Employment Readiness Center offers class on professional networking

Fort Jackson's Employment Readiness Center prepares the community for the future of job searching by offering a new class focused on LinkedIn.

"You have to think outside the box," said Sherry Major, the employment readiness specialist for Fort Jackson. "This is the way of the future."

Major and volunteer Jennifer Marjanovic conducted a class June 14 in the ACS building called "LinkedIn to the Job Search," where they discussed the best ways to utilize LinkedIn to

help with job searching.

LinkedIn is a social media networking site for professionals. It allows users to upload their resume by

creating a profile and connect with and find employers.

Last year LinkedIn reported having more than 433 million users.

Carol Korody-Colque decided to attend the class after one of her friends got scouted by an employee on LinkedIn for a job.

"They reached out to her," Korody-Colque told the class. "She hasn't done nursing professionally in 20 years ,but they read her resume, saw what she did as a volunteer and set her up with a job."

LinkedIn reported that 40 percent of it's users use it daily.

Major plans on offering the class at least two more times by the end of the year.

"There's a big difference between Facebook and LinkedIn," said Major. "LinkedIn is about you creating a brand. You are the brand."