Are you LinkedIn?

Debates about LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter seem to form the majority of online discussions on social media platforms – LinkedIn discussions and polls focussed on LinkedIn itself are some form of bizarre internet mirror, it seems – and so I’m cringing at the thought of asking this seemingly banal question so early into my blogging career

However – I do have a purpose, and hopefully can offer some useful advice to those who aren’t in a sales-based role and may therefore not yet have realised what benefit it can bring to them personally.

With so many recruiters using LinkedIn to find people with specific experience, it’s worth asking yourself if you could be found if your dream role happened to arise when you're not actively looking for it.

Sometimes the best opportunities come along when you’re least expecting them to, and for this reason it’s worth making sure that you have a profile online that provides a summary of your career history and experience. The more people you connect with, the easier you can be found, especially when connected to your colleagues and peers at other firms.

The UK now has more than four million users on LinkedIn and that figure is rising rapidly. I don’t know how many recruiters make up that figure – anyone else know? – but they are very highly represented in comparison to other career professionals (no sniggering!). And the reason they are on LinkedIn is, largely, to find potential candidates they might otherwise not reach.

It’s worth noting that LinkedIn is no CV database, and adding a profile won’t therefore invite a barrage of calls from recruiters. There are of course many other features and benefits that you might find useful, and should you not wish to be found for the time being, you can always amend your privacy settings.

So, if you already have a LinkedIn profile, are you confident it will flag you up for that dream job? Does it reflect your experience and are you connected with enough of the right people? If you’re yet to get involved, you can be sure that your peers already are, so maybe now is the time....