Three Reasons I Use LinkedIn

A professor of mine recently asked me if I think LinkedIn is useful. Here's why I like LinkedIn:

Resume distributor. I use it to look up people I'm going to meet (for an interview, for example). It's a subtle way of essentially giving someone my resume, and seeing someone else's resume. If I meet someone at a networking event and exchange emails, by becoming my contact on LinkedIn they look at my profile - which has the same content as my resume.

Rolodex. After I meet someone, connecting to them on LinkedIn gives me a chance to reinforce the connection and keep the connection alive ("It was nice meeting you the other day..."). Down the road, if I ever want to contact that person, we each have enough information about each other to remember one another. It's an automatic rolodex in that way as well - I have someone's contact info immediately instead of having to hunt around for a business card. It's Facebook for professionals, and it looks impressive to have a bulging rolodex.

Connecting. Last reason - it actually is useful for it's core purpose, which is to connect you to the people who are two and three degrees away. Here's an example: a friend of mine wanted to talk to an attorney at a law firm to see what firm life was like. But he didn't know anyone at that firm. I looked up the firm on LinkedIn and discovered that a LinkedIn contact of mine had a LinkedIn contact at the firm. I asked my contact to email his contact at the firm, and my friend got connected. Don't get me wrong - I'd never use the LinkedIn "In Mail" to connect to someone through the site. But I definitely use it to connect to people in more traditional off-site ways.