LinkedIn....

[@MacPhlea]

Have used this heavily over the last 12 months and invested a fair amount of time ensuring my profile is maintained  - it has effectively become my online CV and, over the last 6 months, have received a steady stream of enquiries for job offerings

A lot of enquiries were from agencies which I have learnt very quickly to take with a pinch of salt (saying they have a job lined up that fits my profile just so they can get you on their books - the job rarely exists) but in the last 3 months I started getting a lot of direct enquiries from companies where clearly the opportunities are there to be filled and i ended up being able to cherry pick the perfect job and have now trimmed back the profile but still get enquiries at least twice month

Just thought I would share this in case anybody else like me has found themselves out of work in the last 12 months and wanted to share their experiences and successes/failures

That is all... discuss

http://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljrossiter

[Batch]

Its how I got my last job.

Searching for a job again now, just getting the normal agency fishing contacts at the moment..

[erictheexile]

I think it's brilliant and becoming ever more important.  I was made redundant at the end of last year and prior to this had always used a combination of roller decks and spreadsheets to keep tab of clients, simply linking into people who invited me to do so.  A rival heard about my redundancy and took a look at linkedin - saw I had a small network of clients and decided that I wasn't worth bothering with.  Bit w*nk if you ask me but that apparently is their policy if they are looking for sales people.  Started contacting old clients and now have around 250 contacts on it.

About 2 weeks later I had an email from an ex-colleague saying that they had heard I was available and I start new job next week.  All a bit anal but it does seem that it is important to use it.

[Jamiesfuturewife]

Do you think it would work for any kind of job? or only certain industry's?

[@MacPhlea]

If you have industry relevant experience then it will work - so many organisations are using it these days as a starting point to fill positions without having to go through an agency

[Batch]

So the idea JFW is its a bit like Facebook for business.

For example, you build up you profile including work history (basically an online CV). And then you link to relevant people -  which is a bit like having facebook friends, but usually they are ex-colleagues and the like.

Companies can then follow the links and/or search for companies/skill sets etc.

Recruitment agencies can do the same, but as Triseros says - they are quite often fishing rather than having something specific lined up....

[@MacPhlea]

So the idea JFW is its a bit like Facebook for business.

Which means that you don't need to let everyone know when you've had a pooh or eaten your tea or are putting your make-up on...  Additionally it doesn't have farmville.
 

[pauld]

Which means that you don't need to let everyone know when you've had a pooh or eaten your tea or are putting your make-up on... 

Oh, FFS now he tells us. No wonder I didn't get any job offers!

[Berniman]

Yep, I am on there and have used it more and more in the past 6 months.

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-manning/13/251/468

[Luci]

I got approached on there and as a result I got my current job.

Its fab - would highly recommend it!

[Bogus Dave]

A lot of people on my course have this. I kind of think they're a tool for having one, but it's slowly dawning on me that, like ironed shirts and pointless ties, it's yet another hoop to jump through if you want to do anything decent

[RobertT]

I'm finding it more and more useful, and this from someone who has yet to step into the worl of Facebook and the like.  I've had several approaches now, plus it allowed me to do some really good research on a job opportunity because my potential future manager was listed, as was the team I would manage.  Allowed a good pre interview insight and allow me to control the interview - hence getting an offer, which I ended up turning down as my current employer provided a counter offer.  Good for joining groups dedicated to the job you do, which in turn offers you the opportunity to publicly show people you know your line of work.

[@MacPhlea]

A lot of people on my course have this. I kind of think they're a tool for having one, but it's slowly dawning on me that, like ironed shirts and pointless ties, it's yet another hoop to jump through if you want to do anything decent

Ties are so last year and over rated... some years ago my GM dragged me to one side ad commented on the fact I was not wearing a tie, I simply responded by insisting that if I had to wear a tie then all the women should wear skirts...

Ironed shirts however are the most part of business attire. Nothing quite like a shirt ironed with military precision!

[Bogus Dave]

I think the whole charade of having to get dressed up 'smart' is outdated bollocks anyway though. It makes fuck all difference to how well or not I can do the job

[Samdy Gray]

I have LinkedIn but never really gave it much attention. Perhaps I should tart up my profile a bit and see what happens...