Thing 15: LinkedIn, HookedUp, ReeledIn...?

So now to a network that I hadn't even heard of prior to Cam23 2.0: LinkedIn. I hope I may be forgiven such ignorance on the basis that my traineeship is my first real excursion into the professional world, but to be honest, I only joined to be able to view the profile of someone who presented at our trainee visit to Cambridge University Press, and without Cam23, I probably wouldn't have signed up at all.

I've heard from many angles, not least the eponymous Phil Bradley and my lurking visits to the CPD23 programme, that your online presence is crucial. I think this also holds true in my career-field-to-be, academia, although there are more specific networks like academia.edu which may be more appropriate. Either way, LinkedIn is a good place to start, and making THIS Rebecca Woods (as opposed to thousands of others that share my name*) more visible in a professional light can't be a bad thing.

I found the profile easy enough to set up, and I like the simple, CV-esque layout. Despite this traditional feel though, I also like the ability to show a little bit of personality, either through a photo (still haven't got round to finding a suitable one, I think the mortarboard is a little old now!) or through a short tag-line, which I have made use of. I've come up with a few connections already, though some of them were accidentally added from my Gmail accounts list! And I haven't really had the cojones to "connect with" people I have less face-to-face contact with, with the result that the connections are the same ones that I cultivate on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc. etc. Not really the point, of course, but I'm still a fledgling link in the LinkedIn system!

So, that's all well and good. I am represented online! And this is where the apathy sets in... Apparently you can post messages to connected people, just like on every other social network. Apparently you can set statuses, just like...but the silent, screaming question is: why? Why, when there are so many other outlets, for both personal and professional use, would you use what is, in effect, a glorified CV publishing process? Of course, other business people out there may not have your contact details, but as you are urged not to connect with people you don't know, the suggestion is that you might at least have a Twitter contact for anyone that's likely to add you.

However, let's not get down on LinkedIn for having ambitions a little above its capabilities, and let's review the positives. It could be useful for viewing recent publications by contacts in similar fields, for example, or to look at how other careers have progressed, and of course there is always the possibility that a potential employer could fall upon your CV like the proverbial pot of gold. For me personally, however, I don't think that LinkedIn has quite the right audience and options for the ways in which I may want to advertise myself to the workplace in the future.

*Just for fun: this is my favourite fellow R. Woods - I wish I could do what she does!