...to think that LinkedIn isn't so mum-friendly?

[semi]

I am a working mum with quite a few professional contacts on Linkedin and have found that most self-employed women/mumpreneurs I've spotted in the press haven't got a Linkedin profile. What's that all about? Don't virtual networks well lend themselves to busy mums? Or is it that we just don't like to share what we are up to? Talk about our successes/achievements?

Cutted
I'm not looking for a job, I'm looking to be able to pitch for work and Linkedin proves that although I work for myself now, that is on the back of a pretty good CV ...

I have to say it... but it is quite ironic to read so many mums barfing at the term "mumpreneur" while writing on a forum called "mumsnet"...

Yes...but Mumsnet is not comparible to Mumpreneur which is a hideous and patronising title....all it does is belittle female businesswomen who happen to be parents.

I post on Mumsnet using this name.
NOT my professional name and letters.

I post on Linkedin under my Maiden Name and Facebook under my Married Name.

Nuff said.

In my industry (work in Change for a bank) it is really useful. People move about so much because we work in projects and it is a really good way of keeping tabs on useful contacts. I am also contacted almost weekly by agencies with new vacancies. I am not looking for a new job at the moment but will use it when I'm searching for my next role.

I have "vetted" a fair few of our freelancers through LinkedIn. I check out the LinkedIn profiles of people I am going to see, or talk to. And their company profiles too. I have never offered anybody a "job" on LinkedIn, but people have been given freelance work from me (through the company I work for).

So for me LinkedIn is a very useful tool.

At the moment I am "nurturing" a relationship with the md of a creative web agency I am considering handing our business website over to.

LinkedIn is not a recruitment site, although by the looks of things it seems to go that way, as I have matched job descriptions related to my role daily.

sarahseashells it was a barclay's investment bank report published within the last 6 weeks or so showing that women entrepreneurs earn 14% more than their male counterparts within the UK.

I got my last job through LinkedIn. More useful than a herd of recruiters IMO. I've also generated sales leads from there in the past. A lot of the time it's just marketing and sales people shouting into the ether though.

I've never mentioned my child on there BUT I know someone who changed her job title to "stay at home mummy" once she'd had her child. I laughed a bit at that :)

has anyone linked to this yet (can't be arsed to read the whole thread)?

www.mumpreneuruk.com

thanks dolomites yes obviously the fact that women can in fact earn more than men under their own steam is a threat

I think it's no coincidence that now women who are entrepreneurial have to be reduced/belittled in this way

The phrase "busy mum" always makes me cringe, surely all mums busy by default?

Glad I cheered someone up today!

I don't dare click on tee/merguez's link...

I don't like the term "mumpreneur" - but even less do I like the sneering displayed on this thread. For those of you who have your own businesses - are you really turning away clients because they've jumped on this "mumpreneur" bandwagon? Their jam-smeared fivers not good enough for you? :(

We all have our preferred client - the ones who pay in full and on time (yes, I know there's more to it than that!) - but personally I don't ask mine to sit an IQ test and demand they reveal their mumsnet/netmums allegiance first!

Think you've misunderstood the thread, dolomite. It isn't sneering at any woman in business -- including women in parenting-related start-ups. It's sneering at the trivialization of women in business that happens when people use a cosy pigeon-holing neologism dooming businesswomen to be regarded always through the filter of their status as mothers.

I did take that bit in, I also took in the "sneery bits" about "cupcakes and bunting".

Personally I find the term 'mumpreneur' sneery.

I frickin' LOVE "ether of meh"

I'm on LinkedIn. I find it useful to get a quick view of someone before I meet them, make sure I can access their details after meeting them so don't have to save business cards etc.

I'm a mum.
I run a business.
But its the same business I ran before I became a Mum.
And accountancy was never particularly "fluffy".

DH is a Dad
He runs a business
His business IS centred around children.
Should he amend his Linkedin profile to call himself a Dadrepeneur?
Or just stay as a Company director?

I haven't got a job directly through LinkedIn, but I've referred others, so yes in some industries and professions you can get work through it.

I'm actually a little surprised if I'm reviewing a CV and can't find them on LinkedIn. So I guess that suggests it's way more common in my small bubble. (I usually cross-check CV with LinkedIn - sometimes you find the bloody recruiter has "helpfully" mangled it, sometimes you catch out someone who's forgotten to change profile to match current embroidered CV. Also if someone I trust has worked with them I might ask.)

I generally think of it as designed for recruiters (who pay for premium accounts) with a few features sprinkled in to make it attractive enough for the saleable product (ordinary users) to stick around. And the discussion forums are either dead or appalling.

'I also took in the "sneery bits" about "cupcakes and bunting".'

The sneering is at those who characterise female businesses as the above- and runs by 'busy mums'. Of course, perhaps there are millions of articles about dadtrepenurs and busy working dads running their 'little' businesses from their kitchen tables....

slightlysoupstained I think the discussion forums probably depend what industry you are in. The ones I'm linked to are quite busy & interesting but they tend to be around established professional groups.

Same here Wonky.

It's been very interesting to read here about the uses that people do make of LinkedIn. I've got a profile there, but because I was never sure whether LinkedIn was remotely relevant or useful for me, I haven't at all taken the trouble to build up a big list of contacts there (or friends or followers or whatever they are called on LinkedIn). So now I worry a little that having such a small set of connections makes me look weedy or bad. It seems from what some have said that the CV-type information on the profile is worth retaining, though, so probably not a good idea to delete membership altogether. Hmm. Not sure what to do. I hate the idea of scrabbling around for contacts to add.

Floaty - only add people you genuinely know and who you respect and are on the same wavelength work-wise because people will look at your contacts and judge you on them. If I see somebody has worked with lots of people I respect and enjoy working with then I think I will like working with that person. If they are connected to people I find 'difficult' then I might be more guarded with them.
I started with people I really liked from my previous teams/companies - it's a good way to stay in touch with people as if you only know them professionally you only have their work email and phone number and if they move on you can lose touch. In fact, almost everybody I have on there are previous teammates from old jobs but they've all moved to so many other places now that it's become a wide circle of connections.