Are you LinkedIn?

I've been seeing more and more people discussing LinkedIn (coverage in CNN/Money, Businessweek), a service that is similar to MySpace, but for grown-ups.  Think of MySpace, but focused on what you do for a living, your experience, accomplishments, and education, who you know, and who is willing to vouch for you (as a recommendation).  In a world where who you know frequently overshadows what you know, our formal and informal social networks are sometimes the most useful tool we have!

Now, what can this sort of thing be used for? 

Guy Kawasaki has a list of 12 things (10 of his own, plus two from a reader in his comments) of instances where it can be useful, as both employer, employee, partner, supplier, contractor, or investor.  For example, you could check references on a company your would like to work for, invest in, or hire someone from.  You can see what members of your network are hiring.  If you are in the service industry, you can place your service in a directory; if you use various service providers, you can recommend them.  An influx of experienced talent can reflect well on a potential employer; an exodus of talent can be a sign of the end.  Here is Guy's list:

1. Increase your visibility.

2. Improve your connectability.

3. Improve your Google PageRank.

4. Enhance your search engine results.

5. Perform blind, "reverse," and company reference checks.

6. Increase the relevancy of your job search.

7. Make your interview go smoother.

8. Gauge the health of a company.

9. Gauge the health of an industry.

10. Track startups.

11. Ask for advice.

12. Integrate into a new job.

13. Scope out the competition, customers, partners, etc.

I strongly recommend viewing the full list.

I think where it's most useful, especially as someone at the start of their working career, is to leverage the personal and professional relationships that you already have.  Here's a helpful list of things you can do...

• Immediately after signing up, examine your privacy settings.  Do you want people to be able to browse your contacts?  Anyone?  Or just people with whom you're linked?  Do you want your profile to be indexed by search engines?  Do you want people to be able to contact you?
• Make sure all of your active alternative emails (work, school, personal, etc.) are listed.  By doing this, if you are in someone's email address via a different provider, they can still link to you.
• Take your resumé, and cut and paste or transcribe your entries into LinkedIn.  If someone is looking for a place that you interned, they will show up in the results.  If someone searches for your college, major, or academic department, then those too will appear.  More data equals a more complete picture of you as a professional (and balance that by your concerns for privacy).
• Once you've built your profile, it's time to connect to people.  Go to your email client of choice, prune your address book of incorrect, useless, or obsolete contacts, and export your address book, preferably in a format that LinkedIn can recognize (ie. Microsoft Outlook).  Instructions for how to do this for the popular webapps and software applications can be found here - Comcast, Outlook, Outlook Express, and  Thunderbird, and Eudora.  You can then import that *.csv file here.
• If you prefer to use Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail for your email, just go here.
• You will most likely find a couple of your existing contacts have already joined - invite some others.  (Think carefully of who to invite - and whether or not they'll be receptive).  It's usually a good idea to explain to them the usefullness of LinkedIn, and too also detail how you may be using their shared information.  It's bad form to start contacting your friends' contacts to sell them office supplies or timeshares.  If you are truely concerned that some of your associates may do such a thing, you can also restrict whether your contacts are browsable.  It's also a good idea to NOT use the standard boilerplate invitation message - come up with something persona, something that will resonate with your invitee.
• If you happen to be a blogger and not concerned with the real you and online you being linked, you can use this "Linkedinabox" widget to embed your profile online.
• On an intermittent basis, you should export your addressbook.  You can then import it into your favorite internet mail application or on your desktop to Thunderbird, Outlook, or Outlook Express.

As anyone who has been job-hunting can attest, the absolute most useful aspect of sites like LinkedIn is the interpersonal connections - you are who you know.  The population is currently very "techy", but as it grows, it will become more and more diverse.  LinkedIn may also work best if you totally ignore  the conventional wisdom regarding social networking - the more information, the better. 

Once your done, you can tweak your profile - Guy Kawasaki (again) has a post about giving your LinkedIn profile an "Extreme Makeover" to make it more relavent.

Feel free to chime in with your tips in the comments...