I recently met with some students and younger professionals. It dawned on me that there are things these people can do right away to build a strong social network to bolster and enrich their new careers. Here are some ideas:
- LinkedIn – try to follow and engage with as many people in your field as you can on LinkedIn. I personally have no restraint when requesting to connect with people on LinkedIn, if they are cool I connect. 500 connections is a magic number on LinkedIn, because once you hit 500 LinkedIn just tells the world that you have “500+” connections which makes you seem well-connected. Anything less is reported as the actual number. LinkedIn is a great place to start understanding people’s career trajectories and to understand the active participants in your field.
- Twitter – same thing, try to follow and engage with as many people in your field as you can on Twitter. It is really easy to chime in on conversations others are having about topics of interest to you. As you chime in, people will get to know you over time. Then you’ll meet them in person at some point at a conference or whatever. It will be awesome; like having an instant friend. Happens all the time to me both in my market and in the startup world.
What advice do you have for social media for new professionals?
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