Written by Carl Freelove, Marketing Manager, Big fish Recruitment

Online networks here. Online networks there. Online networks everywhere. What's your first thought when you receive an invitation to join another site that promises to connect you with your peers? Maybe to hit Delete. Or perhaps you check it out, only to wonder if creating a profile is worth the effort.

Having given our candidates the low-down last month on micro-blogging site, Twitter, this month we continue our foray into the career enhancing aspects of social networking with a look at business networking site, LinkedIn.

For those not in the know, LinkedIn is a long-established site that has only recently become the belle of the ball thanks to word of mouth and the massive rise in the usage of social media sites. Whether you see LinkedIn as a social network, a business network or even a contact management system, the site is simply based on the idea of extending your network of business contacts and is quietly becoming a national CV database.

Your LinkedIn profile is a virtual online CV, so like the monster CV databases of this world, if you’re not on LinkedIn, then you could be missing out on your chance to be found by recruiters.

It doesn't pretend to be MySpace or Facebook. The design is clean, but a little stark and it could use a little more personality in order to make it more engaging but has recently become a powerful tool for helping job seekers secure their next career move – so can you afford not to check it out?

Fortunately for those not prone to boasting about their drunken exploits on social media sites (i.e. Facebook), LinkedIn eschews the usual social components like blogs, photos and lists of your favourite movies in favour of online CV’s, critiques of your work and other information a potential employer, client or colleague will find useful.

Furthermore, because everyone generally connects with people they trust on LinkedIn, you can have greater faith in the integrity of someone you "meet" through a colleague –who could just turn out to be an important contact in your next career journey.

Become a social media expert

Becoming a social networking expert on LinkedIn and seeing tangible results takes time - there are no quick fixes!  But focusing your efforts effectively can make the process more gratifying and give better results more quickly.

We spoke to Krishna De, one of Europe’s leading brand engagement and social media experts, to give you some great tips on using the power of LinkedIn to rapidly build your network:

1. Customize your URL. Change your LinkedIn URL so your name appears in the link. This will optimize your search engine results. To do this, go to your profile page, go to Accounts & Settings, and click Public Profile under Profile Settings
2. Plumb Outlook for contacts. You can build your network by adding frequent e-mail contacts. Just download the Outlook Toolbar from the Tools section at the bottom of LinkedIn’s site. When you click on the LinkedIn icon, the site’s home page opens in Outlook. You can also add contacts from AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo address books.
3. Never EVER Use the standard invitation to connect to peers. Customize it so it is reflects your personality or online brand. Store the text in a file and copy/paste it. Keep different text for different types of people. Keep improving it.
4. Connect with some "Superconnectors" (people who are connected to lots of other people) - especially ones in your industry sector
5. Find current (and ex) colleagues and clients and connect with them
6. When a colleague or client connects, have a look at their network and see who else they are connected with that you know and connect with them too!
7. Write testimonials for people you Like, Trust and Respect. Penning a thoughtful testimony will reflect well on you and increase your visibility. You’re also likely to receive one in return
8. Complete your details fully - take the time to write your profile so that it serves as an on-line CV and contains the key activities and roles in your career

Some of you might wonder why you should join yet another networking group, when there are a ton of online networks already available? Well, my take is that it's all about preference, choice, and what tools you're comfortable with. In other words, there's no silver bullet.

Just as some of us are Mac users and some swear by the PC, there are those who gravitate toward one or another online networking tool. Regardless of your tools of choice, the reality is that none of us have any excuse for sitting on the sidelines.

So whether you’re actively or passively looking for your next career move, don’t forget to utilise the power and accessibility of social media to research and nurture relationships with the people you want to connect to - I’m sure the results will surprise you.

Join the Big fish LinkedIn Group

Got a LinkedIn profile? Click the link below to join the Big fish LinkedIn Group:

Join the Big fish LinkedIn Group

Joining will allow you to find and contact other Big fish members on LinkedIn. The goal of this group is to help members:

• Reach other members of Big fish.
• Accelerate careers and grow your online visibility through referrals from other Big fish group members
• Know more than a name. You can view professional profiles from fellow Big fish group members 

Until next time, best wishes

Carl Freelove
Marketing Manger
Big fish Recruitment