All engineers are pushed for time. Attending meetings, making phone calls and writing emails are all a part of the job that most, if not all, engineers could do without. With this in mind, professional online networking using social media presents the ideal opportunity to stay connected and collaborate with the minimum of effort. Perfect!
And yet, the decision to network online requires a little investigation before taking the plunge. Which site or sites should be favoured, for example? After all, these portals (in a professional capacity) are not for idle chit-chat, they are intended to connect with industry think-tanks and technical gurus who can indicate trends, guide on best practice and deliver potential solutions for the most demanding of workplace challenges. Getting it right can pay serious dividends and nobody has the time to use them all!
LinkedIn is arguably the best known professional networking platform, as indicated by 200 million registered users. However, the unerring popularity of Facebook and Twitter mean that both of these social media giants also boast sizeable engineering groups.
Lesser known perhaps is the growing number of specialist online networking sites dedicated to engineers, such as the Engineering Exchange, Engineering.com, element14 and CR4, to name but a few. More manageable in size and navigation, these claim to offer more targeted resources for the engineering community.
To get a comprehensive list of online social networking opportunities available for engineers, download our free eBook.
If we have missed any social sites that you think are beneficial, let us know and we will add them to the list.
