Personal Finance News Tuesday 11/20

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

8 Ways to Amp Up Your Career Using LinkedIn
By Hannah P. Morgan | U.S.News & World Report LP – Tue, Nov 20, 2012 12:57 PM EST

How do you use LinkedIn? The answers vary, but one thing is for sure, this is a must-use tool for managing your career. These are some tips to get more out of the site and to help you stay marketable in this rapidly changing world of work.

1. New to the workforce or changing careers. LinkedIn's "Skills & Expertise" is a real-time research tool. Enter one of your top skills or areas of expertise in the search box. The results include other key skills associated with the one you entered. Do you have these too? If you're lacking some of them, it would be wise for you to schedule an informational meeting with someone in that occupation to learn how important your missing skills might be. While you're on this results page, note the growth (or decline) of that skill, the professionals who are listed, the related groups on LinkedIn, the related companies and related jobs. This function is rich in data to help you do more and find people to network with to learn even more.

2. Two ways to get problems solved quickly. LinkedIn's Groups and Answers are under-utilized resources for finding answers to your business challenge. You can search the questions previously posed in the Answers section or submit your own. The other way you can get answers to your work problems is to submit your question as a discussion in a related industry group. Belonging to groups is a great way to stay up on trends and issues impacting what you do. One example is sourcing a new software provider or solution. If you post your question to an active industry group, see how long it takes to get responses. And not only will you get a wide variety of answers, you also have the opportunity to build new relationships.

To read the entire article from Hannah P. Morgan | U.S.News & World Report LP: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/8-ways-amp-career-using-142624717.html

Hannah Morgan is a speaker and author providing no-nonsense career advice; she guides job seekers and helps them navigate today's treacherous job search terrain. Hannah shares information about the latest trends, such as reputation management, social networking strategies, and other effective search techniques on her blog, Career Sherpa.

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. -Vince Lombardi