LinkedIn
 

So, LinkedIn seems to be a good system for getting your claws into Canada. I started putting my profile together a few days ago and I've already been approached by one company asking if I'm interested in discussing a position there!

Thanks for the tip to use it, I'm not sure who originally suggested it but the early signs are (from me at least), that it could definitely be a useful tool.

Get on LinkedIn! :thumbup:

Re: LinkedIn
 

It is an excellent tool I agree, although some months ago when I started a thread to discuss it, it got largely pooh poohed by some of our illustrious regulars.;) I've had job approaches through it too. Although none in the province that I want to live in.;)

Re: LinkedIn
 

I agree, linkything is fantastic. Im not on it but, i have stalked many who are.

Please for the sake of my children, you should all ask everyone you know to put all their info, job tel number ect on the internet and make my life so much easier.

Re: LinkedIn
 

yeah, linkedin is good for contacts and groups. I found it really useful

Re: LinkedIn
 

Hi. The only problem i have with Linkedin is selecting which groups to join. Can anyone help??

H

Re: LinkedIn
 

A friend of mine who lives in Tenerife swears by it, says it's great :)

Re: LinkedIn
 

Guess it depends on your skillset. I joined groups that were specific to my trade. I also looked at companies that might me interested in my skills and followed them

Re: LinkedIn
 

I agree

Re: LinkedIn
 

Thanks Pendonk

I have joined many groups and I'am following a few companies, so i guess its just a waiting game?

Re: LinkedIn
 

It pays to make contact with people on the groups. If some guy is a director or manager in a company you might fancy, it's worth asking them direct if they have any work going or if they can give you the details of an agent who provides his company with manpower. I did it a few times and was asked to send off a CV.

Re: LinkedIn
 

I am on LinkedIn and I find it good to keep connected to people I have worked with.

I am part of a careers and networking group here in Ottawa who meet every two weeks. I have just set up a LinkedIn group for the group so we can chat between meetings.

JB

Re: LinkedIn
 

Thanks for the tip.

Should be obvious really, but I never thought of using Linked in. Just searched for some Calgary groups in my sector and found I even have some second level connections in some of them.

Not jumping in yet though. When looking for work your approach has to be coordinated and planned (even more so when looking in another country), and there is so much to prepare.

Regards

Chris

Re: LinkedIn
 

I agree Chris, I've been on LinkedIn for a little while and know who I want to connect with but I've got some work to do on my resume and my profile before I jump in with both feet.

Chris

Re: LinkedIn
 

Agreed. I'm an industrial market researcher. Getting info out of companies can be a nightmare. Even getting to talk with a warm body can be a nightmare.

People sufficiently disgruntled to post their disgruntledness are a bit of a gift.

Re: LinkedIn
 

Hi,

Just wanted to add that LinkedIn is really what you make of it. You can lurk on it and probably learn a bit, but it is all about making connections.

An example of really using it came to me lately. I met a guy, Michael, via LinkedIn. Mike is running an interior decorating company had just joined and was making a few connections via the network. At that time he only had 20 or 30 people in his network but he sent out messages to them. We decided to meet him face to face, and subsequently introduced Mike to a couple on a reccie trip since one was a plumber and the wife an interior designer. Mike was helpful.

That was a couple of weeks ago and now I notice that Mike's connections on LinkedIn are over 500. He is a Brit but has overcome his British reserve and is networking like the Canadians do.

Warmly,

Frank

Re: LinkedIn
 

Who you calling illustrious?

I have changed my opinion of the usefulness of it based on what people say here. I haven't joined though, mainly because secretly I still think it's for twats.

Re: LinkedIn
 

Only problem with it, as my OH has found out, is that when you're current place of employment are still unaware of your intentions to emigrate, how do you put yourself out there on LinkedIn when your colleagues are on it too? He tried putting out a post to his Canadian groups prospecting for work and horror of horrors it came up on the home page of a friend he is also linked to (but was not in any of the Canadian groups). It was therefore safe to assume that it came up on everybody else's home pages so he quickly deleted all of his posts and disconnected colleagues he did not want to read them. He then wrote a complaint to LinkedIn who, by the way, had previously assured him this would not happen. They say they can't investigate it because he's disconnected the connections.

NASTY.......

Re: LinkedIn
 

Alan, ouch!

I joined at the urging of my recruitment consultant when I was laid off. I haven't had a job out of it yet, but 2 consultants have approached me with job opportunities - real ones. IT's come in handy lately because current job is exhausting and I'm also studying part time, so I don't have the energy to really put into job searching. It's good for lazy people like me.

Re: LinkedIn
 

If the cap fits.....


Some care is needed in who you add your network and how you use it. In my previous employment I didn't have any colleagues or my boss as connections. I did pursue those connections that might be useful for future job hunting. I also use it to keep connected to former colleagues and friends back home. Those connections might come in handy one day!;)

Re: LinkedIn
 

I agree with Atlantic - I don't have any of my current coworkers or managers as connections on LInkedin. Esp as my profile shows I am looking for another job ;) It does show where I currently work, though.

Re: LinkedIn
 

If you go to the settings page, you can turn off the broadcast of your actions. That way you can join groups, comment in discussions, and update your profile without it coming up in the feed of anyone your connected to.

Of course if they browse your profile they may see you are joined to this group or that, but at least LinkedIn isn't broadcasting it.

Regards

Chris

Re: LinkedIn
 

I agree, Linked in has gained popularity here in Nova Scotia, Relocation Nova Scotia has a linked in group and there are many other groups to join if you are heading this way...you do need to ask for referrals and introductions and eventually testimonials .. If you are looking for work here put it on your profile how you intend to come whether you are looking for an employer to give you a work permit or whether you have a full visa.employers here in NS have not got the confidence to hire an "outsider" but when they see who you are connected with on line it goes a long way to making networking easier when you get here.
When i go to any event and network i collect the business cards of the people thati want to connect with then come back and usually find them on linked in to connect there. I have also gained lots of info from looking at their connections as to other members of the company that i might want to contact.

Re: LinkedIn
 

You can hide all that crap in your settings though.

You don't need to show which groups you belong to in your profile, you can set it so that current colleagues do not see posts you make etc.

Case of read the faq first.

Re: LinkedIn
 

He did all you suggested but it didn't work. He also asked linkedin about it but they couldn't check as he'd already deleted and disconnected as much as he could before being rumbled....

Re: LinkedIn
 

That's what he thought.....he did everything (I do mean everything) that he could do in settings to make sure he wasn't out there for all to see. Our point is that you need to be careful....he nearly died from shock because he'd already looked at faq's, actually checked with linkedin first and was told he was safe, checked ALL the settings and it still went wrong.

Re: LinkedIn
 

I'm moving to Ottawa in June and trying to figure out how the hell I network without being in Canada...or knowing anyone there Is membership open to your networking group? It would be a great start if I actually had people to network with in Ottawa :)

I joined linked and I'm trying to build up my network through there. I need to do a lot of work on my profile as well I think. Has anyone posted their profile in English and French do you think this is worthwhile to increase your prospects?

Re: LinkedIn
 

Your more than welcome to join our group, I'll PM with the details. We also have fortnightly meet ups (or should I say Bi-weekly to sound more Canadian)....its a mixed group of all ages and 75% are Canadians. I take it you are coming over on a PR visa?

Depending on your occupation, there may be little need to post a profile in French.

What do you do?

Have you heard of Peter's New Jobs (PNJ)?

Cheers

JB0591

Re: LinkedIn
 

Thanks for the info - No I haven't heard of Peter's new jobs is it a web site? (will google now) I'm initaially coming over on a 1 year IEC visa but my husband is Canadian so I'll apply for PR as his spouse once we're there. We were intending to do that a few years down the line but got a bit impatient.

I have worked in the public sector for the last 10 years in Scotland and Brussels doing project, management, policy work, funding/accounting and a bit of events and web management too. Not really sure where this fits in on the Ottawa spectrum.

We decided on Ottawa as it has a big NGO and governments job base but not being a Canadian or a PR at the moment I doubt I'll be able to access the government jobs.

Re: LinkedIn
 

Im on linkedin too. I'm interested to find out how canadian people knew you were going over there...i take it you 'advertised' that on your profile. If not, how did you do it?

lns

Re: LinkedIn
 

I joined Linkedin before coming over last sept. My network has slowly started growing. BP are selling off most of their Canadian Business so I thought as I am here to start looking at what else is around.

I have upgraded my account to Business for the time being which is $24 a month. This allows me to send limited direct emails to people. This I have done with success in getting my resume to the right people. This is ongoing and the success of the contact made will/or not be evident in time

However I have been contacted several times asking if am interested in certain opportunities....but all have meant moving from where we are. People, especially recruiters can see your profile which is basically a resume and will contact you if you seem to fit the bill.

You never know until you give it a try and who knows what doors can be opened.

JET:)

Re: LinkedIn
 

I'm a big fan of LinkedIn - I like it.

I had one recent introduction that pissed me off though - I had been dealing with a C-level manager who referred me onto the CEO - I told the CEO i'd prefer to contact him via telephone or even meet with him... so he emails me a hundred questions which I gave him detailed responses to and then he drops off the face of the Earth...

If I take the time to reply to your queries, at least have the common courtesy to say, mate you're a chump we're not interested or something.

Re: LinkedIn
 

http://www.profusion.com/blog/wp-con...nd-Twitter.jpg

FYI

Re: LinkedIn
 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I thought I'd add a note to warn people:

When it was active one poster pointed out that linkedin failed to hide updates from people they were currently connected to (i.e. their current employer).

There are settings that can turn all updates off, so you can hide what your doing from your feed when making connections etc in Canada.

Anyway, went to join some Calgary groups last night, so before I did I locked down my feed so that no updates were broadcast, and even if they were, I set it so only I could see them. I then joined the groups I wanted.

10 minutes ago, someone came up to me at work and said "Moving to Calgary then?"

Checked the settings, and they were still locked down. Hmmm??? Went into the LinkedIn help centre, and after searching found the following at the bottom of the page about hiding activity:

"Note: Joining a group generates an update that cannot be prevented by turning your activity broadcasts on or off"

See here

Beware!

Regards

Chris

Re: LinkedIn
 

easy thing to do is dont have connections at the place you already work..simply because you dont need them as you work with them already..only add them after you have left.:thumbup:

Re: LinkedIn
 

If you use the "E" word in your profile while not being registered you might get a "cease and desist" letter.

Re: LinkedIn
 

Not sure I understand ("E" word?)
:confused:

Re: LinkedIn
 

Engineer - big brother is watching!