Recap WITI Boston �" February 26, 2013 Event

"Elevate Your Social Pitch: Best of LinkedIn and Professional Photo Shoot"
By Emily Ubik

The flash of a camera could be seen as attendees arrived for the LinkedIn panel discussion and professional photo shoot event. Hosted by IBM at their Innovation Center in Waltham and sponsored by Covidien, a global healthcare products company that has their own Women's Technology Network, the evening began with beverages, appetizers and pictures. The photo shoot was courtesy of Wallwork Curry and McKenna (WCM), an innovative marketing agency in Boston and the sponsor of our beverages. The first speaker of the night was Steve McManama, VP and CIO of Covidien, who gave a presentation on the company and their mission. Next up, the panelists included Lora Kratchounova of Scratch Marketing and Media, Richard McKenna of WCM, and Alison Duncanson, of WITI Boston's own Leadership Team and Sponsorship Chair. The LinkedIn topic attracted a large crowd and is known as the world's largest business networking site.

Moderator Mary Ellen Sullivan, WITI Boston's Leadership Team University Alliance Chair and Director of Technology Learning and Knowledge Management at Liberty Mutual, started the conversation by asking how to find a new job without your company finding out. Richard recommended first and foremost: avoid the mistake of stating that you are job hunting on your LinkedIn profile. That, after all, is what everyone will read about you first, including the people you currently work for. Also, before you ask someone for a job on LinkedIn, you should identify groups that you want to be in, get to know those who are active in them, and then ask questions. You should expect to get out of the system what you put into it. Lora suggested studying the preferences and privacy settings as it is possible to customize pages and control who sees what.

The second question revolved around a New York Times article that listed three key points to focus on while you are using LinkedIn: your picture, keywords, and asking questions. Mary Ellen questioned, did they get it right? Alison answered by saying yes, they did. However, she added that spellcheck is your best friend. Spelling mistakes reflect poorly upon you and should be avoided at all costs. Also, she recommended taking time to fill out your profile with specific experiences, rather than general job titles.

The conversation continued as Richard introduced the topic of a premium account. Is it worth the extra money? He did advise buying it for the extra tools. For example, one can hide endorsements if someone endorses you for something you do not actually do. While on the topic of writing endorsements, he recommended the topic be something interesting or compelling, not something you would read in a profile. A premium account also enables you to see whose been tracking you from a business development role. It provides in-mail with a ninety-seven percent response rate and the ability to see someone's full profile, Alison added. Lora mentioned that the premium account is necessary for people who are using it for more than job seeking, such as people in sales.

Our panelists shared some of their tips to improving your usage of the site. If you are new to this networking tool, Lora recommended the book Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn: An Unofficial, Step-by-Step Guide by Neal Schaffer to help you get started. LinkedIn is part of your own personal brand, something you should build across everything you do. Alison mentioned the valuable feature of being able to search your connections' connections by keyword or even location. Once you figure out who you would like to contact, all you have to do is ask your connections to introduce you. Richard said that he believed LinkedIn is largely an under utilized tool and if used to its full extent can help you develop business relations all over the world.

The attendees learned just how powerful a business tool LinkedIn is for communication and networking. It is a research engine that allows you to find out about your competition, and about the people you are hiring. Mastering LinkedIn can lead to new opportunities and greater job satisfaction. As the discussion came to a close, two prize packages that included a WITI bag, book and mug were raffled off. Every attendee walked away with their own professional photo that they could use on their LinkedIn profile. After the event concluded, the high energy and laughter continued and a crowd remained to resume networking and sharing experiences.

About Our Guest Author:
Emily Ubik is a sophomore at Boston University pursuing a double major in electrical engineering and archaeology. She comes to Boston from the Midwest and was interested in getting to know women in business and making connections. She came across Women in Technology through her father, when he mentioned that WITI was trying to become more involved with universities. She is now an active member of the local network and will be writing many more articles this year.

About Women in Technology Boston:
The Boston affiliation of Women in Technology International offers multiple events throughout the year in metro Boston and downtown. Our focus is to provide ways in which women of all ages, skill sets and backgrounds connect with other women both locally and globally to advance their careers and improve the leadership development skills. The Boston leadership team formed in April 2012 and delivered eight (8) meetings that year. For 2013 fun events and relative leadership development content will be provided for members and non-members alike. To learn more and see what's up next visit www.witi.com/boston

Photos taken by Emily Ubik and Erin Harris

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.