This observation was taken from research compiled by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “The Tipping Point“, meaning that it is not your close friends or immediate colleagues (”Strong Links”) that can best assist you in finding your next career move but acquaintances and those that you interact with on an infrequent basis (”Weak Links”).
The premise here is that due to the large amount of overlap in experiences and connections you likely share with Strong Links, you probably already know about the same opportunities they do. However, due to the lack of overlap with Weak Links, they are a better channel through which to become aware of new opportunities. Or better yet, for new opportunities to become aware of you!
The advent of the web and professional networking sites take that theory to the next level - you are now exposed to opportunities through people you haven’t even come into contact with.
This is where the Xuropa Platform comes in and why it benefits you to complete your Professional Profile and invite your colleagues to connect with you in your Xuropa Professional Network.
Xuropa Professional Profile
Unlike other professional networking sites, the Xuropa Platform is focused purely on the electronic design industry. So while it is still small, our communty promises to grow with a high concentration of talent and opportunities with a much higher signal-to-noise ratio. (We aim for it to be as close to 1 as possible.)
Also, the Xuropa Professional Profile draws upon this focus by providing added detail to your profile to enable you to better stand out:
Specializations
As an engineer, what exactly is your specialization? Do you have more than one? Within your profile you can select the professional specializations that are relevant to your experience - System Level Architect, Chip Validation, RTL Design Verification , Firmware Development…etc.
Skills
Moving further down the resume hierarchy, what are your skills? C++, Verilog, VHDL, OVM, Ethernet, Place & Route?
Product Reviews
To highlight even further your experience, write a review of a particular tool, or chip, or design IP that you have used or developed. Discuss how you used the technology, what features you found particularly useful and how you would like to see the technology advance. Your review is attached to your Professional Profile and is there for reference in the context of your experience. This not only helps you, but it helps the community in general…what goes around comes around.
Product Rating
If you haven’t got time for a product review do a quick rating of a product. This should just take a minute or two and provides good input to the community and again attaches the product knowledge to your professional profile.
(By the way, if you don’t see your product in the Product Directory you can add it yourself.)
Adding these items to the general career position descriptions (that you can import from LinkedIn or create from scratch) you’re able to create a very accurate picture of your capabilities and experience to enable an opportunity to see the match. The opportunity could be a hiring manager or a fellow engineer on the other side of the world looking for an answer that you may have.
Xuropa Professional Network
Of course the more links you have, Strong or Weak, the better are your chances of being noticed. Invite your colleagues to connect on the site and invite people from within the community to connect. There are many potential points you could have in common - a company, skill, specialization or maybe a product. Maybe you developed the technology that they’ve used! The world is small.
Keep your Professional Profile up to date, build your Professional Network and contribute to the community through product reviews and ratings and you have a better chance of being noticed by the opportunities that are out there.
How would you use these features and what would you like us to add to this aspect of the Xuropa Platform?
