LinkedIn, The Future of Resumes Today

What I Learned by Getting a LinkedIn Account

When I started working at my company, Axcient, I didn't have a LinkedIn account. I thought that LinkedIn was another social for friends to connect, so I did not want to get an account on LinkedIn. I was not interested in Social Media. Once I started working, I was asked by co-workers for my LinkedIn account. My response was that I do not need one. Boy, was that the wrong answer considering that I work in the tech field. I created an account two weeks later because I wanted to see what it was all about. I learned that LinkedIn was a Professional social media tool.

The Purpose of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is very powerful today because the technological workforce is driven by recruiters scouting for talent, and many of them look first at LinkedIn. It is powerful because it present a potential employee to the recruiter because LinkedIn has a very powerful search capability. From a business stand point, it is very expensive and inefficient to post ads in news papers or pay for outside references for a single candidate. Many companies have their own recruiting team because they are able to find the best candidate that will fit the companies culture and need. And many of the recruiter log into LinkedIn and follow connections between people to look for new talent. It is highly efficient for a recruiter to look for candidates because they use current employees connections to find people with the same expertise. This limits the amount of time either waiting for a call from a random stranger looking for a job and receiving a batch of resumes in their emails. For job seekers, LinkedIn can be a friend to get a job with less searching.

Job Seekers, Use the LinkedIn Force

Leveraging LinkedIn as a job searching tool can have it's bright side, but there is also a dark side. If LinkedIn is not used properly, recruiters will simply click away, never to return. LinkedIn is the twenty-first century Resume. It presents the experience and intellect of a candidate. If a resume looks unprofessional, recruiters will simply look at the next candidate. In Jo Barnes's article, LinkedIn Marketing 2013! there are a few ways to make your LinkedIn resume a diamond among the rough.

1. Post a professional picture of yourself - something simple, without patterns that would distract the viewer. You want to look the best all the time and in LinkedIn, that doesn't change. Make yourself look as professional and clean as you can because it will affect the first impression. 
2. Customize your LinkedIn account - Just like resumes, recruiters are tired of looking at the resumes that all look alike. Make it fit your skills and talents. 
3. Show your experience - Show the companies you have worked with and the achievements. Without them, you will not look more impressive as the guy before you. Remember you are fighting for a career.
4. Join groups - Groups are where everyone meets. If you are talented in a certain field than put yourself apart of that group because recruiters will likely look there first. 

There are a few ways to turn away recruiters and not be recognized. Here are a few things you would like to avoid.

1. Do not over use the same words - Linked is also a search engine with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you put the same words over and over again than the chance of your LinkedIn coming up first in a search is much lower than stating the word once.
2. Do not treat LinkedIn as another social media - remember this is a professional social media that potentially bring you the next big pay check. Use it to advance your career not chat with friends.
3. Add every skills and expertise in the world - Do allow endorsements from others to hinder your profile. This may sound crazy, but what If I said that you are good at plumbing, hunting, basketball, running, and brain surgery. Granted this sounds a bit extreme, but I am trying to prove a point. If you are a neurosurgeon, people would not care about the other abilities except for brain surgery. Adding the skills and expertise that does not pertain to your specific field will drown out what really is important. Guard your LinkedIn profile from endorsements although they may sound good. 

Leverage LinkedIn by using it properly, it potentially can connect a job seeker to a recruiter to form a perfect match. 

QR Code - Making Life Simple

QR Code - Making Life Simple

One of the movements that technology is helping people go towards is the direction of a simpler life. I live in a day and age where people want things not now but yesterday. And people wanted it yesterday so they can make today's life easier. With the invention of the QR code, or Quick Response code, it makes life a lot smoother for those that rely upon smart phones and internet. These QR codes are simply text, usually a url, that are encoded to a two dimensional square.

The use of the QR codes are quite ingenious, it saves humans from memorizing long stringed text, which we often forget. There are many uses for QR codes, in Japan QR codes are used for tracking merchandise. In historical displays, QR codes are added next to a plaque to allow visitors to gain more information to their historical site which is more interactive than a simple plaque. To a business it is quite useful to promote their company because it may draw attention to a special designed QR code.

Unfortunately, QR codes are many times misused. Some companies do not use the right link or URL when creating the QR code to reflect their campaign. When a visitor are to scan in the QR code they would be directed to a different site than what the visitor was intending to visit. QR codes are designed to be specific to the destination of the site. Disney is able to use their QR codes successfully because they make sure that the QR code is directing visitors to the correct place.

This fairly new technology may be the technology of the future because it makes life easy and fast. Not only easy and fast, it is also cheap. Creating a QR code can be free though some websites such as qrcode.kaywa.com. There is a great potential to how QR codes can be used. Try to create a QR code for your specific site and see how it may impact your visitor hits when used correctly.

Threatening Social Media

Connecting to people have always been a need in the human life. Ever since the start of 2004, people relied on Facebook to help them connect themselves with friends and family. Facebook is the epitome of a successful media for reaching to other people through the internet. Facebook boasted itself of having over 500 million people, which shows how powerful Facebook's connecting power. With all of Facebook's connecting power, it also connect Facebook users to online threats.

Threats among Social Media

1. Phishing Scams - Phishing scams sound like what it is trying to describe, fishing. Phishing involves a malicious user that creates a duplicate site that looks nearly identical to the real site that they are trying to attack. They are putting out a bait and waiting for a victim to sign on to their site, thinking that they are signing on to the real site.

2. Information Luring - By using tempting offers the attacker would try to draw a user to enter important information onto a form thinking that they will gain a reward. These will trick a few naive explorers to handing over information that can cause great harm to themselves.

3. Identity Theft - Because there are so many users on Facebook, Facebook is the ideal spot for identity theft. The chance of entering an user name and a common password will result in a higher chance to get into their profile.

Preventing from being a Victim

Preventing such an attack is fairly simple. There are a few things to keep in mind. If something looks suspicious online, it is better to question it and stay away. Take a look at the URL, if the URL looks wrong type in the correct URL. Phishers use URLs that look similar but not the same as their targeted site. Another way to protect yourself is to remember that if an offer looks too good to be true. Chances are that they are too good to be true and best to be avoided. One of the simplest things to have is to use a strong password and change it at least three times a year. Although it is easier said than done, it may save a person from suffering through an attack.

Connecting with other users though social media is a big advantage in our days but we must connect cautiously. Taking a few small steps increase the security of our identity and lives a great deal. Have a great time connecting and surf on.

Welcome to Gerald's Blog Page

Welcome all to Gerald Xie's blog page.

I am currently a student in San Jose State University, studying Computer Science. This blog is used for my Computer Science writing class (CS100W). Please enjoy your time in my blog, I hope to inspire and motivate another computer science student to raise the limit of their ability as I journey to expand my ability.

Thank you for visiting,
-GX