Are You Linked In?

When you join LinkedIn, you can see who you know from current and past jobs and add those people to your contacts list. Add your friends, neighbors, and family members. As you meet new people, add them. Soon, when you need the inside story on a company, you can easily see who you know that worked or works there (or who your contacts know). Then, email or call them to get the scoop! Be sure they know you'll be there for them too and be very respectful of their time.

A recent resume client wanted to get into Google, but didn’t know a soul there. I told him about LinkedIn, he added people he knew, and sure enough – one of his contacts was friends with a manager at Google. This manager offered to walk my client’s resume through the process. Without LinkedIn, he would never have gotten on an inside track at Google.

Here are some facts you should know about LinkedIn:

- 19,000,000+ professionals and growing by one million members per month
- 750,000+ senior executives
- Executives from all Fortune 500 companies
- 46% are business decision makers
- Average age: 41
- Average household income: $109,000
- Over 450 million page views per month
- Over 560,000 professionals visit the LinkedIn homepage on a typical day
- Average of 42 page views per member per week

Joined LinkedIn. Today. Really, I mean it!