Networking
Kaplan University
October 23, 2012
IT-331

Prof: Scott Paetzold There are endless amount of networking sites available online that any individual can join in hopes to gain opportunities and maintain their career goals. These sites can differ heavily in popularity and focus; most are free but there are many that charge annual fees to join. The choice in whether or not to join a free site or pay site depends heavily on the individual and what he/she is looking to achieve. The free sites offer many benefits that are appealing to a lot of people but the sites with fees offer much more information and learning opportunities. The fee-based sites have many advantages that free sites cannot offer. These sites offer a wide range of benefits and opportunities that any member can take advantage of. Though it costs to join these sites, the membership fee is often very low compared to the amount of benefits that are offered. Additionally, these benefits are much more focused on one area of interest (such as IT), giving the user much more information than most free sites can offer. These fees-based sites offer professional trends, conferences, publications, job listings, product discounts, mentoring, and most even have an interactive learning center to help build your knowledge in your career focus area (Denham, 2011). There are also many networking sites that can be joined for free that are very popular and useful. One such site is LinkedIn. This site has become very popular for networking professionals but lacks in benefits compared to fee based sites. In this site you can network with professionals in the same area of interest, ask questions, and research some information on your career. It seems that most free sites are used to stay in touch with people you know in hopes to get referred for a job opportunity. “Although some people use the site for job searches and recruitment, it mainly helps you to get in touch with past colleagues and potential clients, and expand your professional network” (MindTools, 2011). In conclusion, the best site to join is up to the individual. The fee-based sites offer many benefits that are worth the minimal charge. One can also join the free site as well and see what both sites have to offer and later stick to the one that they feel is best for the individual. The fee-based sites are so much more focused that they should be the best for developing and moving forward in there career path. In the end, isn’t it worth the thirty-five dollars to have the best opportunities to obtain your goals?

References
Denham, T. J. (2011). Participating in Professional Associations. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from About.com: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/association.htm
MindTools. (2011). Using LinkedIn Effectively. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from MindTools: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/linkedin.htm