As a member of that over-45 group, I can understand the "newness" of something like LinkedIn, but we baby boomers have been creating and adopting new technologies for a long time. Granted, there are a number of social media sites out there that are better suited for a junior high school slumber party than as a business tool, but LinkedIn is not one of them. It is becoming more useful every day for networking, searching for employees, job hunting, business marketing, and staying on top of the thought leaders in your industry.
When I joined LinkedIn in 2004, there were fewer than half a million users. Today there are over 40 million. Like any good idea, there are people trying to pervert it for their own goals. And like anything else on the Internet, you need to use your judgement to protect yourself and your company. However, as a business tool, LinkedIn has substantial value. You should be using it. Certainly your competitors are. Being a baby boomer executive is not a reason to fear LinkedIn, but rather a reason to adopt this "new" business tool as you have with all the other innovations that proceeded it.
Thank you for bringing this issue to light further, John.
I certainly agree that many of us over 45 have embraced new technologies and thrive among them. I’m a case in point.
I applaud you for being an early LinkedIn adopter. You clearly have a handle on the value of LinkedIn and how to leverage it.
My clients and potential clients can learn a lesson and perhaps be comforted by your example.
To be clear, I didn’t make the general statement, as you note, that “most baby boom executives are unfamiliar with and afraid to use LinkedIn and other social media tools.”
I said “Many (not most) top-level executives over 45 have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the new digital world of job search.” And that “when many (not most) of my clients first come to me, they have never even heard of LinkedIn.”
The purpose of my post was to make my blog readers, mostly boomers, aware of how essential a strong presence on LinkedIn is in executive job search.
My intention was to assure them that they’re not alone in being resistant and fearful of the “new ways” of job search. I certainly didn’t mean to make a sweeping generalization that my generation isn’t new technology savvy. That’s not the case.
-Meg Guiseppi
C-level/Senior-level Executive Branding and Job Search Strategist
Meg,
Thanks for the correction. I have edited my blog entry to reflect your point that it is a problem for many, not most.
At least we agree that readers of both our blogs need to be, as you put it, “aware of how essential a strong presence on LinkedIn is in executive job search”
Your observation is indeed very surprising. Social networking will soon become the most effective way of building your professional career and creating a personal brand. However, these baby boomers will have to invest time in learning the effectiveness of these sites and ways to use them properly.
By the way, I am new to LinkedIn and have found this resource quite useful. It is a new book called “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” by networking expert Jan Vermeiren.
As a Retained Executive Recruiter, I use LinkedIn extensively to network and develop relationships with executive candidates (mostly baby-boomers). I am shocked daily by the lack of knowledge of executives in using LinkedIn. I see a strong parallel to the research done on Twitter. Many people have created an account on LinkedIn and then do nothing with it – no profile, no contacts, no proactivity around using the wealth of tools to build their network/personal brand.
Then, the executive candidate loses their job and laments the fact that it takes so long (6 months-1 year) to find a new job. Many executives fail to understand that networking (on-line or off-line) is a career-enhancing and life-long adventure. LinkedIn only provides a vehicle to leverage classic networking.
Perhaps, the issue is not about LinkedIn, but rather a lack of knowledge regarding networking in general. Most executives are impatient and frustrated by networking since they do not see the immediate payback.
Interesting discussion. In my travels in the social media world, I find baby boomers who have become totally engaged with the new tools, while there have been others who have been overwhelmed and needed support to take their first steps. To help the latter group, I wrote an article for the summer issue of the career publication, contactpoint.ca. (What Baby Boomers Need to Know about Social Media to Make it in Today’s Marketplace http://bit.ly/4toGK).
It was two baby boomers who were my impetus to begin the steep learning curve climb myself!
Cheers,
Anne
I think LinkedIn is a great network to get contacts and new business, asking and solving questions is a profitable way to learn new things.