Yes, There Really Is A Difference Between LinkedIn and MySpace
The first time I ever heard of LinkedIn was 2006. I received an invite from an acquaintance I had met at a business networking event. I ignored it. MySpace was the hot topic online at that point, and I thought this LinkedIn thing would just be a similar waste of time.
A few weeks later, I ran into that same person and he asked if I got his invitation. I told him I had, but was not sure what it was about. He tried to explain to me that LinkedIn was a new business networking tool that allowed professionals to connect online to build relationships and support each other’s businesses.
The next day I set up the very basics on my profile and accepted his invitation but I still did not really understand why all of this would matter.
In December 2008, my Christmas surprise was learning I was to join the ranks of the unemployed. I had been laid off at the company where I had worked for the last 13 years. I called another friend to ask for his advice on updating my resume. When we met for coffee to discuss my job search, he asked about my LinkedIn profile. I had no idea why that would matter; I asked, “Who really ever uses LinkedIn?”
He was quick to respond “Everyone!” and went on to explain in more detail.
That day I finally began to understand; while I was ignoring it, LinkedIn was becoming a useful tool for recruiters and hiring managers. They could search for people with certain skills, look at their history and follow up with the individual regarding an opening the recruiter had been assigned to fill.
Prior to that moment, it never occurred to me that LinkedIn was much more than a glorified MySpace...or even that new site I’d been hearing so much about: Facebook!
In 2019 LinkedIn, for better or worse, is the most important tool for finding a new job since the dawn of the resume! Don’t get me wrong, you still need a resume, but LinkedIn makes you visible to talent acquisition specialists in a way heretofore never available.
So needless to say, after all these years I am still a bit surprised when I see LinkedIn pages that look like mine did in 2008. Very little or no job history, 12 contacts, no mention of an individual’s educational history and of course, no picture.
It’s not uncommon for people who find themselves unemployed after, sometimes, decades of work, to have only a vague shell of a LinkedIn profile or worse yet, none at all! And I understand. If you’ve worked somewhere for 20 or 30 years, your LinkedIn page may have seemed more like an inconvenience than a business tool.
Job searchers are often surprised when we at PPI tell them they need to have both a strong resume and LinkedIn profile (FYI-the resume and profile must also match).
So the message here is simple, if you are still thinking that LinkedIn is a glorified MySpace #1) MySpace is dead and #2) stop whatever you are doing and nurture your LinkedIn profile.
I don’t care who you are or what you do, the truth is, any of us can find ourselves in a job search at any moment. Don’t wait till zero hour to start connecting with others. Be prepared and get your LinkedIn page together and start connecting with people as though your career depended on it…because, at least for the time being, it does!
? Phil Berbig 2019