Besides actuarial job listings, topics I addressed when I posted on LinkedIn in the past year have included:
n The listing of the actuarial profession among recession-proof jobs in
Arbitrage Magazine, North America’s largest student-driven business
news magazine;
n A link to the article I wrote on catastrophe risk trends that was
published in the May/June 2011 issue of Contingencies;
n A news item about incorrect earthquake predictions resulting in
manslaughter charges in Italy;
n A listing of actuarial scholarships offered in Asia;
n An item on how U.S. business schools are looking to increase the
analytics courses they offer;
n The news that China’s insurance premiums increased 13 percent in
2011;
n The news that AIG/Gen Re executives’ convictions were overturned;
n The announcement of Sunshine Insurance plans to insure virtual
(online) property;
n The announcement of the accreditation of Hong Kong University by
the U.K. Institute/Faculty of Actuaries.
feel shy about asking for recommendations from people you know, and
be sure to write genuine, heartfelt
recommendations of others.
Once you are a member of LinkedIn
you are eligible to join a maximum of
50 special interest groups. Join and be
active, but before you do so, read, read,
read. You can sign up to have the groups
automatically send you daily or weekly
updates with everything that has been
posted (discussions, jobs, etc.). Jump in
when you have a good understanding
of the context and the thoughts of the
people with whom you’re interacting.
If you have conversation starters, go
ahead and post them. If you know the
answer to a question another member
of the group has posed, go ahead and
discuss it.
LinkedIn offers great moderating and
membership management tools that
allow you to send relevant messages
to the entire membership. Consider
inviting people to join your groups.
But before you contact someone on
LinkedIn, ask yourself two questions:
“Would he or she want to hear from
me?” and “What would he or she
want to hear from me?”
Take the opportunity to write
about things that you know—and,
similarly, to ask questions and read
about the things you don’t know. I
have learned so much from the bits
and pieces of conversations that I
have had on social media, both pub-
licly and privately.
It’s important to check your
LinkedIn in-box regularly for messages and invitations. It’s also important
to respond regularly. Make it a habit
to be online at certain times. While
I’m drinking coffee in the morning,
one of the things I do is check and respond to overnight LinkedIn activity.
Be Visible, Be Smart
If you write an article or put together
a presentation, share it, give it away,
let people download it on LinkedIn.
It’s fun to have people read stuff
you’ve worked hard to develop. Your
visibility might lead to additional opportunities to speak, write papers, or
consult. My company has received a
variety of international recruiting assignments because of my visibility in
social media.
