Dear JobsBlog:
These days, everybody’s talking about how important it is to use social networking to find a job. That sounds good and all, but I don’t know where to start. Any suggestions?

-Overwhelmed by Social Networking

Dear Overwhelmed by Social Networking:
Think of it this way: How many times do we run into someone who knows the same people we know and proclaim, “It's such a small world!”

This phenomenon is not as random as it may seem. There is, in fact, quite a bit of science underpinning these "coincidental" events and experiences. This short path-length connection between people is seen in pop culture as the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and in business social networking as LinkedIn. Business social networking is simply uncovering and utlilizing these connections to find employment.

Microsoft employees are the most active in social media and some 90% of our employees use LinkedIn's 75-million-member site. If you are a looking for a job at Microsoft, connecting with our employees on LinkedIn is a smart first step.

However, simply opening a LinkedIn account is not enough. You must learn to utilize LinkedIn for "finding" information and for "being found."

Today, I'm going to discuss “finding” - the investigative aspects of the LinkedIn platform that help you to gain information and connections that will put you closer to a job at Microsoft. 

When one is seeking a job, researching the target company is a cornerstone of an effective job search. With LinkedIn, we can identify key hiring managers and recruiters and company groups with whom to connect. 

The first place I begin my research on LinkedIn is the company profile. You can find this company profile right from your personal LinkedIn page. For illustration, in the graphic below, I have entered “Microsoft” in the “companies” search box and pressed enter.

We land on a page with three tabs: Tab 1 is an “overview” of the Microsoft company information.  It functions as an aggregation of information provided about Microsoft and our employees and, for a job seeker, provides valuable intelligence on our company  In this tab, there is a section for current Microsoft employees in your network and it allows you to “follow” Microsoft. There is also a unique section (highlighted with the red box) that gives the “before Microsoft” employment and “where Microsoft employees go” (if they’ve moved on from the company). 

As we work our way down the page, we notice a section for “new hires,” “alumni” or “former employees” and then a section for some informative statistics on Microsoft. Highlighted in the red box are stats that show job titles, gender statistics and tenure of employees who are on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn also provides an update on “recent promotions or changes to the Microsoft employees’ profile.” Also featured are the most “popular profiles” as well as “recent changes” to Microsoft employee profiles. The final two sections highlight Microsoft “jobs” that are fed to the LinkedIn Network and a Microsoft “news” feed.

Tab 2 reveals the identities of the 100,000+ people that are “following” Microsoft on LinkedIn.  A “follower” will receive a LinkedIn message daily or weekly that updates recent hires and promotions at Microsoft; new job opportunities and updates to the company profile.  It is a more detailed view of information that is provided on Tab 1.

Tab 3 is an aggregation of all the Microsoft feeds.  The company updates section (highlighted with the red box) is invaluable in a job search.  The “go to job posts” link should be very useful as all of the open positions (that are open to external candidates) are posted on LinkedIn.  At this writing, there are nearly four thousand open jobs at Microsoft and all are searchable in this tab.

In conclusion, the first aspect of “finding” is to research the company on LinkedIn. As you can see, information for larger companies like Microsoft is plentiful. 

The second aspect of “finding” is to target hiring managers and recruiters and connect with them on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for my next post that addresses strategies to contact and engage hiring managers and recruiters.

Happy Hunting,
Marvin