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Recent Blog Posts



LinkedIn: Social Work and Social Media

2nd July 2010

social work and social mediaHello! This is the first in a short series of blog posts looking at how social workers can benefit from social media.  We’re starting with LinkedIn, which is a fantastic professional networking website…

If you’re not currently using Linked In, it’s definitely worth a look.   It’s a really useful tool for connecting with colleagues (whether past, present or future) as well as other people in your sector.

The site allows you to build a professional profile, showcasing your experience, qualifications, skills, and current projects.  You can join groups based on your industry and your professional interests, which opens up the possibility of sharing best practice, discussing key issues, and keeping up to date with the latest developments in social work.

As well as having your own individual profile, your organisation can also have a profile. As an example, the Liquid Personnel company profile tells you a little more about us and the work we do.  It also links to the profiles of all our staff, providing another way for our clients and candidates to connect with us on a professional level.

Benefits to your organisation:

Jobseekers are increasingly using online resources such as LinkedIn to research organisations they might want to work for, as well as their potential new colleagues.  Developing a strong presence on LinkedIn can help generate positive perceptions among these people. You can also join groups and use this to contribute to discussions and share ideas on best practice with your peers. 

Benefits to you as a professional:

LinkedIn helps you manage your professional contacts. It’s an ideal way to keep in touch with peers, people you’ve met at events, key people in social work , and so on.  It’s also useful in terms of finding job opportunities – you can showcase yourself, get your contacts to recommend you, and get in touch with new employers.

We would highly recommend joining the site and building your own professional profile.  And don’t forget to connect with us when you do!  We’ll be back soon with our thoughts on other social media sites, including Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.