Let me state upfront that I'm referring to an article I read at www.livemint.com. This I believe is a venture by Hindustan Times. So here goes: I'm assuming that everyone I know has heard of or currently uses LinkedIn. This is a "Professional Networking Website". This ideally works similar to any "Social Networking Website" like Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, etc. You can open an account at LinkedIn for free. It's like having an online Resume. In addition, you can also find people you know from schools, colleges, workplace, etc. The popularity of this site lies in it's effectiveness to grow your network (Connections). For example, if I'm looking for a job at Google and want to stay updated about openings, I'll try and find if I know someone there already. If I don't, I'll try and look for people I know, who may in turn know someone at Google. This is one of the great many things that LinkedIn helps us with, find connections. Recruiters can use this for finiding the right people, job seekers can use it for looking for new opportunities, consultants can look for projects, and anything and everything to do with an online professional marketplace.
This online company has grown exponentially since its recent inception. So much so that with simply a staff of about 300 people worldwide, it is already expecting a revenue of approx. $70 - 100 mn in FY 2008. It currently has a user base of 25 mn executives/students/entrepreneurs, etc.
LinkedIn is now planning to expand it's reach in India for which it's scouting for partners. My assumption is that it's looking for marketing/advertising agencies who could effectively market the company and increase it's awareness among the Indian working community. However, I'm still quite unclear about what exactly would LinkedIn want an Indian "partner" for? As far as I know, all the content on LinkedIn is user contributed, right from the company profile that he/she works for, to the details of the employment. I wanted to ask this question to everyone who visit my blog, and hence this post here.
Although I personally feel LinkedIn is a great place to have a presence in, both for executives and marketers alike, but my enthusiasm doesn't seem to be shared by many. I have often come across people who are blissfully unaware of the concept of Professional Networking. More so, many don't find it relevant, or worth spending time on. Imagine the possibilities of not having to cold call candidates, not having to scourge through millions of google search hits to search for a candidates background check, not having to call different people for recommendations. I could go on citing many such wonderful things that LinkedIn can do for us. Alright, am I sounding too promotional for LinkedIn, I guess so. So, here's where I stop and let you take the call yourself. Check it out at www.linkedin.com
By the way, if there's anything you want to know more about professional/social networking, user contributed content, etc. do feel free to ask me. Not that I'm any expert on the matter, but I may know some things that others may not. Hope this post helped.
1 comment:
You write very well.
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