professional Archives - Higher Ed Career Coach

Know Your Network, Grow Your Network: Why You Need to “Get” LinkedIn

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jul 14, 2011 | Job Search, job search tools, Social Networking

You’ve probably heard of LinkedIn. With over 100 million users, it is the world’s largest online professional network, and has captured the attention of professionals and businesspersons who see the potential value of online networking to move forward in their careers and their businesses. But when it comes to “getting LinkedIn,” many don’t understand the how to use it effectively.

So let’s get down to business, and up to speed, with what you need to know about LinkedIn to move forward in your business and career.

The first thing you need to know is that LinkedIn is not simply an online replacement for your résumé. If you only use it that way, you are doing it wrong!

Many of us grew up and started our careers when computers were making their way into businesses and homes, and though we are very competent users of e-mail and office productivity applications like Word, Excel, and Access, it’s hard for us to understand the point of “getting social.” We use our computers to do work!

Using a social network to get work is a separate, but related, skill set. It comes easily to those raised as “digital natives,” who have always been connected to their peers online. For their generation, it’s a basic skill, not a luxury to be learned if you have time. And it does require a lot of work, a lot of consistency, and a lot of “long-haul” thinking.

Let’s dig into some terms now, so we’re all talking the same language.

Social Networking is different from Social Media. Social Media is a publishing medium. You can construct a message and deliver it where it can be found online. It’s a great way to get your one-sided, carefully constructed messages out, in a way that increases brand awareness. Social Networking, on the other hand, is an engagement medium. Like joining the Chamber of Commerce or any other network, it can reap great benefits for your business, but only if you know your network, the people in it, and where your common interests converge.

Social Networking is a very special kind of professional networking, in that it allows “shy networking”-content and competence-based conversations around subjects of common interest. It can be a great equalizer for those who aren’t as comfortable with in-person networking, because it gives them a global platform for showing their “chops,” and get connected to others based on their knowledge, skills and interests.

To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to put some time and energy into using it effectively. Here are Five Quick Tips for Getting Started:

Make sure your profile is complete.
- Put a professional photo on your profile. People want to connect with other people, so having a face as well as a name will make you seem more approachable.
- Be sure your headline is keyword-rich. For example, “B2B Sales Leader Specializing in Food Service and Hospitality Marketing” is better than “Sales Manager for Aramark.”
- Import your contacts from your e-mail program. LinkedIn will tell you which contacts are on their network, and you should invite all of these to connect.

Join groups related to your region, industry and niche. Follow the conversations until you are ready to add something, and when ready, jump in! It’s okay to “lurk and learn” for a while, but effective social networking requires that you add to the conversation. Speak up!
Ask and answer questions. It lets others connect with you as mentors, and people like that. It’s natural to be drawn to people who could use your help. Let other people be your expert mentors every once in a while, too. You’ll be surprised at how answering a few questions or offering support and encouragement can pay off. As in real-world networking, the gains can be exponential and long-lasting!
Add applications to help you share your knowledge and increase the interactivity of your profile. You can add SlideShare presentations, Behance portfolios, your blog feed, a recommended reading list, and many other utilities. Only add those that you are willing to learn to use fully. Otherwise, you may seem foolish or inexperienced with the technology.
If you don’t know where to start, just start! Be brave, try new things and ask questions. Those who don’t try new things won’t reap benefits from emerging technology and social networks, while others who do will move forward, onward and outward, toward the new frontiers of business.

My name is Sean Cook, and I am a Career Coach, Organizational Consultant, Writer and Speaker, based in Athens, Georgia. Through my company, Cook Coaching & Consulting, LLC., I help professionals design intelligent strategies for moving forward in their careers and businesses. For more information, connect with me on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, e-mail me at sean@higheredcareercoach.com, or just pick up the phone and call me at 706-363-0539.

A version of this article appeared recently in Chambering, the magazine of the Barrow County (Georgia) Chamber of Commerce.

Lessons Worth Finding and Questions Worth Asking

by sean@higheredcareercoach.com | Jun 22, 2011 | Career Skills, Higher Education, life purpose, Site News

Over the last five years, I’ve experienced a convergence of events in my personal life that drove me to consider the need to change my circumstances and with it, hopefully my personal and professional destiny. First I became a father. Then I learned that I have a neurological disorder, which affects my mobility and is aggravated by stress. Then I had a year where my whole staff hated me, and I couldn’t dig myself easily out of the personal and professional hole I found myself in. Then some things changed, and I was able to do so. Others were not able to, and chose to move on.

I took the next few years to redeem myself and to redouble my efforts to be an effective supervisor and mentor, and I feel that I was able to do so. I began researching options that would allow me to move on from Penn State and the first option was a doctoral program at the University of Georgia. I was invited to interview, but not admitted to the program. What little feedback I received amounted to the fact that I had expressed more practical than theoretical interests. It hurt at first, but I was eventually able to glean a lesson from the experience, move past it, and to start getting more specific about what other options I wanted to research.

It was a blessing in disguise, because in that exploration, I realized that my interests do not lie in the direction of teaching student development theory. I’m more interested in helping professionals understand effective practice, and effective professional involvement, so they can move forward in their careers with authenticity of purpose, and have satisfying (and balanced) careers and lives. Coming to Athens also made me realize how much I always wanted to live there, and how much better it would be for my family if I moved closer to both my parents in South Carolina, and my partner’s parents in Florida.

When I decided on pursuing coaching as a career choice, I initially wanted to do life and transition coaching for college students, and transition coaching for their parents, because I had been really troubled by Millennial students and their helicopter parents. I also had an interest in doing career coaching for persons working in higher ed, because I could have used it going into the field, and later as a supervisor and member of the central management staff for Residence Life at Penn State. I know for a fact that many of my staff (students and professionals) needed it, but that as a supervisor, I could only give them so much, because of the power differential involved in supervision. I believed that, as an experienced professional with a lot of great experience as a supervisor, as a candidate, and a member of search and interview committees, I had a unique set of gifts to put to work, and that by doing so, I could make a difference in the careers of many people. So I rolled the dice, left my job, and gambled that I would be able to pull together these convergent ideas into a coherent business concept.

In my mind, I have all the pieces tied together and it makes sense. But I haven’t explained it so well, and it’s clear that I need to, so that people won’t get confused or stay confused, because it’s not enough to explain the convergence, you have to explain the separate ideas before you show how they all come together. As a storyteller, I’ve always understood that. So I’m going to back up a little bit, as I have been doing so far this week, and tell you, as best I can, my story.

I’m not doing this so just to talk about myself. In putting forth my life examples, I’m hoping that you will relate, and see, in your circumstances, some parallels, and find some lessons you can apply to your life and career.

In every story, there are lessons worth finding and questions worth asking. And we can definitely learn more if we have some conversations. So please comment freely and share your story, ask questions, and tell me and your fellow readers your story and more about the points of convergence where you exist, operate, and feel most comfortable.