Online Trolling Can Enhance Networking
By Jonathan Wegner, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Dec. 27–When Angie Lauritsen wanted to apply for an opening at Ameritrade, neither she nor husband Jason could come up with the name of someone who worked there.
Considering the investment firm employs about 1,200 workers in Omaha, Jason was incredulous that they didn’t know anyone at the firm, especially since he regularly attends networking events around the city.
But then the 30-year-old director of talent acquisition for Omnium Worldwide Inc. remembered he is linked to about 237,000 people through the online networking site, LinkedIn.com.
Networking is supposed to help you connect with people at other companies, but for a growing number of workers, more networking happens online rather than over martinis. Sites such as LinkedIn.com, Facebook.com, Spoke.com, and Friendster.com all foster networks that let members multiply their connections exponentially. Most are free and claim to have millions of members. Some cultivate a professional atmosphere, others a more social environment.
Konstantin Guericke, co-founder of LinkedIn.com, said his site differs from other networking communities in its business emphasis and more conservative approach.
“(A lot of the other sites) never got traction on the business side,” he said. “Categories like political affiliation, sexual preference — they turn off the business side of things.”
Guericke said members typically use the site to find sales prospects and recruit workers. Job seekers can cross-reference on-line job listings with their network to see if they have connections with anybody at the hiring firm.
Such sites allow participants to request introductions to their friends’ contacts, or in other words, to expand their network by a couple of degrees of separation. Lauritsen, for example, didn’t know anybody who worked at Ameritrade, but one of his contacts did, so he was able to ask for an introduction.
Roger Hays, senior vice president at Omaha’s Career Design Inc./OI Partners, said such services complement traditional networking strategies — lunches, letters and gatherings — that he counsels job seekers to use.
“It’s not surprising these things are taking off,” Hays said. “The more people you know, the more likely you’re going to run across an opportunity. That’s really the point of networking: trying to identify things that are not publicly available.”
Hays advises workers to use such sites to enhance traditional networking strategies, not to replace them.
“You’re going to have to talk to somebody. (The sites) help you identify people, but you can’t do it all just through e-mail. At some point, you need to make a real connection.”
All this virtual connecting has a dark side, too. Online networks pool information that allows people to connect via e-mail, but as such e-mails become more common, they can amount to unwanted solicitations.
“There’s a lot of people who say, ‘Did you mean to send this to me? Is it a virus thing, or am I going to get spam?’” Lauritsen said.
Unlike traditional, face-to-face networking, nobody ever gets a disdainful glare or feels awkward approaching a group over e-mail.
That’s part of what makes these sites so attractive to younger job seekers, particularly recent college grads, said Jim Bretl, director of Creighton University’s Career Center.
“A lot of us are more comfortable writing e-mails to people we don’t know than we are picking up the phone and calling them,” Bretl said. “We’re more likely to get a response as well. People are really busy. It’s a safe way for both sides to communicate.”
Just because access is easier doesn’t mean your communication can be any less formal, Bretl said. He said job seekers can hamstring their chances of landing an interview if they fail to maintain an appropriate degree of professionalism in their e-mails.
“That’s one of the downsides of the Internet,” Bretl said. “People are so casual when they communicate.”
That casualness often finds its way onto the networking sites as well, he said. On sites such as Facebook and Friendster, which foster both social and professional connections, members often include personal information — their nightlife habits and morning hangover regimens, for example — that prospective employers may not want coming into their offices.
“That can come back to bite you,” Bretl said. “I’ve talked to a couple of recruiters who are (looking at) that.”
Despite the potential pitfalls, however, human resource professionals think the sites are a boon for job seekers and recruiters alike, said Bill Swanson director of career exploration and outreach for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
“The bottom line is, these things are going to be useful tools,” he said, “but there are relationships that need to be built and other steps in the (networking) process to consider.”
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