Find groups related to your career interests and your professional / educational affiliations.

LinkedIn – GroupsGroups – Discussions and News of interest.

LinkedIn – GroupsGroups – Search through the membership of groups to find people who it would be beneficial to connect to.

LinkedIn – GroupsGroups – Many groups have a job board…positions you won’t find elsewhere!

LinkedIn – AnswersAnswers – Research, ask for career advice, answer if you are an expert. As you grow in your career, a great way to build brand YOU!

LinkedIn – AnswersAnswers – Remember, you can also post a question in a group.

TIP: It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

LinkedIn – Jobs!Jobs: Premium postings where desire is to attract talent via networking.

LinkedIn – Jobs!Jobs: How are you connected to the position?

LinkedIn – Work It!

LinkedIn – Work It!Researching a Company:

Perfect, I can maybe get to them via Victor!

LinkedIn – Work It!Researching a Person:

TIP: It is easy to research someone you’ll be interviewing with (and remember that he’s doing the same with you)! Be smart about how you

use information you discover.

LinkedIn – Suggestions

Public profile URL (add to email signature) Complete profile = higher search ranking Update regularly, revisit your LinkedIn mission Be strategic with your connections

- Review, understand, communicate, offer value to them

LinkedIn – Watch Out

Not a chat forumNot a way to SPAM your targetsBe careful of add-in overloadClean up those Facebook profiles!!!! We

saw some not-so-professional stuff as we check out this class.

Discussion