After his summer internship at Cape Cod Magazine, Eric Fengler kept in touch with his editor using e-mail, until something better came along.

‘I had never even heard of LinkedIn,’ said the senior magazine journalism major, ‘but it seemed like a good idea, so I checked it out.’

Fengler’s editor sent him an invitation to join LinkedIn.com, a business networking Web site. LinkedIn currently has more than 13 million users, according to its site.

‘I would consider it a Facebook for older people in a way, focusing on business connections,’ Fengler said. ‘It’s a valuable networking tool.’

LinkedIn is similar to Facebook. It has a comparable networking style, asking users to make ‘connections’ instead of ‘friends’ with people they’ve met in a business setting. Instead of having a profile that displays a user’s favorite movies, activities and photos, the page uploads resumes for potential employers to consider.

There are no wall posts, but instead users can write recommendations for former co-workers.

There’s even an area for job postings, including many LinkedIn-only postings, such as positions at Hufford Associates Inc.

Craig Hufford, the company’s president, posted the listings.

‘The greatest element of LinkedIn for me as a recruiter is to be able to use their search engine and profile, not only people I’m connected to…but also everyone connected to LinkedIn, and everybody who’s out there,’ Hufford said. ‘It becomes a fairly effective database of potential candidates.’

Bridget Lichtinger, a Career Development Center coordinator at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, first heard of LinkedIn during the school’s annual trip to Los Angeles, where alumni suggested the site during an advice meeting.

‘They use it,’ she said, ‘and they suggested it to the students, so I would suggest that they use it.’

Susan Filkins, coordinator for alumni programs at SU’s Center for Career Services, had a similar sentiment.

‘They don’t even need to have professional contacts already; they can just sign up and create an account,’ she said. ‘I think the main thing and most important thing for students to remember is that it’s strictly professional, so you’d want to treat your interactions as professional. Even though LinkedIn acts as a networking resource, you wouldn’t want to use it as a social networking resource.’

Hufford believes that seeing the people with whom a student chooses to network helps him to understand the candidates.

‘People tend to network with like-mined people on LinkedIn,’ he said. ‘One of the great things about LinkedIn as a network is that it allows people to put their resumes out, but there is a pretense that they are networking with like-minded people.’

LinkedIn is the only Web site that Hufford uses to find candidates for open positions.

‘I’m glad we found it,’ he said, ‘and we will continue to use it as long as it stays effective for us.’

Published on September 12, 2007 at 12:00 pm