Part of Networking is the Community of people you know. It's wonderful to be a part of the TSTI Community, but that doesn't help you if you don't know enough of the community. It's impossible for most of us to remember "everything" about everyone. Nowadays, there are tools to help us help each other survive the Recession/Depression. The most powerful of these tools is LinkedIn, the business-oriented social-networking tool.

LinkedIn asks you where you've worked and who you know, and leverage this information among everyone you know. Please allow me to explain one important use of this information.

In this tough economy, finding a job can be more difficult than ever. Applying for positions through the "front door" of a company's job board is often unproductive - you become part of the thousands who have applied for that position.

When I see a job that interests me, I go to the company site - but I also go to networking sites such as LinkedIn. I search for who among my contacts are working for that company, or who my contacts might know at that company. I then can ask these connections to help me research the hiring manager, and even ask to get in contact with the hiring manager. This way, I'm sidestepping the heavily-guarded "front door", and instead using the "side door" to connect. During my current unemployment, this approach has led to 85% of "callbacks"; 10% has been via recruiters, and 5% via the traditional "front-door" approach.

A good, true, and recent example: I saw a New York-based position at a large Utah-based software firm. Searching on the company in LinkedIn, I noticed a formercoworker of mine (from a NY company) had worked in Virginia for the company. (I would never have realized this through traditional networking and tracking of friends.) I hadn't talked to this coworker in a long time, but I pinged this former coworker and asked her who she still knew inside the company. She knew the VP HR for the company! She connected me to this VP, who asked the hiring manager to talk to me.

Another example:
A friend of mine produces (college sports) content, and we're connected on LinkedIn. At an Alumni meeting, I met a VP at ESPN and we connected via LinkedIn. My friend noticed this new connection, and he asked me for an introduction to the VP (which I immediately made). A day later (just a few weeks ago), the two of them are discussing business opportunities.

This is a great way we can help each other survive this Recession/Depression as we, in the TSTI community, can help each other in very real ways. Thanks in advance.

Bruce Pleat