You may be wondering what LinkedIn is. Or you may be a user of LinkedIn and wondering what is the big deal? Or you may be thinking to yourself, I think everyone is wasting their time investing in LinkedIn. Well, read on... LinkedIn may be the positively greatest tool ever created to help you find exactly the hiring manager or referral you are looking for.
You see, LinkedIn is an unparalleled tool for identifying specific job holders in specific companies. This fact makes the service the probable best possible source to reach the exact hiring manager you are seeking.
"Nice try! Where is the proof?", you say.
LinkedIn is the ideal tool on a couple of levels for identifying hiring managers. Once you import and connect to your own contacts, you will suddenly be able to see many of the professionals that you would not otherwise see. And guess what? A lot of your contacts happen to be in the same or similar businesses and positions. So, wadda ya know... A lot of their contacts are likely to turn out to be the hiring managers YOU need to contact. Better yet, your good friend John or Jane might just be able to give you the reference you need. Without LinkedIn, you likely would never even have met many of these individuals. Even if you had met them, the odds are that you would not have known their particular role. Perhaps just as important, your friend John or Jane may not even be aware that their acquaintance is now the hiring manager. LinkedIn to the rescue--the network visibility suddenly allows you and them to be much more aware of the career progress you are all achieving.
If you are a LinkedIn member (and especially if you are a paid member) you can search and see professionals throughout the LinkedIn network. This is an amazing fact, because now you can see how 65,000,000 professionals fit into your business context. And, if you've built up your network or by using LinkedIn's inmail service, you can reach out and contact them. Among 65 million, there are few companies and almost no professional endeavors that are not well represented. With this tool, your access, your knowledge and insight, and your understanding of context has never been greater.
For the first time, you can determine who you need to reach and make reaching them a reality. You can begin working on the really important issue: Why the hiring manager should bring you on staff.
Peggy McKee has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, sales recruiting, and career coaching. Her website, Career Confidential (http://www.career-confidential.com) is packed with job-landing tips and advice as well as the practical, powerful, innovative tools every job seeker needs to be successful.
Learn how to set up a LinkedIn Profile that attracts hiring managers like a magnet at http://linkedin-for-jobseekers.com/linkedin-profile-tutorial.htm