According to a recent poll of 611 recruiters conducted by Inside Recruiting, more than one-third of respondents site LinkedIn as their preferred method for conducting background research on candidates. So what does this mean to job seekers?
There is an enormous opportunity to manage your online identity and be found more frequently by recruiters and hiring managers by leveraging online business networking tools such as LinkedIn. And unlike Google, LinkedIn gives you much greater control over how your professional identity is communicated online.
Imagine the opportunity to get in front of millions of people to showcase your personal brand, career accomplishments, and endorsements from bosses, colleagues, and vendors by housing your career profile in one well-trafficked location. All this is available to you through LinkedIn.
The beauty of online networking is that it creates efficiencies that are difficult to replicate in traditional networking situations. Online communities allow you to communicate information to many more people faster and cheaper. They allow you to reach people across geographies and industries in a nanosecond.
Frequently people tell me that online networking is too time consuming. While it’s true that you do need to dedicate some time each day to maintain your networks, the pay off for this small consistent investment is tremendous. So you can spend 15-20 minutes a day managing your contacts or you can spend several extra months trying to build or rekindle relationships once you are in need of assistance. You can offer regular guidance and support to your network or you can ignore it and only reach out to people when you need a favor. Which person would you rather be?
About.com just released their Top 10 List of the best employment sites:
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/joblistings/tp/jobbanks.htm
Of course Linkedin made this list but there are other great resources too.