Top 50 LinkedIn Groups MBAs MUST Join*

Last month I was pleased to learn that MBA Highway, the premier career website for MBA degreed professionals, included our Professional Group, CPGPeople on their list of top 50 LinkedIn Groups for MBAs. Chris Perry, founder of MBA Highway has some great suggestions here for LinkedIn Groups n multiple disciplines, so I was pleased when he kindly permitted me to reprint his article in its entirety for you here.

Oh, and by the way, if you’ve not yet joined CPGpeople, do it now and invite your colleagues to do so as well! We are one of the most popular Groups on LinkedIn- now over 18,000 members and STILL growing! – Penny

Networking is one of the most important — if not the most important — activity that you can leverage throughout your career.

Because the majority of job opportunities are not publicly advertised, it becomes vital that you manage and grow your network of career stakeholders to ensure a healthy flow of support, information and potential job leads.

In today’s digital age, while in-person networking will always be important, many first impressions begin with an online search, making it even more essential that you be present, searchable and branded in everything you do online.

LinkedIn is the ideal place to start the process for several reasons:

LinkedIn is an interconnected network of over 120 million professionals (and growing) from around the world, representing 150 industries and 200 countries.

LinkedIn is highly ranked in Google and other search engines, and your LinkedIn profile is often in the top search results for your name.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online resume. Not only does your profile require your experience, education and credentials for 100% completion, but it is also where career stakeholders expect to find you and your professional information.

Your network of contacts is one of the most valuable assets you have to leverage throughout your career. While similar to other top social networking sites, LinkedIn is specifically designed to help you manage your professional network for your career and/or your business.

One LinkedIn feature many professionals overlook is LinkedIn Groups. LinkedIn Groups are free to join, and you can choose to join up to 50 groups from a list of thousands of user-created groups for literally just about anything. Not only do these groups provide you access to connect with and contact fellow group members who could become future partners, employees, investors, customers etc., but the groups’ discussion board can provide networking opportunities, job leads and insightful advice, tips and support.

While there are thousands of quality groups out there, here are the Top 50 LinkedIn Groups MBAs MUST Join to help build their brands and launch their careers:

MBA Specific

MBA Highway – MBA Job Search & Career Network

Entrepreneurship

Consulting

Marketing & Communications

Sales & Business Development

Product & Brand Management

Finance & Accounting

Business Intelligence & Information Technology

Project Management

Operations

Human Resources

Industry Specific

Special Interest

Career Search & Development

Academic & Professional Career

Your Graduate School/MBA Program Alumni LinkedIn Group
Your Undergraduate College Alumni LinkedIn Group
Your Past Employer’s LinkedIn Group

*These 50 groups are not listed in any particular order.

http://mbahighway.com/ MBA Highway is your MBA Job Search and Career Network, a career blog, resource and community exclusively for MBA students and MBA professionals across all industries, functional areas and career stages. MBA Highway brings together MBAs from across all industries, functional areas and career stages into a single community for mutual career benefit and success.