I have been blogging about LinkedIn for several months now, and I just couldn’t help but notice the increased attention there is about LinkedIn in the media.  In essence, all of the media are saying that you need to be on LinkedIn to find a job.  Is this really the case?

I will be honest with you that I found my last job through The Ladders despite five busy months of ramping up on LinkedIn.  LinkedIn itself is merely a database.  You signed up for it, so what?  Did you fill out your profile?  Invite people?  Join groups?  Did you actively network?

You see, LinkedIn is merely a tool in your arsenal to assist you in finding a job and nothing more.  After all, LinkedIn isn’t hiring you, but companies and recruiters are.  And companies and recruiters also have their own web sites.  And they advertise on other sites.  Some are starting to Twitter.  So LinkedIn is not the only game in town.

That being said, if you understand that most jobs are found through the “Hidden Job Market” (read “What Color is Your Parachute” if you don’t understand this), then the key to finding your job is, simply, networking.  And if you don’t understand networking, you are not alone.  Most people that I meet at networking events or through LinkedIn communications still are a little lost.  But, in reality, networking is simple: connecting and communicating with people.

Now, when I say connecting, you don’t necessarily have to make them your 1st degree connection.  But you need to reach out and communicate.  And I don’t just mean with recruiters.  Use LinkedIn to get back in touch with old colleagues and classmates, join groups, find people with similar interests, etc.  The key to networking is to be in contact with like-minded individuals with whom you can hopefully create a genuine relationship out of.  If they don’t live near you pick up the phone and call them!  I have made many a friend through “virtually” meeting them.

And that is what LinkedIn is all about: an immense database of professionals like you, and many of them open to networking and helping you out.  There is still a lot of bad press about open networkers like myself, but I am always amazed about how other open networkers are willing to help out despite not knowing each other.

Cross the virtual divide.  Reach out.  Exploit LinkedIn for what it is and start networking!  Only then can you say that LinkedIn may have helped out your find your next job.