Friday, May 11, 2007

5 million chances to network

Carl Chapman wants you to join his LinkedIn network.

The founder and main blogger at "Confessions of an Executive Restaurant Recruiter" has issued an open invitation to connect with him on LinkedIn.

It's an amazing opportunity, as he has close to 5 million people in his network. Joining his network will put you two degrees away from an untold number of recruiters and the positions they're looking to fill.

What I find interesting is not what Chapman is doing -- it's why. His reasoning speaks to why LinkedIn can be a powerful tool in your career arsenal.

"Connecting isn’t really about what you can do for me; in fact it isn’t about what I can do for you," Chapman wrote in his blog. "No, connecting is more about what we can all do for each other."

Chapman references a blog article by recruiter Shally Steckerl, about the benefits of building a deep network on LinkedIn. According to Steckerl, becoming a promiscuous linker will increase the value of your network for your first-degree contacts and help you make closer connections with your first-degree contacts.

There's a lot that I don't know about LinkedIn and how to use it to the fullest, and I'm hoping that access to Chapman's network will help me learn. His network can do the same for you. Making closer connections with your first-degree contacts will help you find the hidden job market, and joining Chapman's network might be one of the fastest ways to tap into the power of LinkedIn.

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