A good site for professional networking

For those who belong to LinkedIn.com, you know that there is a section on the home page that tells you how many people have looked at your profile. It changes every few days to reflect updated numbers, but reads like this:

"Your profile has been viewed by 11 people in the last 7 days. In the last 30 days, you have appeared in search results 11 times."

As a non-paying member, you aren't told exactly who has examined your profile. When you click through to the list, it will only show five or so various organizations or companies that these folks belong to, but won't name the exact people or show the complete, albeit vague, list of who took a peek at your stuff. So for instance, one of the people who might have viewed my profile will only be identified as "an editor at Gannett." Because there are hundreds of editors working at Gannett, that really doesn't tell me much. If the message says 15 people viewed my profile, it will still only list a handful of them and the organizations they are employed by or titles they hold. Still, it won't name them. Left to you to guess who the others might be associated with.

It's sometimes maddening because curiosity can get the best of you. Why is a "soccer coach in Brazil" or a "a health professional in Montana" looking at my profile? And who are these people? Long-lost roommates from college? Or might they have a job for me? Did they mistake me for another Mick Calvacca -- as if there are a lot of those in Loudoun County, Va. Most of the time you just don't know.

Still, LinkedIn is a good tool for networking professionals. It's better than most sites for job seekers looking to connect with folks in various industries. It will even suggest people you might want to have as a "connection" based on your profession and contacts you or they know. You can join different discussion groups, such as alumni associations, find former colleagues or connect with people who share similar occupational or educational interests. Despite the intentionally mysterious listing of who is checking you out, I would recommend this site to anyone who is seeking a job or is interested in keeping up with news from various companies or colleges. I would also suggest jumping into discussions now and then.

By the way, you can get a more complete list of the people who are looking at your profile by getting a paid membership. I haven't done that. I figure if someone wants to identify themselves and contact me, they know where to find me. My contact information, resume and references are on the site. I am very thankful to the nine former colleagues who posted their recommendations of me on LinkedIn. Having that capability is another nice feature. It allows potential employers to read what your former coworkers and ex-bosses have to say about you.