All my questions have been answered, and I thank you all for posting. I will be closing my account since it will do me no good anymore.
I actually have gotten some valuable connections via my LinkedIn account, and specifically from the Network Building and the “Connections” that it is always encouraging. Especially when I was doing personal training.
As some of you probably know, personal trainers who work in health clubs and gyms are, in reality, almost akin to independent contractors. I mean, technically, you ARE an employee of the gym, but your annual wages depending mostly on your own personal client base that you get very little help in building. It’s almost all from referrals and “word of mouth” from satisfied clients. And when you do training on the side, you’re supposed to file a 1099 at the end of the year when you do your taxes.
So I was contacted by a guy who saw from my resume–and was originally referred to my LinkedIn account by a client. He saw I am a former college track athlete and these days as far as my training involves, I specialize in coaching runners. More specifically, long distance and marathon runners. So I’d say I’ve gotten maybe a dozen or so additional clients for this type of training thanks to my Linked connections. This translated into about an added $3 to 4 thousand bucks on my past year’s income.
And a Linked connection also got me networked with an editor from Runner’s World magazine, which in turn led to my getting an article published! This to me was maybe the coolest perk of the whole LinkedIn thing! Especially since the article turned out to be pretty popular and so it encouraged me to begin work on a book I’m gonna get published on something I call “Paleo-Running.” (which I predict might be the next big “thing” in the running world. Right up there with the recent popularity of those Spartan races!)
My interview is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. I’m very excited about this one — the company is a very close match for my background in oncology management systems, SW interfaces to radiation treatment machines (for cancer care), the CyberKnife noninvasive radiosurgical system, SW engineering, and the FDA and medical device regulations that govern the creation of such products. It’s a fairly specialized area, and while I can branch out into many directions with that background, this specific combination most closely fits my experience over the last 20+ years. As a comparison, Varian and Varian Medical Systems are close cousins.
The company is on the small side, so stability and market viability is somewhat of a concern. I’ll be researching the company to see if it’s a place worth joining (as opposed to barely staying afloat, or worse).
I haven’t had a real interview in about 20 years (other than internal transfers and such), so I’ve been brushing up on my interviewing skills.
If I prepare well, I’ll be relaxed and confident, and able to answer effectively. And also ask my questions of them to see if they are a company and group that I want to join.
LinkedIn does occasionally send the odd recruiter my way. I’m sure I could probably get better results if I updated my page more frequently. It was better when it first started, but I’m tired of all the spammer connections who want to connect just to grow their network. LinkedIn Pulse used to be good for a morning read on the bus, but most of its content is garbage now - again, people trying to grow readership and influence.
Well, good news here — that company offered me a job today! Yay me! I was really hoping for this one. I start on Thursday. It is a very good job and I’m looking forward to it.
LinkedIn really came through!
Congratulations!
Another use of LinkedIn: when someone asks me for references and I happen to have both personal and corporate email for them, I can check their LinkedIn to see if they’re still there. If they appear to be I provide both emails; if not, only the private (permanent) one.
I also usually provide links to my references’ LinkedIn pages. While I could have created them or faked the connection, the matches between their own listings and mine indicate that either we really did work together or I went to a ridiculous amount of work to fake that we did. Occam’s razor points to the first option.
Thank you!