Effective use of LinkedIn and Twitter

Thanks to a colleague’s question on Twitter asking tips that would help him to make best use of LinkedIn, that has prompted me to come up with this quick post on Effective Use of LinkedIn and Twitter.

We know, both LinkedIn and Twitter are two major portals on social media and helps us connect with the whole world. Its not just my colleague but would be several others, who may not exactly know, how these platforms can be used to the best possible extend. Here are some of the benefits that I could think of:

• Keep track of your profile. Trust me, I don’t yet have a resume. My LinkedIn profile is my resume.
• Connect with right set of people. I don’t accept the invitations unless the requester is related to my area of professional interest
• Participate in specific forums and discussions
• Get publicity to your events and find conferences that you would like to attend or present
• Get visibility to your presentations through apps like Slideshar
• If you are a job seeker, you can review the company’s profile
• You get to know the interviewer before you go for an interview. Yes, most companies send you the names of interview panel and I always understand the panel before I go; so that, we would know the interests and work history of the interviewer
• By looking at the twitter timeline of the interviewer, we can get to know the interests of the interviewer

Now, let me discuss a bit about how we can keep ourselves relevant on these platforms:

• Always keep the profile up-to-date; as we make change, a notification will be sent to the timelines of the users who connected with us. Also, by using right keywords and sufficient data, we will be easily searchable
• Participate in discussions; at least keep reading them through your inbox (LinkedIn sends a digest as per your choice).
• Follow fellow experts on Twitter
• Make sure you post relevant tweets

By the way, both LinkedIn and Twitter helped me in my career life. Hiring manager at Yahoo! Indiafound me on LinkedIn and offered me a position at Yahoo! and when, due to unfortunate circumstances, I lost my job at Yahoo!, a fellow accessibility expert on Twitter helped m e find my current job at PayPal

To conclude, to me, yet LinkedIn and Twitter are capable of playing an innovative role in our lives. Go guys!