The other day when I heard the unfortunate news that Matt@Life Without Pants had lost his job, my immediate thought was to think of how I could help him. The first thing that came to mind was to write a recommendation for him on Linkedin. Then I realized that your blog can provide a tremendous opportunity to enhance your Linkedin Profile.
In my conversation with Rich Dematteo, he mentioned numerous times how much he loves Linkedin and how employers will almost always go there first. The days of reference checks and all that crap are gone. It takes too long and people seem way too busy. But for some reason, if you ask people to write recommendations for you on Linkedin they seem more than willing.
Your blog and the other bloggers who you have guest posted for or collaborated with in any way provide you with a massive list of references you who will speak very highly about you. Let’s face it. If an employer sees that you have a Linkedin in Profile with 20+ recommendations that will definitely catch the attention of somebody. At the end of the day, these are testimonials about tangible work that you have done. Try it out and let me know what happens. Also, please give you support to Matt @Life Without Pants as he embarks on the journey to his next gig.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Definitely value in having recommendations on Linked In. However to say that day of reference checks is over is simply not true. I have provided three phone references for people seeking new employment in the last two months. It’s a good idea to continue to cultivate future reference sources long after you have previously worked somewhere. You never know when you will need one. LinkedIn is good but not a panacea.
@Marc: I think you have some valid points. One great thing you made me think of is that you can expand that network of recommendations from bloggers on Linkedin and turn them into phone references. So, yes I agree you should continually cultivate good references.
Thanks for the shout-out here my friend. I do value very much the recommendations of the people I work with. After every web development project is complete, I kindly ask my client if they would be so kind as to write me a brief and honest recommendation about our working relationship. Have to say it’s been great so far – I re-purpose them and put them on my portfolio site – gives other potential clients an opportunity to see what others are saying about me.
Matt Cheuvront´s last blog ..Workin On A Ramp | http://www.workinonaramp.com