Creating Career Connections

Tech and Tips Tuesday

Creating Career Connections – Building your online PLN

It’s fine to have social media that connects us with old friends, but we need tools that help us discover new people as well. – Ethan Zuckerman

                                       

 

A few weeks ago, we discussed the importance of Creating  a Social Resume and maintaining our social media profiles on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn. So, today, we take our social media presence one step further as we use it to build our Professional Learning Network, or PLN. This is an exercise in appreciation of faculty and scholarly efforts everywhere. 

Through online network connections we can commune with colleagues around the globe or in our home institution, celebrate victories, share discoveries and best practices, say happy birthday or congratulations, ask questions, and provide insight. Professional online groups can be found in each of the popular social media sites above. However, one of the most significant and powerful sites is LinkedIn, the largest professional networking site on the web. 

Here are three resources to get you started with groups on LinkedIn:  

Finding and Joining a Group via the LinkedIn Help Center

These are step-by-step instructions to set up communities for yourself. So easy!

Groups – Getting Started via the LinkedIn Help Center

This is a list of Help Center posts that assist with everything from setting up your own group to learning how to post comments to a group conversation. Useful stuff! 

25 LinkedIn Groups for Teachers via Fractus Learning

While this extensive list of groups was compiled in 2013, it will give you a great jumping-off point to finding connections that fit with your ideas, disciplines, and research areas. Start here! 

Now that you know how to connect, you are ready to tie into the groups sponsored by your school or popular in your field, as well as those associated with the professional organizations you decided to join. Your PLN is picking up steam! Be brave, say hello, and join the conversation. 

Please lend your voice to our February Survey and tell us what you love most about your work! :)

Also, join me tomorrow for Historic Hump-Day as we review how higher education professionals have historically been motivated and recognized as compared to contemporary practices.

See you then, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd