Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Another look at LinkedIn

I was talking a few days ago with someone, and I said (again) that LinkedIn had done nothing for me, and added that I knew a businesswoman who had said the same thing.

The person responded with something along the vein of, "Then you're not using it correctly."

Finding work, even if it's selling your interesting story to someone, is hard work in itself.

I have not been on LinkedIn in ages and yet I sit here, pondering my future as a freelance writer - or any other kind of writer. Writing is one of those crafts that nearly everyone thinks they can do, and they are mostly right.

But before I digress - I came across this piece in the New York Times. It is entitled "The Social Network as a Career Safety Net." You can read it here.

The problem is, all these social networking sites take up time I should be writing. This blog takes up time I should be writing, and in all likelihood is an obstacle to my getting a job!

If I'm tweeting on Twitter, even if it's only 140 words at a time, am I working? Is looking for work the equivalent to time spent working? Well, yes, probably.

So having said all that, I am going to take another look at LinkedIn. From the NY Times story:

The old business adage that it’s not what you know but who you know takes a twist in the Internet era: it’s what you know about social-networking sites that can get you ahead.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain (but not currently, thank goodness). I've been a free lance (in a different field) for many years. Most of my work has come from answering the phone. As a result, I have done a really bad job of keeping in touch with folks I've worked for, especially those who have left the companies for which I did the work.

That said, however, there is one thing that I just don't understand. I have done really good work for people (by their own admission), only to have them completely forget about me when they have more work 2 or 3 or 4 years later. This happens even when the same people are still working there. I recently had to turn down an old client because, between the time they decided to do the job and the time they thought to call me, I had gotten very busy. Had they called me when they first started, I could have done it.

I should mention that one exception to job acquisition practice was a very good job I found via the CraigsList "Gigs" category.

Gillian Swart said...

Ah, CraigsList - talk about video killing the radio star!thanks, Dick