Sharpen Yourself: LinkedIn & Social Networking Sites

(click to view larger) DID’s new “Sharpen Yourself” category aims to supplement our ongoing procurement and defense coverage with articles like “Preparing More Powerful Presentations,” which are equally valuable to professional readers of an industry magazine. One aspect that often gets neglected in this industry is career management, especially among engineers. The defense industry is widely seen as stable and recession-proof, and to some extent that’s true, but long-time veterans know from personal experience that this is only a partial truth. Programs get canceled, firms move or consolidate, the politician a Hill staffer works retires or is defeated, or it becomes clear that a change of scenery and/or role is in order. When those shocks hit, the difference between a managed and an unmanaged career is like the difference between a managed and an unmanaged defense program. This article addresses a growing trend in business, and a topic that’s coming up more and more frequently to a Human Resources consultant of our acquaintance: the use of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Friendster, LinkedIn, et. al. in the hiring process. For those in the active military, these sites also have a security dimension. Social networking sites are distinguished by […]