A Useful Book for Networkers: "I'm On LinkedIn - Now What?" By Jason Alba

Recently Jason Alba, CEO of Jibber Jobber, wrote a book for users of the online networking site LinkedIn called "I'm On LinkedIn - Now What?". LinkedIn is a site that I recommend to all of my clients because it's a great way to get a birds-eye view on your professional network and see who knows whom and who works for what company. For a job seeker that kind of information can be invaluable. LinkedIn can also be a great way to find former classmates or co-workers with whom you have lost touch. I like to use it for research when I need to find a recruiter with a specific specialty or in a certain geographic location who can help one of my clients.

I found Jason's book to be a useful and comprehensive guide to getting the most out of LinkedIn. If you choose to sit down and read the book from cover to cover it will probably take you an hour. If you want to use it as a handy reference guide as you set up or modify your LinkedIn account it is organized so that it's easy to find everything you could possibly want to know about LinkedIn.

Jason starts with the basics by defining what LinkedIn is and what it is not which is important for folks who may have expectations that LinkedIn behave like MySpace or Facebook. Then he walks readers through tangible suggestions for setting up a profile that will be useful and searchable to recruiters, potential employers, colleagues, and old friends. He clearly and articulately explains all of the account options and settings and makes suggestions for connecting with others.

Part 2 of the book delves into more details about how to really make LinkedIn deliver the results that you want. Since each user has different needs and expectations from LinkedIn, Jason addresses and offers good suggestions for issues including: Basic Searches, Understanding Degrees of Separation, Recommendations, Jobs & Hiring, Services, LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers. I was impressed with the level of detail and the clarity of his explanations.

If you are a novice LinkedIn user this book is an essential guide and is $20 well spent (only $12 if you buy the ebook). If you are an advanced user of LinkedIn the book will offer you some interesting and useful information particularly on some of the more advanced features on LinkedIn. I learned a few new things when I was reading the book including some of the terms and conditions for using LinkedIn that I hadn't known before.

If you are interested in purchasing the book go to: Happy About Books