After my 37-year career in corporate America ended one morning in June (thanks, Bain & Company), I went from having tens of thousands of colleagues to having zero colleagues in a matter of minutes. Whether through layoff, job change, or retirement, that sort of wrenching transition isn't at all helpful, since our colleagues are often the folks with whom we spend the most time, especially as our employers expect us to put in longer and longer days at work.
My layoff also severed me from my customers, my vendor and supplier contacts, my fellow collaborators from other organizations, my subcontracting partners and many other folks who were part of my circle of contacts. I didn't have too much time to dwell on that, as I launched my own company to enable me to continue serving some of my previous customers. However, now that that's up and running, I've been reflecting on the many people I've met in the course of my corporate life.
I've finally relented and set up a profile on LinkedIn. Many of my colleagues were already on LinkedIn, in large part because of the layoffs that constantly loomed over us as Bain & Company advised our management team how many more people needed to be tossed into the volcano every quarter. Through LinkedIn, they'd be easily accessible to the "headhunters" who scavenged our industry for the easy pickings, and they'd be able to keep in touch with their contacts if (or really "when") they lost their job.
As someone who has avoided all forms of social networking, even my sister-in-law's pushy request that I join Facebook if I wanted to get updates on my nieces and nephew, I was very cautious about what I wanted to share on LinkedIn. I wanted my profile to reflect my experience, my professionalism, and my standing in the business community. Here's how I went about it.
Begin by lurking and studying
Before building my profile or connecting with anyone, I studied the profiles of people I knew to see how they'd gone about it. Some were very professional, some quite sloppy, with multiple typos and inept writing. Some people had ""500+ connections", including their kid's soccer coach, their massage therapist, or their dog groomer. Some only had connections from their own workplace. Some had studio portraits as their profile picture, some had snapshots of themselves sailing, hiking, or playing with their kids. Some people listed LinkedIn groups related to their profession; other listed LinkedIn groups of college alumni and former workplace alumni.
Craft a compelling profile
A "complete" profile on LinkedIn includes a photo, a summary, your professional experience, your education, your "skills and expertise", and your "groups and associations". I worked hard to craft a profile that would impress my prospective clients. I focused mainly on my newly launched company and an overview of my past achievements. I gave no details at all on all my corporate jobs: just dates of employment and titles. I didn't want anything to detract from the focus on my new company. I chose a photo that was flattering, not formal. I signed up for LinkedIn groups directly related to my company's technical specialties. In short, everything I included was tailored to the clients I wanted to attract to my business. I viewed the "summary" as an "elevator speech" on why a client should hire me. Brief, smartly worded, compelling. If other people like it, fine, but they are not the target audience.
Build your "connections"
Back in the day, I had 700+ people in my Outlook contacts, but many of those were not going to make the journey with me to LinkedIn. One scary "feature" of LinkedIn is the ability to import your contacts from an account like gmail or yahoo. All you have to do is give over your user name and your password to make this magically happen. What could possibly go wrong?!! Some stranger now has access to all your e-mails, including the ones from your bank, your credit card companies, retailers you do business with, your doctors and insurance companies, the web sites you frequent, your friends and family. No thanks.
There are smarter and safer ways to build your LinkedIn connections, such as searching on LinkedIn for the people you want to add. One thing that used to annoy me was getting invitations to "join my network" from all sorts of people when I wasn't already on LinkedIn. Finding your contacts on LinkedIn ensures that they're already in the system.
Only add connections that will add value to your profile
Since launching my profile last month, I've added about 150 connections. Most are people I invited, some invited me. I focused first on adding former clients and prospects, most of whom have accepted my invitation and now grace my profile as subliminal evidence to other prospects that I might be worth contacting if I have such high-ranking folks from major corporations in my circle of connections.
Then I added top-notch technical colleagues I've worked with, primarily those who - like me - were laid off and have launched their own companies or gone to work for competitors of our former firm. This telegraphs to potential clients that (1) I'm well connected with people they may know and respect in the industry and (2) that my former employer is jettisoning these good people. My small psy-ops revenge.
I also invited people other than clients who were integral to my professional success: attorneys, subcontractors and subconsultants, experts in academia and industry, and people I've worked with in industry organizations. Again: consider the optics. What will impress the people you want to impress next?
Grow your connections... carefully
One great way to find more people you know is to scroll through the connections of the people you've invited to connect with you. LinkedIn is always offering you suggestions of people you might now, and it's amazing how many you actually do know. That's not to say you should add them to your connections, but it's interesting to see that that witless young kid you used to work with is now a VP someplace. I've ignored the invitations from headhunters, technology vendors, people whose professional reputation was less than sterling. Try to keep your profile as classy as possible.
Join some LinkedIn Groups
I've applied to join about a dozen LinkedIn groups. There are groups for just about any professional interest or affiliation you can imagine. Some groups have thousands of members; some are small and eclectic. I selected about a dozen groups aligned with my technical expertise and my business mission. Here again, my aim is to demonstrate to clients that I am keeping up with technical developments in my field and availing myself of the collective expertise of the community.
Tailor your LinkedIn settings
You can determine who gets to see your connections and your contact information and how people may contact you. LinkedIn does a good job with this, and you should spend the time to tailor your settings to your business objectives and your comfort level. For a control freak like me, it was reassuring to be able to have some say about my scary new life in the world of LinkedIn. So far, so good!