Once a month, we set aside a Friday for employees to focus on investing in themselves and their community. It’s a day to spend time outside their daily task list and transform. Check out other InDay posts here. -Ed.

April’s InDay was themed around Earth Day. The Health and Safety Team signed on to spearhead the day’s events. Then one idea led to another and the one day celebration manifested itself into Earth Week!

Around the world activities included Toronto’s garbage clean up, EMEA’s photo contest, Chicago’s “Calling for Causes” to bring awareness for Goldie’s Place, and San Francisco’s planting day at The Presidio Native Plant Nursery.

We hosted a wide range of activities throughout our Mountain View campus including a Ride and Drive event featuring eco friendly vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt, Volkswagon Golf TDI, and Nissan Leaf. Our Green Market event was a collaboration of 15 local environmentally conscious companies offering their knowledge and services to our employees. Last but not least, an electronic recycling event where we collected 2 pallets of mixed electronics partnering with IT Renew.

Check out pictures taken at our offices on Earth Day across the globe

The final day of the week, InDay, was the most exciting with Earth Day focused volunteer opportunities in the community. Groups of employees helped the City of Mountain View clean a Burrowing Owl Mitigation area and assisted students in the planting of vegetables and flowers in their middle school garden. Our own Kim Kochaver, compost expert, hosted a LinkedIn Instructables workshop where employees brought in used products and turned them into a functional new products. Some examples included new uses for old jars, recycled t-shirts turned into more fashionable pieces, an indoor worm composter, and much more.

Overall I would have to say LinkedIn’s Earth Week and April inDay was a huge success. Everyone had a great time and walked away thinking about ways they themselves can make a difference and be more responsible when it comes to our planet.

Continued here: 
Earth Week: What will you do to help our Earth?

Our mobile platform is the fastest growing consumer service on LinkedIn. Last August, we completely revamped our iPhone, Android and Mobile Web products. Today, we added the newest member to our mobile family – LinkedIn for iPad.

The new experience re-imagines LinkedIn for the iPad, taking full advantage of Multi-touch and the new Retina display. We aspire to be the place where every professional comes throughout the day. A place where members come to gather important business intelligence and insights to be great at what they do.

With that, I’d like to introduce you to our new app: LinkedIn for iPad…

Experience LinkedIn like never before

The Linkedin iPad app was handcrafted to provide the most engaging experience for our iPad users by shining a spotlight on the essential information they need throughout the day.

We know that our members use their iPads heavily during the morning and evening hours.This “Coffee & Couch” behavior is so pronounced that we designed our new app to make every professional feel like they have their own personal assistant. Imagine having one place where you can get all the info you need about who you’re meeting with that day, trending and timely news that is impacting your industry, who’s changed jobs and what your coworkers are sharing, liking, and commenting on. We’ve pulled all this for you, all in one place.

More about this calendar thing

Professionals live by their smartphones and iPads to manage their day. In particular, they constantly turn to their calendar to see when, where and who they are meeting. To help you understand “who” you are meeting with, the LinkedIn iPad app can sync with your device calendar to incorporate rich Linkedin profile data about each attendee.

With the LinkedIn iPad app you are one tap away from learning about things you have in common with the people you are about to meet, like common connections, work experiences, and schools; probably helps to know what they look like as well. Now you’ll have something more important to talk about than the weather (of course, if you need a weather update, we’ve included that in the app as well).

We like our calendar feature so much we decided to also include it with our LinkedIn iPhone (iOS 5+ required) and Android apps. It’s there now, so check it out.

and if that wasn’t enough…

Your professional dashboard also contains all of the features you’ve come to enjoy on our mobile products – updates, news, groups, who’s viewed my profile, your LinkedIn profile, search, Inbox and much more. Besides the all-ubiquitous search box to help you find professionals on LinkedIn, our iPad app is broken down into three main areas:

1) All Updates: Get a snapshot of your professional updates, news, and information all in one place

2) You: Access your profile, connections and activity dashboard with a quick swipe

3) Inbox: Send and receive your LinkedIn invitations and messages in one place

You can also find us on the web

In addition to our iPad app, we are rolling out a new mobile web experience for the Safari browser on iPad. Try it here: tablet.linkedin.com.

What’s next?

Today, our new iPad app is available in English. The mobile team is working hard to bring localized experiences to you and we are always looking into new ways to enhance our mobile experience – wherever our members work.

Lot’s more to come. We look forward to hearing from you about our latest release. Let us know what you think by joining our Linkedin Mobile group.

Excerpt from:
Introducing LinkedIn for iPad

Ed note: LinkedIn today launched its newest office in Hong Kong. This is a post from Arvind Rajan, Managing Director and Vice President of APAC and Japan at LinkedIn.

I am told by our new colleagues that the number 9 bears auspicious meanings in Hong Kong which gives me double the pleasure to officially openLinkedIn’s newest international outpost – our 25^th office globally and our 9^th in Asia Pacific. Hong Kong’s skilled talent base and its reputation as a leading international center of finance and business make it an important market for us, and we’re thrilled to be expanding our footprint in the region at a time when professionals in Hong Kong are placing a growing emphasis on social media. We’re looking forward to learning more from our users and customers here, to better understand their needs and support them in enhancing their professional lives.

This is the latest development in our steady Asian expansion – there are already more than 25 million members in Asia Pacific and Japan, using LinkedIn to build their professional brands, grow their network of connections, and seek professional insights. We’re bullish about continued membership growth in the region, and to that end we’ve recently launched Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia and Korean language versions of LinkedIn.com, and opened offices in Japan and Singapore last year. It’s a reflection of our strong global growth – this year alone, we’ve also opened an office in Spain and launched Polish, Czech, and Dutch language versions.

To see how we’ve grown in Asia Pacific and some interesting facts about our presence in Hong Kong, check out this neat infographic that the team has put together.

Continued here: 
LinkedIn and Hong Kong: The Auspicious Number 9

Interested in finding a new job, switching careers, attracting more clients or building a stronger professional network? LinkedIn Groups is the place to be. Groups provides opportunities to meet and engage in discussions with members of your industry, your alumni community or other professional interest areas. Becoming active in LinkedIn Groups is like attending a professional conference every time you log on.

Here are five ways to get the most out of LinkedIn Groups.

1. Extend relationships with your in-person networks. The first groups to join are those you belong to offline. For instance, become a member of your university’s LinkedIn alumni group, any corporations where you’ve worked, any professional or trade associations you belong to and any non-profits where you volunteer.

Because you share a “real world” affinity with your fellow members, these are the environments where you’ll likely feel most comfortable seeking advice, connections or information. You might post a general career question, such as “Does anyone have advice on making the transition from consultant to full-time employee?” Or, you might search each group’s members for people in your desired industry to whom you can reach out and request an informational interview.

2. Be an industry insider. Next, join groups related to your industry (or the industry you want to join if you’re a recent grad or career changer). You’ll stay up to date on important industry issues, must-read articles and other hot topics.

To find the most valuable industry groups to join, be as specific as possible in your search criteria. For example, type in “social media marketing” rather than simply “marketing” if that’s your particular interest area. If your search comes back with lots of results, LinkedIn helps you filter by showing you which groups are “Very Active” (definitely where you want to be for the most potential opportunities) and which groups include members of your network (if people you admire belong to a particular group, that’s a great sign that you’ll find value there as well). Join as many industry groups as feel relevant to your interests — you can always drop out if the discussions aren’t valuable for you.

3. Lurk first. In any group, your best bet is to “lurk” first without commenting to get the lay of the land. Check out what topics receive the most comments. Look to the “Top Influencers This Week” area to see which members are driving conversation. Visit the “Manager’s Choice” discussions, where the group’s manager has elevated certain conversations that he or she feels are most important for members to view. You can also get a feel for the overall tone of each group’s discussions (Casual or buttoned-up? Highly technical? Globally or regionally focused?) before you contribute.

4. Demonstrate your expertise. After lurking for a little while, dive in! Discussions are a fantastic place to be visible and highlight your skills and expertise to a broad audience. You can answer a question, add your opinion to a discussion, share advice with someone seeking help, comment on a posted article or all of the above.

To make sure your contributions are having a real impact, craft them as if you were speaking on a public panel or writing a letter to the editor of a news outlet. If your comments are relevant and helpful, people will take notice by commenting back and / or “liking” what you say. Some fellow group members may even offer more than that. Recruiters and headhunters love to scan group discussions to discover talent, as do journalists seeking expert sources and conference planners seeking presenters.

5. Create one-on-one networking opportunities. In addition to engaging publicly in groups, you can also use group discussions to build or enhance one-on-one relationships. Let’s say you’re scanning discussions in an industry group and you come across a comment that’s strongly related to your interests or expertise. In addition to — or instead of — posting a comment publicly, you can take the opportunity to reach out directly to the person who posted the discussion.

You can do this by clicking on “Reply privately” next to the person’s comment and writing a message such as, “Dear Greg, Thanks for sharing your question about how to find a social media marketing job in the Denver area. I’m looking for a similar role, but in the Boston area. Perhaps we can chat sometime and compare notes?” To continue the live conference analogy, think of this strategy as having a side conversation while attending a large networking event. Your goal is not to directly ask for a job or client, but to network in a mutually beneficial way with someone who shares similar professional interests.

Finally, what can you do in a group if you don’t see any immediate opportunity to comment on a discussion, answer a question or reach out privately? Simply make it your goal to add value every time you visit each group (which should be a few times a week at least). You can add value by “liking” an interesting discussion, voting in a poll or perhaps forwarding a posted job or article to someone in your network. LinkedIn Groups are about building community, and in any community, every action counts.

With over over a million groups on LinkedIn, you’re bound to find several communities that are beneficial to you and your career. But with so many opportunities to participate, what’s the best plan of action?

To join a group, just start exploring the Group Search page, which has recently been updated to make it easier for you to find the most valuable places to network. Then click “Join” for any groups that sound appealing. Once you’re accepted as a member, you’ll be able to post and comment on discussions, review job postings, connect with your fellow members and more.

This is just a starting point but we’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried some unique ways to participate on LinkedIn Groups. Leave a comment or tweet us @linkedin.

Read more here: 
Lurk First (and Four More Tips To Get the Most out of LinkedIn Groups)

Ed note: Today, we launched our newest office in Hong Kong. This is a post from Arvind Rajan, Managing Director and Vice President of APAC and Japan.

I am told by our new colleagues that the number 9 bears auspicious meanings in Hong Kong which makes it even more special for us to officially open our newest international office in Hong Kong, our 9^th  office in the Asia Pacific region. To see how we’ve grown in Asia Pacific our team put together some interesting facts about our presence in Hong Kong thus far.

This is the latest development in our steady Asian expansion – there are already more than 25 million members in Asia Pacific and Japan, using LinkedIn to build their professional brands, grow their network of connections, and seek professional insights. We’re stoked about continued membership growth in the region, and to that end we’ve recently launched Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia and Korean language versions of our site, and opened offices in Japan and Singapore last year. It’s a reflection of our strong global growth – this year alone, we’ve also opened an office in Spain and launched Polish, Czech, and Dutch language versions.

Hong Kong’s skilled talent base and its reputation as a leading international center of finance and business make it an important market for us, and we’re thrilled to be expanding our footprint in the region at a time when professionals in Hong Kong are placing a growing emphasis on social media. We’re looking forward to learning more from our members and customers here, to better understand their needs and support them in enhancing their professional lives.

See more here: 
LinkedIn and Hong Kong: The Auspicious Number 9

Say again?  So I struggle for months to find an internship.  Research, wear a suit, interview, interview and interview again until finally I convince a company to take a chance on me.   And now I work over 60 hours a week in a completely new and challenging environment, trying things I’ve never done before with people I’ve never met before.   Grabbing coffee, researching until my eyes roll back in my head, becoming the go-to for anything tech-related just because I know how to register a URL, basically at my “boss’s” beck and call… and all this, I do for FREE?

I’ve heard this lament about internships more times than I care to count – but let me assure you, the biggest mistake you can make is to think (and even worse, act) as if you’re working for free.  In fact, if you’re making the most out of your internship, you’re going to be walking away with one of the most lucrative opportunities of your career.  Here are the three things you want to get out of an internship that will make it all worth it.

Relationships:  You’ve heard the good ol’ saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”  Well, believe it.  Career opportunity almost always comes through people and if you want to land a job outside of this internship, it’s all about making quality connections… lots and lots of them (at least 50!)

After creating a thorough LinkedIn profile where you highlight your education, volunteer and work experiences and keep track of your newly acquired skills, you want to take a two pronged approach to building your Rolodex.

Your initial focus is to ask for connections from all the folks you work with, and if you have a particularly close working relationship with your manager, ask if she is willing to help you make introductions to her connections. Think: “(Insert boss’s name here) admires the work you do and suggested I reach out to connect with you.” Then, you want to spread your wings. Start following companies you may be interested in working with in the future.   Study who’s in and who’s out, and if you find someone of interest with whom you have something in common (a fellow alumni, for example), feel free to ask exploratory questions like “How did you get into the industry?”, building up to a suggestion to further your conversation over a coffee.

You have two very unique and unthreatening things going for you: first, you have a “job” while you have an internship and second, you’re new and people want to help people who are starting out.  But keep in mind this very important qualifier: even as a newbie, no one owes you anything.  When you are asking for a connection, it’s always helpful to go in first with a compliment that illustrates the fact that you’ve done your research.  But save your big asks (i.e., a job) for after you’ve built some rapport or even better, have offered something to help them (like registering that URL you’re so good at).

Experiences:   One of the biggest mistakes I see in internships is the whole sit-back-and-wait-to-be-told/shown-what-to-do approach.  An internship is all about what you make of it and it’s important to keep in mind that your boss is two things: very busy and somewhat afraid that you’re going to screw up.

At the end of the day, you are new to the whole scene and there is going to be some reservation about putting you on the front line. It’s up to you to prove that you are up to the task. Three initiative taking tricks:  1) Take a look at the mission-critical skills that others in your industry or organization have acquired and follow their lead; 2) Go onto LinkedIn Groups and join the conversation. Ask for insight and advice before delving into a tough project or participating in a meeting to demonstrate your knowledge; and 3) Try actually executing the project on small scale.

Internships are exactly where you want to try your hand at new things, not only to build your skill set but also to get a real sense of whether or not this is the career for you. The whole point of an internship is to move from theory to practice, and the more initiative you take and confidence you instill, the more earning power you’ll muster.

Recommendations:   Relationships + Experiences = Recommendations.  Let’s go back to the opening lament about internships.  Yes, there is a risk that you will be working for nothing – and by nothing, I mean failing to build the relationships and experiences you need to walk away and have someone be willing to endorse you and your work.  The key here is to start with the end in mind.

Even though it’s not until toward the end of the internship that you’ll be making the ask, you need to work hard and be worthy of a recommendation from the start. Build specific skill sets that they can refer to in a recommendation. Also, figure out whose word has the power to influence the opinion of those who are hiring – both within the organization and the industry at large. Help them to get to know you and your skills long before you need to ask for the recommendation to post on LinkedIn and make it easy on them by specifying what you would like it to highlight.

A recommendation is worth its weight in gold.  Don’t leave an internship without it!

View original here: 
3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Internship

Facebook won the most-shared-story week with its $1 billion purchase of Instagram. Of the Top 10 articles shared by professionals, four were about the purchase. But on a much more personal level, the social network also made news. This time, though, it was COO Sheryl Sandberg’s admission that she leaves work at 5:30 p.m., has been doing so since she had her first child, and is no longer ashamed to admit it.

Top 5 most-shared articles by LinkedIn members (April 5, 2012 – April 12, 2012)
Follow @LinkedInToday

1. What Recruiters Look At During The 6 Seconds They Spend On Your Resume (Business Insider)
2. Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion (Mashable)
3. Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App (TechCrunch)
4. Pinterest is Now the No. 3 Social Network in the U.S. (Mashable)
5. Sheryl Sandberg Leaves Work at 5:30 Every Day — And You Should Too (Mashable)

(For the full list, visit the LinkedIn Today Top Stories of the Week page)

For years, says Sandberg, she used to cover her bases by sending emails late at night or early in the morning so that coworkers would realize she was working very, very hard — despite not being at her desk.

I did that when I was at Google, I did that here, and I would say it’s not until the last year, two years that I’m brave enough to talk about it publicly. Now I certainly wouldn’t lie, but I wasn’t running around giving speeches on it.

But now she’s definitely talking about it. And the result has been almost a global exhale.

Wrote UK-based program manager Ashley Hodges in a LinkedIn update:

Our office is hugely guilty of this. Actually told myself post Christmas I’d try to leave before 7.30 more often.

In India, a HR manager named Pratibha Singh sent a LinkedIn update in response with just one word: “Commendable.”

The Sandberg story comes on the heels of March 30^th’s most popular story list, which saw an article about the uselessness of working more than 40 hours rocket to near the top of the charts. It seems the Great Recession-fueled years of workers doing more with (and for) less has reached a point that people are questioning the value of those cube-chained hours.

Here are the most-shared stories by professionals in the following industries:

• Alternative Medicine Chinese Medicine Goes Under The Microscope (WSJ)
• Computer And Network Security Half A Million Mac Computers ‘Infected With Malware (BBC)
• Computer Games Why Video Games Are Good For You — The Cheat Sheet (VentureBeat)
• Fundraising The Cost Of High Turnover In Fundraising Jobs (Chronicle Of Philanthropy)
• Furniture 10 Tips For Making Employees Love Their Office (Inc.)
• Higher Education Wealth Or Waste? Rethinking The Value Of A Business Major (WSJ)
• Hospitality Survey: Hotel Guests Want Wifi Over Anything Else (USA Today)
• Investment Banking Managing Confrontation In Multicultural Teams (HBR)
• Venture Capital Silicon Valley, London, NYC: Startup Genome Data Reveals How The World’s Top Tech Hubs Stack Up (TechCrunch)

Poll of the Week:

See the original post here:
Top Stories of the Week: Facebook Lands Instagram … and Leaves Early

Ed. note:  This is a guest post from Jodi Glickman as part of our Career Series. Jodi is a regular blogger for the Harvard Business Review, contributor to Fortune.com and author of the book “Great on the Job.”  

Finding a job in today’s market is daunting enough, even with friends and family cheering you on. But moving cross-country and looking for a job at the same time — it’s enough to throw any sane person over the edge. Launching a job search in a new city is undoubtedly harder than finding a new gig in your hometown, but today you’ve got more resources to help make the transition smooth, seamless and successful.  Here are 8 things to keep in mind as you load up your VW, board that plane, or head for the other coast…

1. Know Why You’re Moving

Ask yourself the tough (or obvious) questions and be straight with yourself.  Are you making a lifestyle choice, (Boulder anyone?) moving to be close to friends and family, or making a career change? Any of these factors will likely impact your job prospects and earning power post-move.  Whatever the case, be honest with yourself about the reality of the situation and adjust your expectations accordingly.

2. Get to Know Your new City

Start reading the local papers online and find some niche blogs that speak to you. Research the business drivers in your new city—is your destination a high tech zone, like Silicon Valley; a booming college-town like Austin, Texas or a burgeoning start-up community like Chicago? How robust is the local economy? Are you moving to Bismark, ND (3.8 % unemployment) or Detroit (10.8% unemployment)?  Take into account the strength of the local economy as you factor in how long your job search will actually take.

3. Tell the World you’re Moving!  

Update your LinkedIn profile with your headline — “moving to Minneapolis — looking for a new job in consumer products.”  Post your new status on Google+, Twitter, Facebook — and any other social networking sites you use. Send personal messages to your trusted LinkedIn connections and let people know you’re coming to town. A cross-country move is a great excuse to reach out to former colleagues or classmates and ask for assistance with introductions, informational interviews, or job leads.

4. Leverage Your Network 

It’s time to leverage your network and start building new relationships. Use LinkedIn Groups to find like-minded job seekers or networking groups in your new city. The Groups Directory page will give you suggestions of groups to join or allow you to search by keyword or category. And don’t underestimate the power of your alumni network. My Cornell alumni page on LinkedIn is a treasure trove of information — it gives me an incredible dashboard that tells me where fellow alumni live, who they work for and what they do. In a single snapshot, I can tell who is working in business development in the San Francisco Bay Area and presto — I’ve got my target list of people to reach out to to find a biz dev job in that city.

For the more adventurous who want to take networking offline, consider joining an in-person MeetUp group. The Portland Job Seekers Group, for example, hosts regular networking and recruiting events around town.

5. Ask for Help

Once you’ve tapped into your network, old and new, go ahead and take the plunge— ask for the help you need. People relish being the expert on their city and enjoy helping friends and acquaintances find their footing in a new locale. Ask your friends, friends of friends, friends’ parents— who they know who can help your cause. Be as specific as possible in your requests for help.  Do you want contacts in digital media and entertainment or are you looking for informational interviews with consumer products professionals in Cincinnati?

I recently spoke to a job seeker who’s moving to Chicago from New York City.  Micah relies extensively on both her alumni network and LinkedIn community—asking her growing network for help with everything from putting her in touch with local headhunters, making introductions to contacts at financial services firms, even recommending pre-schools for her toddler.

6. Make the Job Search Work for You

There’s absolutely too much information out there to sift through. Instead, make your job search work for you by using the advanced search function in LinkedIn Jobs and searching jobs by keyword, zip code, date posted and more, so that you are only seeing the most relevant and interesting jobs. You’ll also have the ability to see who you’re connected to at respective employers, giving you a great leg up to learn more about a specific company or position. You can also create saved searches and email alerts when new jobs are posted that meet your criteria.

For even more help creating a personalized job search tool, check out Lindsey Pollak’s recent post on curating your own personal job search feed, which gives you great tips on setting up personalized job search alerts from all of your favorite job search sites.

7. Expect to Fail (a little bit….)

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find a job immediately.  There are bound to be bumps and bruises along the way, so plan for hiccups.  Stay busy.  Job search in coffee shops so that you’re not home alone feeling blue.  Get a part-time job or volunteer to get to know people and become engaged in your new community.  Whatever you’re hoping to accomplish, assume it will take longer than expected.

8. Pay it Forward

Finally, reach out and thank all of those who helped you along the way.  Close the loop and let people know how things turned out. And of course, think about how you can return the favor and pay it forward.  Who can you help with a job search or write a LinkedIn recommendation for?  How can you give back to your new (or old) community?  Keep your good fortune in mind the next time someone asks you for a job lead or think about what you can do to help a friend who’s recently been laid off.

Let us know what your job search experience has been by sharing your experiences @linkedin

View post: 
How to Launch a Successful Job Search in a New City

Here’s an idea for a new game: Would You Rather, The Business Edition. Here goes: Would you rather work for Han Solo or Don Vito Corleone?

Pros and cons of Han: Goes out of his way to help you when you’re stuck (in a cave with a hungry wampa, for example), but also a selfish boss who shoots first (you’re fired). On the Corleone front: Your manager has so much respect that every project you work on gets plenty of resources and support. On the other hand: You quake in fear of ending up on his bad side.

The topic of fictional, troubled heroes as leadership icons comes thanks to Forbes and Fast Company, which coincidentally both dug into the issue recently, winning two of the top 5 most-read-story of the week slots. Here’s the full list:

Top 5 most-shared articles by LinkedIn members (March 21, 2012 – March 28, 2012)
Follow @LinkedInToday

1. An Offer You Can’t Refuse: Leadership Lessons From “The Godfather” (Fast Company)
2. Bye Bye BlackBerry. How Long Will Apple Last?(Forbes)
3. Five Career Lessons From Han Solo (Forbes)
4. The One Skill All Leaders Should Work On (HBR)
5. 7 Entrepreneurial Lessons From “Shark Tank” (Fast Company)

Perhaps the best way to evaluate these movie icons is through the lens of HBR’s Scott Edinger, who says the one skill all leaders need to work on is assertiveness.

Fast Company reclassifies that as “decisiveness” and gives Corleone high marks. Sure, Don Corleone “is so ruthless that he kills his own family member.” But you still have to respect the fact that he:

“[K]nows exactly what he wants, executes decisively, and commands respect through unwavering leadership.”

Han? He’s assertive, but also unfocused. Forbes says that’s actually a worthy trait:

Han Solo’s excuse to Jabba was that he “got sidetracked” when he came across the Rebel Alliance, and was on his way to pay back the villainous slug. Without that distraction, Han Solo would just have been another scoundrel in Jabba’s retinue… Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook when he was supposed to be going to college. Steve Jobs’ exile from Apple gave the world Pixar. Your biggest opportunity might come when you have to ferry an old man and an annoying kid to Alderaan.

This game could go on forever. For me, it comes down to: Would you rather work for someone who has a history of having his workers gunned down? Or go with the guy who marries the princess in the end? Also, Chewie always seemed pretty content.

Here are the most-shared stories by professionals in the following industries:

• Biotechnology: In Cancer Science, Many “Discoveries” Don’t Hold Up (Reuters)
• Gambling and Casinos: A Piece of the Action for Manila (Forbes)
• Banking: The Shrinking Bank Branch (American Banker)
• Aviation and Aerospace: A Satellite System That Could End Circling Above the Airport (NYT)
• Insurance: More US Insurers Tie Health Insurance to Medical Tests (USA Today)
• Veterinary: Taking Dogs to Work Reduces Stress (BBC)

Poll of the Week

View original here:
LinkedIn’s Top Stories: Han Solo vs. Vito Corleone — Who is the Better Leader?

According to a recent LinkedIn poll, the single biggest job interview mistake people make is not knowing enough about the company to which they’re applying.

With all of the research tools available on the Internet and elsewhere, it is now easier than ever to avoid this mistake. You should always visit a potential employer’s own website first. Then, for additional information and up-to-the-minute insight, proceed directly to LinkedIn Company Pages.

A LinkedIn Company Page is a centralized location to learn about a company’s operations, current news, products and services, employees, job opportunities and more. There are over two million company pages on LinkedIn, spanning a vast number of industries, company sizes and geographic locations.

Where does all of the information on a Company Page come from? The organization itself provides a portion — the company overview, Careers page and Products and Services descriptions. The rest of a Page’s information, including the company statistics and employee information, are based on LinkedIn’s own network data.

This means that on a Company Page you’re getting more information about the backgrounds and career paths of the people who work for that organization. As a potential job seeker, this information provides a guide on what it takes to get hired and succeed at that particular company. For instance, you can learn what universities a company’s employees attended (including who graduated from your own alma mater), what types of employees are receiving promotions and what LinkedIn groups those employees belong to. As you’ll see below, all of this information can help you better craft your LinkedIn profile to attract the attention of recruiters for that company and it can help you find potential referrals into that organization.

To make the most of Company Pages as a job seeker, begin your research on the Search Companies page and follow these easy steps:

1. Find companies that are hiring right now.

First, search for every company on your prospect list. Begin “following” these companies to stay up-to-date on job opportunities, company news and industry trends. All company status updates will appear on your LinkedIn homepage, so you’ll never miss a new opportunity.

You can find additional prospects by using the search facets on the left side of the Search Companies page. You can search for companies based on location, industry, size, whether they are currently hiring (over 22,300 are hiring on LinkedIn right now!) and how you are connected to that organization. I love this last search option most of all. You can filter a set of results to include only those companies that are hiring AND those where you have 1st or 2nd degree connections. It’s always easier to get a job at an organization where you have support from an existing employee or where a friend can make a personal referral.

2. Make the most of informational interviews.

How do you turn those 1st and 2nd degree connections into opportunities? The best approach is to reach out to request informational interviews from people who work for the companies where you’d like a job. (You can do this directly with your 1st degree connections or through an introduction request for 2nd degree connections.) Write a brief note that says something like this: “I’m very interested in a potential opportunity at XYZ Company and saw that you currently work there. Would you be willing to chat with me for 15 minutes or so and share your experience at the organization? I would be so grateful for your time.”

Most people, particularly if they know you personally or are introduced to you through a trusted contact, will be happy to answer a few questions or share some advice. The trick is to impress them when you’re on that informational call. So, before you speak to anyone for an informational interview, spend at least 30 minutes on that organization’s Company Page to learn about its products, services and current news. The Overview tab of the Page will provide a summary of the company, its recent status updates (the news that company wants its LinkedIn followers to know) and available job opportunities.  (The Overview also provides additional insight into how you are connected to employees at the company through your LinkedIn network and university alumni network, which is great for finding even more people to ask for informational interviews.)

Many companies also have “Careers” tabs on their LinkedIn page, where they share more information about working for their organization, such as videos, employee testimonials, awards and recognitions. Review this information thoroughly so you can ask very specific questions during your informational interviews. For instance, “I read about your company’s new environmental initiative — can you tell me more about how that is working?” is a much more impressive question than, “So, what does your company do?” The more you impress your connection, the more likely he or she is to recommend you for an open job.

3. Learn what it takes to succeed.

In addition to helping you prepare for informational interviews (and real job interviews later on), Company Pages can also help you improve your LinkedIn profile so that a recruiter is more likely to notice it. Click on the “Check out insightful statistics” link on a Company Page to find helpful intelligence about what an organization looks for in its employees. For example, you can learn what job functions and educational degrees are most common, and you can view the 10 most common skills listed by employees at that company (which are great keywords to include in your own profile, as long as they’re accurate).

And, you can view the LinkedIn profiles of people at that company with new titles — which includes people who’ve just been hired or just been promoted. This means you can study the profiles of the exact people who succeed at that organization. Take note of how they describe themselves in their profile headlines and summary statements, what experience they list, what groups they belong to and what their recommendations say about them. These are all tips for what to include on your own profile to attract the attention of recruiters from that organization.

4. Make a good impression.

Don’t be shy about reaching out to a company based on what you’ve learned from its Company Page, even if you don’t have any 1st or 2nd degree connections. You can comment on a company’s status update in a way that shows you are interested in their news and educated about industry developments. For instance, you can respond to an update about a company’s new product by mentioning that you recently read a positive review of it.

Or, if you see on a Company Page that a person has recently been promoted who is in your alumni network or shares a LinkedIn Group with you, reach out and say congratulations. You can use the opportunity to politely mention that you are interested in working for that organization as well.

5. Expand your job search.

Finally, there’s one more area of a Company Page you shouldn’t miss. On the “Check out insightful statistics” page, you’ll find a listing of where that company’s employees worked before joining that company and where employees worked after leaving that company. These are great organizations to check out as potential employers as well. Remember that you need to cast a wide net in your job search and research as many prospects as possible.

How else have you used LinkedIn’s robust Company Pages to help your job search? Please share in the Comments!

See the rest here: 
How LinkedIn Company Pages Can Help Your Job Search