By Katie Kohler

“Something magical happens when you hit 500,” Lynne Williams says when she hears a LinkedIn is approaching the milestone mark.

Williams, right, understands the power of the business and employment social networking service. For close to twenty-five years, she has written cover letters, resumes, value proposition letters and LinkedIn profiles as Chief Wow Office of Around the Clock Executive Helper. Since 2015, she has been the Executive Director of The Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group. She authored a chapter on “Applying for Positions” in a 2016 book published by the Association of Talent Development that included 15 other national career coaches and Dick Bolles, author of What Color is your parachute.

[uam_ad id=”54865″]

“It has something to do with the algorithm. Everybody’s goal should be to reach at least 500 followers on LinkedIn.

She explained that Some people will only connect with people they know and some are LIONS (LinkedIn Open Networkers), and those in-between who may not connect with everyone. Williams has a strong local network due to her involvement in the career transition and career management community.

“Networking is so important for job seekers. If I am able to connect people through my connections and they are able to forward their aspirations to land a job or a better job than that is a wonderful things.”

However, Williams is quick to point out that LinkedIn is not only for job seekers. According to Business Insider, LinkedIn is a valuable platform for brands interested in its highly educated, relatively mature, professional audience.

“Its terrific for small businesses and gaining new clients. It’s a wonderful tool for sales people and a way to be able to able to contact people without having to make cold calls,” said Williams.

Since 2015, she has been the Executive Director of The Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group is a 501(c) nonprofit that provides workforce development through education, resources, support services, and networking to individuals. They serve the unemployed, the underemployed, the self-employed, and the employed, as well as the organizations (businesses and nonprofits) that employ them. The volunteer-based organization consists of over 2900 members in the Greater Philadelphia area, including DE and NJ.

Williams was a K-12 teacher, lost everything in her life to a fire then served as a long-term sub. She left teaching to for the corporate world since her own children weren’t in school. When she was teaching high school, she taught students various things about the job interview process.

“I realized I was with little people all day and didn’t know any adults or a have a network. When I started going to career transition meetings, I met amazing people and wound up deciding to take my teaching skills and developed my own curriculum and help other job seekers.

Email: info@greatcareersphl.org
For a list of upcoming workshops, speakers, and networking events click here. 

[uam_ad id=”54875″]