LinkedIn Popularity Grows, as Economy Declines

In the March 2nd issues of Advertising Age, I found an interesting article about the increasing popularity of LinkedIn. As unemployment rates are expected to continue to grow (to at least 9%) involvement with LinkedIn is seeing a serious increase. Two weeks ago the site hit 36 million members,and the site is growing with a rate of one member per second.People are hoping to reconnect with former colleagues and business contacts as a ways to search for leads for jobs.

Even with the helpfulness of LinkedIn, it seems to me that there are still more people looking for jobs than jobs available. Its hard to say that the increased members of LinkedIn will reflect in more jobs being found. I think that regardless of LinkedIn, and other job sites like YahooHotJobs and TheLadders, jobs will continue to be hard to come by. It will take a turn around in the economy to return the job market to a more healthy status. Until then it comes down to differentiating your self, and making employers see your personal characteristics that make you stand out.