19 Comments
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Rose's avatar

I used LinkedIn when looking for my first job, and i found it nerve-racking! I reached about to about 100 people, to try and find a company with interesting challenges but good work-life balance (and a decent salary). I remember being so scared and intimidated, because i was bothering "real people" who probably had better things to do than talk to me.

But now that i'm an engineer in an attractive job, and on the other side of the barrier, i realize it was ok, actually. I like interacting with students and high schoolers who want to know more!

The only ones i don't reply to are the dumb idiots who don't say "hello" or who just want a referral to my company. There are a majority, sadly :/ But the rest are always so kind and curious, so it's very rewarding to help them!

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Karena's avatar

Thanks, Rose. I agree - LinkedIn has changed a little/a lot since those early days. LinkedIn for career research is a little beyond the core use.

But I am forever grateful for the surprise of VPs and C-suite reaching out to my children so many years ago, and offering their life story and navigation advice.

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Rick Lewis's avatar

Awesome on the tip the notification toggles in the settings panel. I’m gonna go check that out right now and hope it clears things up.

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Karena's avatar

Worked for me, Rick! Though I'll DM you. I could no longer comment on your post from yesterday without a code - and it would not accept my code.

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Rick Lewis's avatar

strange stuff

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Karena's avatar

Figured it out - the response on my desktop and phone are not sync'd. So. More sleuthing to go, but getting there!

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Silvio Castelletti's avatar

"It started with Silvio Castelletti" LOL

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Becky Isjwara's avatar

You raise such amazing kids!

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Karena's avatar

Glad you think so! I'm biased.

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Kathy Karn's avatar

"One is an outlier. Two is a cluster. Three is a trend." ² Love this Karena!

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Karena's avatar

The basis of trendspotting, Kathy!

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Justin's avatar

Thank you for sharing these insights. Amidst the noise in LinkedIn, there are indeed strong/weak ties for the savvy aspiring professional to make use of. I will consider this for our pre-college students!

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Karena's avatar

You are welcome. Do reach back if you need some help.

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Justin's avatar

Also swirling in my mind, the cold email talk from Carly Valancy

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Justin's avatar

As Tyler Cowen has said recently, with access to (generating) knowledge goes to zero, networks/trust/who you know becomes the value

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James Bailey's avatar

Karena, thank you! Super helpful on the Substack feeds and with 14 year olds, the Linked In tutorial is brilliant! 🙏🙏🙌🙌. My kids may be thanking you someday.

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Karena's avatar

Super happy if it helps someone, James, and who better than you and yours.

It seemed such an obvious idea to me, that I had not considered sharing it more widely before. If ever your twins need help reverse engineering LinkedIn, please let me know. Though half the joy is in following the breadcrumbs for yourself, when you are that age.

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Dan McGuire's avatar

This is a fantastic idea for any people starting a career. Thank you!

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Karena's avatar

Thanks Dan! Lovely to see you back on the chats. Hope is all well with you and your family, who are now "doing" more than they are "searching".

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