If you would have asked me a few years ago, I would have told you that LinkedIn was a waste of time. I just didn't get it. Why would I use social media to enhance my career? It didn't make sense. I always had good luck using word of mouth to build my career. I went to local events, shook hands, and often found myself in the middle of the crowd (the extrovert in me) to introduce myself. Social media though? No thanks.
The one thing I was right about was that word of mouth is still the best way to build your career. However, word of mouth has changed. Most of the cyber security community sits right here on LinkedIn. LinkedIn IS now your word of mouth. It just took me a long time to realize that. When I went active on LinkedIn last October, I found myself using the same approach.
1. I went to every virtual event I could (watching podcasts)
2. I shook hands with as many people as I could (connecting)
3. I found myself in the middle of the crowd (engaging)
4. I even stood up and spoke sometimes (posting)
I can promise you that I did nothing special except use this platform to it's fullest capability. However by doing that, here is what LinkedIn's word of mouth as done for me in less than a year.
1. Landed me my latest vCISO role.
2. Connected me to people around the world that I now have unbelievable relationships with.
3. Signed on to write a LinkedIn Learning Class on Security Auditing. Flying to LinkedIn HQ next month to do the recordings in their studio.
4. Allowed me to follow my passion of mentoring people around the world to get into this great field.
5. Allowed me to sit in podcasts and spread my message like I would have never imagined.
If you think that you don't have the ability to change your life with this platform, think again. I can tell you that I'm just an average guy, stumbling through life like everybody else. I certainly don't have it all figured out, but I have figured out how life changing this platform is.
Now it's my turn again to give back and give you a push start.
I'm giving away 12 more one month vouchers to TryHackMe. For those that aren't familiar with it, this is some of the best hands on training that you will ever get. No, I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but with a voucher, you can dive in hard for 30 days and get a great start at either defensive or offensive security even if you are a complete beginner.
If you want a chance for a voucher for TryHackMe, I ask that you engage here and tell me why. I'll be picking 12 more people.
