by Kacey Stapleton

Created on: August 23, 2010   Last Updated: October 08, 2010

Making use of social sites either directly related to a company, or closely linked is a good way to make connections important to your career.  The same factors that help you make a good impression in the physical business world can help you in the setting of social networking on corporate sites.  Finding a place to make connections, making a good first impression, and remaining professional are all keys to utilizing this business tool effectively. 

Many companies are integrating internal social networks for several reasons. An internal site can work much the same as a directory showing employees titles and qualifications at a glance.  It can also give some personal information such as interests and hobbies. This is especially useful for companies with several offices or branches spread out across the country or for multi-national businesses.  This allows employees a chance to connect faces and names to co-workers despite never meeting them in person. This type of networking also allows communications to flow employee to employee outside of an email system.  The problem with using this sort of system to find employment is that most are closed to non-employees. However, for the entry-level employee this is a huge benefit when looking to move forward. 

One foot in the door to the corporate social site is in linking to one or more social sites.  One of the oldest and most respected social professional sites is LinkedIn. On this site, it is possible to post qualifications, personal interest, and experience. It is also a place to reconnect with those you have worked with in the past and link with those you don’t know personally, but who share the same qualifications and career interests.  

A similar site Plaxo works much the same as LinkedIn, but also allows a few personal touches not available on other professional sites.  Plaxo is connected to the job aggregator Simply Hired connecting users of the site with thousands of jobs that fit the given personal profile. 

A few tips important to remember when using corporate or professional sites is to keep a professional attitude, practice proper etiquette, and control personal information.  A perfect example is the use of a picture.  If the site offers the opportunity to post a personally taken photo of you use this opportunity.  People will look for this photo as a way to relate to you and your professional persona.  This is why

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