The unfortunate thing I have started to see with this economy is good friends getting laid off and having to look for a job during a recession. I wanted to take this opportunity and offer some advice on online networking and using the internet to make you far more marketable than you might be today. The problem is that those who lose their jobs are often completely unprepared to search for a job. They haven’t updated their resumes in years or done much if anything toward networking. I was guilty of the same thing a few short years ago.
Today, if you Google Clay C. Scroggin, you will see that Google lists 8,700 websites. I am certain all those aren’t all me but a large number of them are. Google Clay C. Scroggin and CompareHRIS.com together and there are 654 sites containing my information. I am a member of over 25 different and unique HR and Payroll groups on LinkedIn.com. If you receive updates on any of those discussions, I am certain you have seen my name or CompareHRIS.com. Due to my online exposure, I was interviewed by HR Magazine late last year regarding Open Source HRIS software. It’s important to note that all of this exposure online was created in about one year. It did not happen overnight but it did happen fairly quickly.
There are two important lessons I have learned with CompareHRIS.com. The internet provides a tremendous networking opportunity and it provides a platform for establishing yourself as an online subject matter expert. In trying to drive traffic to CompareHRIS.com from those who are searching for HR Information Systems, Payroll software and HRMS software systems, I also ended up making myself a sort of online expert on HR software systems. This is, of course, what the advice in this article is based on. It won’t happen overnight. If you lose your job today, it’s unlikely you will gain the value of what I will lay out in this article within six months or even a year. So, it’s important to use online networking tools to establish your online expertise over time while you have a job.
LinkedIn.com
I have been self employed for over ten years now. My networking contacts have been limited to other small business owners and to my clients. Not nearly the number of connections I might have had if I had worked directly for several large HRIS HRMS software companies during that same time frame. Ten years ago I worked for Sage Abra. Over ten years of self employment, I lost contact with most of the people I worked with back then. As I started link building for CompareHRIS.com, I set up accounts on a number of social networking sites, including LinkedIn.com. The original goal was only to get links to the site. Google, and the rest of the search engines, sees links as votes for a site and thus, moves those sites higher in the search rankings.
Through LinkedIn.com, I have now managed to re-connect with a large number of the people I worked with at Abra. This talented group of individuals, over ten years, spread all over the HR solutions industry. One guy is a VP with ADP, another is a VP with Microsoft, another may be working on a project with me in the near future, and others are employed by a dozen or more different HR software and non-HR software companies. I am not expecting to have to look for a job but if I had to do so, I am in a far better position today than I was a year and a half ago.
I highly recommend setting up a LinkedIn.com account and connecting with as many of your ex-coworkers as possible. Once you have setup your account, you can search based on company. Then request connections. As you connect to those individuals, you will see who their connections are and you may find additional names you had forgotten. That was certainly the case for me. In no time at all, you should be able to establish an online professional network. LinkedIn.com’s groups can also be tremendously beneficial for meeting others in your industry that may have worked for your competitors or clients. As you can tell, I’m a big fan of LinkedIn.com.
The others….
I did not mention Facebook.com because, in my opinion, it is better suited to contacting friends or previous classmates than as an effective professional networking tool. I did not mention Twitter.com because I am still figuring out if the site is a professional marketing and networking tool. I will likely include a future article on Twitter.com. It’s certainly the latest hot site for social networking. After I jump on the band wagon, I will let everyone know what I have learned.
Once on LinkedIn.com, search for Clay Scroggin, CompareHRIS.com and you will see my profile, my groups and my contacts. Make sure to also sign up to join our group, CompareHRIS.com HRIS/HRMS Research Center.
Have fun and email me if you have any questions.
