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

• On Startups – The Community For Entrepreneurs
• Startup Specialists
• Bright Ideas & Entrepreneurs
• Private Equity and Venture Capital Group

Consulting

• Consultants Network
• Worldwide Management Consultants

Marketing & Communications

• Marketing & Communication Network
• Public Relations and Communications Professionals
• Marketing Executives Group
• Innovative Marketing, PR, Sales, Word-of-Mouth & Buzz Innovators
• Advertising Professionals
• Online Advertising Professionals
• Social Media Marketing

Sales & Business Development

• ! Sales Best Practices
• SalesBlogcast.com

Product & Brand Management

• 280 Group: Product Management & Product Marketing
• CPG Supergroup!
• CPGpeople

Finance & Accounting

• Finance Club
• Finance Industry Professionals Worldwide
• FinancePlus

Business Intelligence & Information Technology

• Business Intelligence & Analytics Group
• Business Intelligence Professionals
• IT Specialist Group
• The IT Architect Network

Project Management

• Project Manager Networking Group
• Project Management Community

Operations

• Supply Chain Today
• Procurement Professionals
• Lean Six Sigma

Human Resources

• Linked:HR
• H.R. Professionals

Industry Specific

• GreenBiz.com — Green Business Professionals
• Telecom Professionals
• Biotech & Pharma Professionals Network
• Media Professionals Worldwide
• Event Peeps: For Live Event Industry Professionals
• Retail Industry Professionals Group
• Travel & Tourism Industry Professionals Worldwide
• Sports Industry Network™

Special Interest

• Women For Hire
• National Black MBA Association
• NSHMBA
• National Association of Women MBAs

Career Search & Development

• Career Rocketeer – Career Launch Network
• Career Central – Sponsored by reCareered.com

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.

Related articles

• Six@Six: Building and Leveraging LinkedIn Groups (bulletproofblog.com)
• LinkedIn groups: Have you joined the conversation? (marketing.yell.com)
• 4 Genius Ways to Use LinkedIn Group Statistics for Lead Gen (hubspot.com)