To clarify, yes, I believe Jeffrey's LinkedIn profile was just one small
aspect. Interviews, cover letters, experience, and education will
probably always trump any form of social networking technology.  What
will be more interesting if Jeffrey's case will be if he and his fellow
interns continue to stay in touch through LinkedIn over the years, and
if they are able to help each other get new jobs as they climb the
career ladder.  Granted, they knew each other as people first.  But
without social networking technologies, they may never have stayed in
touch.  

 

LinkedIn sends you updates about job postings and alerts you when your
"contacts" get new jobs, which can help to jog your memory about folks
who you may have otherwise forgotten or lost touch with.  LinkedIn, like
all social networking technologies, solidifies social networks that you
already have.  Jeffrey's employer may have used LinkedIn as a tool to do
background research on Jeffrey, but at the end of the day Jeffrey
wouldn't have gotten the job if he wasn't already a great candidate.
LinkedIn was just another tool in Jeffrey's tool belt to help him score
that great first job.

 

Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________

 

Emily May

 

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

 

783 4th Avenue

 

Brooklyn, NY 11232

 

718-369-0303

 

emay at obtjobs.org

 

www.obtjobs.org

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Bakin, Barry
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 11:45 AM
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: RE: [Technology 1515] Social Networking Part IV: LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn is available from our district as of yet (you never know when
some previously accessible resource moves from the acceptable to the
blocked list until it happens).  Jeffrey's case is a stunning success of
course and it might actually lead to overly optimistic expectations by
everyone else in the class, but can you clarify if the new job was
directly a result of his LinkedIn page (the employer responded to his
LinkedIn profile without being contacted by Jeffrey) or whether having a
profile was just one aspect of the employer's decision to hire him (he
applied to the bank separately and as part of the interview process the
bank saw his profile?

 

Barry Bakin

Pacoima Skills Center

Division of Adult and Career Education

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Emily May

Sent: Tue 2/12/2008 7:56 AM

To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List

Subject: [Technology 1515]  Social Networking Part IV: LinkedIn

 

LinkedIn.  Compared to MySpace, which is about meeting students were

they are at, LinkedIn is about getting students where you want them to

go.  LinkedIn, despite appearance, is set up dramatically similarly to

MySpace.  The difference being instead of listing your favorite bands

you list your responsibilities at your last job.  

 

 

 

Here's some facts on LinkedIn:

 

 

 

*     The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work

at Google is forty-seven; the average number for Harvard Business School

Grads in 58.

*     People with more than twenty connections are 34 times more

likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less

than five.

*     All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented on LinkedIn. In fact

499 of them are represented by Director level or above employees.

 

 

 

Many of our young adults have an innate understanding of MySpace, but

think that professional networking seems "fake" or "not their style."  I

recently did a lesson on networking for a group of thirty young adults,

ages 17 - 24.  To be frank, the lesson bombed.  The students thought

that networking was totally beyond their scope.  When, they wondered,

were they ever going to just "bump into" people with job opportunities?

Sure, they agreed, their classmates might be able to help them out five

years from now, but what about now?

 

 

 

When I took the students into the computer lab to introduce LinkedIn and

to give them an opportunity to set up their personal pages, suddenly

everything clicked.  The student's experience with MySpace and other

social networking technologies made LinkedIn, and professional

networking more generally, make sense to them.

 

 

 

To check out how our students set up their LinkedIn pages, check out

Jeffrey's page:

 

http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=18757824&authToken=7AQ5

&authType=name&trk=ape_f000001a

 

In addition to setting up a great page, Jeffrey also recognized the

"recommendation" feature on the site and requested a recommendation from

me that you can click on and read.  Jeffrey is in our Opportunity

Knocks, Young Adult Internship Program, so I had them designate

themselves as "Interns" at OBT.  All the interns linked to all the other

interns, so at the end of the class they walked out "being "34 times

more likely to be approached with a job opportunity" than they were when

they walked through the door.  Last week, he got a great job at a bank.

He started Monday.

 

 

 

This lesson accomplished several goals.  First, it made students feel

that networking was within their reach.  Second, it gave students a

formal outlet that they can use to develop their network, and third,

they walked out the door with an already established network that, with

little work, could led them to career opportunities.  One hour in the

computer lab gave students tangible results that they could feel.

 

 

 

For those of you who aren't able to access MySpace at your school, I'm

curious to know if you are able to access LinkedIn.  Part V will look at

other social networking sites that may be useful to you that the school

officials haven't banned (yet).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________

 

Emily May

 

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

 

783 4th Avenue

 

Brooklyn, NY 11232

 

718-369-0303

 

emay at obtjobs.org

 

www.obtjobs.org

 

 

 

<mailto:emay at obtjobs.org> 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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