Should Engineering Candidates be on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the largest and most ubiquitous social network for professionals, and it has a big role to play in the recruitment process. Unfortunately, engineering candidates have been slow to join the site, believing perhaps that their skills were too specialized to make social networking a necessity. But the simple fact is that all job seekers, engineers included, can benefit from being on LinkedIn. Here’s why:

 

Connect with Employers

LinkedIn doesn’t just post job listings, the site also gives you a way to connect with potential employers in a way that is deeper than the traditional recruitment process allows. Instead of being one sided, the process gives you a way to present your full range of professional experience and personal interests, while vetting potential employers based on the same criteria. Ultimately, using LinkedIn will help you find more jobs, better jobs, and increase your chances of getting hired.

Network with Colleagues

In the same way that engineers have sometimes been hesitant to utilize LinkedIn, there is also some trepidation in the industry about proactively networking. Thankfully, this attitude is quickly eroding, and online social networks like LinkedIn make it easy to connect with other engineers working in the same discipline, complimentary disciplines, distant geographies, and at companies you might be interested in working for. Finding other professionals like you is easy, and connecting with them in a deep and meaningful way is a lot simpler when you don’t have to travel to a conference, book a hotel room, and show up in a suit every morning. Join the site, and start reaching out to the engineers whose work interests you.

Build Your Online Presence

You can bet that any company you apply to work for will do at least some basic online research on you. And when it comes to your web presence, you can either take control of it, or let it take control of you. LinkedIn is an easy and free way to build up your online reputation and paint yourself in a positive light. And since the site has become so popular, it shows up early in search engine rankings, meaning that employers are more likely to find your carefully crafted profile, and less likely to find embarrassing pictures of you from college. A LinkedIn profile is also a nice compliment to a traditional resume that makes it easy for you to point interested parties towards a complete list of your credentials.

 

Just because you join LinkedIn doesn’t mean you have to start sending out tweets constantly or spending half your time on Facebook. Since it is a social network for professionals, the tenor of the site is noticeably different, and you can engage with it as much or as little as you’d like. To learn more about getting ahead in the 21st century job market, work with the staffing professionals at Selectek.