Linkedin - using "Groups" to connect

Once you set up your Linked in account and complete your  profile ,one of the best ways to begin to connect with others to get information about a field you are interested in is by joining "groups" in your chosen field of interest.

It has been estimated that using the "Groups"  feature  can double or even triple the amount of connections you can make every week in your job search.  LinkedIn is growing fast and is constantly improving the "groups"  feature to make them more accessible to anyone and participation in "groups" via Linkedin is growing in popularity. 

So how do you get started? 

Go into Linkedin and locate the "Groups" feature.  Begin to explore that tab.   A LinkedIn group is just like any social group you would join on the internet. If you are familiar with Facebook groups, they are pretty similar with LinkedIn groups. It's just a bunch of LinkedIn users who share the same interests, hobbies, or causes.

There are two common ways that you can get yourself involved with a group. You can either create a group or you can join one that's been created by another user. There's no limit as to how many groups you can join. No matter what industry you are in, there are likely dozens of groups for it on LinkedIn. Use Linkedin's built-in search functions to look for the groups that are relevant to your interests or field you want to pursue.

 In essence, what you are doing is what is recommended in the book :

Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0: How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap Into the Hidden Job Market using Social Media and 999 other Tactics Today [Paperback]

Jay Conrad Levinson (Author), David E. Perry (Author)

that can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Marketing-Job-Hunters-3-0/dp/1118019091/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345116832&sr=1-1&keywords=guerilla+job+hunting

For instance, let's say that you are interested in pursuing a job in the construction field.  You can log into your LinkedIn account and search for "groups" related to construction.  You can then join these groups and start connecting with people in the construction industry...reading about and even exchanging information with others directly that will help inform your job search.  This becomes an instant audience for you to begin to network and glean information to advance you job search.

The LinkedIn's "Groups" feature is a valuable tool for making connections. You should look into it to see if it would be a helpful resource to use in your job search.