This “Ask A Progeek” question is about something obvious. Of course it’s not something that’s obvious, but something that’s about the obvious.
So what’s our question?
If you’re looking for a job, is it a faux pas to say so on Linked-In? If not, what’s the best way to do so?
So let’s look at the obviousness of this question:
If you need to hide the fact you’re looking for work, it’s obvious that you hide it (or at least dissociate the public search from your public identity). That’s a given.
If you are looking for work and don’t need to hide it, it’s obvious that you have to make it as public as possible. The more people know you’re looking the more they can help. The more people that know you’re available, the more people can employ you.
If you’re on LinkedIn it’s obvious your career and employment are important to you. So it’s kind of assumed by most people there that at any point someone may be looking. It won’t appear tasteless or to anyone on there.
With the internet available to you, from Twitter to web pages to LinkedIn, it’s also obvious there’s a lot of ways to broadcast your job search. So go use them.
There’s no reason not to use LinkedIn (or anything else) that you’re looking for work – as long as you don’t mind making it public.
For you, my pro geeks, here’s a few ways to broadcast yourself, obvious or not:
- Put it on LinkedIn
- Announce it on Twitter – with regular (but not overdone) updates.
- Announce it on Facebook – and chronicle your job search (again without overdoing it)
- Start a tumblr to track your job search and make it interactive.
- Chart your results and experiences on your blog.
- Put it on your web page.
- Form an online group or join one for a job search (pro tip: make sure any job search group contains people who have work and are helping).
- Use your related skills to chart your job search and announce it – art, web design, writing, etc.
Go on, make your search obvious – if it’s obviously safe.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.