Before you get the axe: six quick things to do on LinkedIn

With the U.S. officially in recession, and more job cuts announced every week, now is a great time to get ahead of the curve and use social media tools to ensure you are well placed for future networking.

Here are six quick things you can do on LinkedIn:

1. LinkedIn now has a “status” message – similar to Facebook. Your contacts who subscribe to the weekly updates from LinkedIn will see what you’re up to. Get your name out there - but stick to business updates. No one cares that you just fed your cat.
2. Add new contacts to LinkedIn. LinkedIn can search your personal e-mail address book to find your contacts who are already on LinkedIn.
3. It’s important to get LinkedIn now with people in your organization – if they leave and you don’t have their personal e-mail address it will become much more difficult to find them and connect.
4. Join any groups from your current or former employers. Many companies now have a “alumni” groups – often set up by individuals rather than the company – so you can continue to network with former colleagues. Do this now as it'll be easier for the group administrator to verify that you work for the relevant company.
5. Add previous jobs to your profile - it will be easier for former colleagues, and recruiters, to find you.
6. If you have an industry-related blog, connect your blog's feed to your LinkedIn profile.