In terms of building your profile, the tools are there to really help you build your profile. But what's really important is that you be putting on your profile the things that advance where you're trying to go to. Yes it's important to fill in the information about your past but do it with a mind about where you're trying to go to. In a sense, building your profile online is very much like building your résumé, and you should be thinking very similarly about what you want your resume to accomplish for you when you hand that to a person. This would be what do you want your profile to accomplish for you when someone goes to look at it.

Then, I would, encourage you to explore and make use of the tools that the various online networking sites offer. First and foremost, being the ability to search their databases, for other members who can be great networking contacts for you. You can search by function, by company name, by geography, zip code and then, request a radius very tight around the zip code that you are interested in to identify people who are in that area. Some other tools that are available would be things like a recommendation tool, which, again, is one of the tools on Linked In, that enables them to reach out to your network, have them comment on you and your skills and your work. Also, for you to do the same for them. And through that you're building your profile for others who might come to look at it and can get to know you and your skill set through the recommendations of others. And, finally, some of the sites also allow you to post onto your profile things that further enhance your profile in terms of who you are and what you have to offer. For example, you can, use an application feature on Linked In as a way to post your resume or to post maybe brochure if you're starting a business, about your business and who it's targeted to, and what products are being offered, et cetera. So, they are very, very robust tools and the best way to learn about them is really to explore the sites and start to learn about what they have to offer.