Career Advice: Get a LinkedIn Account!

To this day, I still can not believe how difficult young financial professionals do not have a LinkedIn account. I think it is absolutely necessary. But let me first tell you why I think many still go without.

1. publicity shyness "I am a young professional and I do not know anything yet." I totally understand this one. When you think about the level of my ignorance when I first started in banking, first I blinked, and then I cringe. But it's so important to understand that anyone who is starting, whether they know it or not, at the same level. I know that many delegates in graduate programs have a tendency towards arrogance, but that was quickly replaced with a what-was-I-can-I-in mentality as soon as you hit the trading desk. Get your name out there to start. Then build your knowledge.
   
   
2. misplaced loyalty "My boss might think I'm trying to go." No, he will not. In the end, everyone is developing a reputation in the market. Want your own good. If you can not communicate what you do for a living, no one is divine. Speaking up is very important to your long term career prospects. Start early. You can fill in the blanks later. (I'm 37, I are update my profile almost a month ...)
   
   
3. The perceived irrelevance of geographic . "I'm from America and the West, so it does not matter to me" Yes, yes, and in a way that I can not imagine when you are 22 years. I have the honor of teaching the young delegates from around the world, and some of them think because they are from the 3rd World peoples, social networks are not for them. With the world - especially Western - Economy in slow motion car crash that is, before a lot of knowledge from large sites will be of paramount importance. Today the river will be tomorrow's flavor of the month (Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, etc.)

So what are your network is used for young professionals?

1. Finally, it is your online CV. In fact, I'd recommend you cut and paste version of MS Word in your CV on LinkedIn to start. Any and all information is searchable by keyword, so that people will come looking for you if you can be fit for their requirements.
   
   
2. you can separate your stuff from your Facebook LinkedIn thing. Facebook is personal. LinkedIn is a professional. You can completely control what is in your LinkedIn profile, unlike Facebook - and at the end of what future employers, colleagues and industry peers to see about you.
   
   
3. This is the ultimate hot spot for business contacts. If you're still writing the cover letter to HR professionals thinking (more like hope) one of them will see it and call you to talk, you are sadly mistaken. I'm with them all the time, and they already have too much to do. But better yet, someone who knows someone who might happen to your profile and try to connect with you. On LinkedIn, this may look like less than six degrees of separation.

If you're a young financial professional, take a deep breath and get out there. You probably have something to contribute, even if you can not see. But someone else can see first, if you let them.