Other than LinkedIn, what social networks should I be leveraging for effective professional networking? (ie Twitter, Google+)

For G+ (or for Facebook), you should make a choice. They both allow you to have separate channels of communication, but even so the most savvy people I know tend to carve out one or the other for professional vs. personal.

A caveat is that when a person, company, etc decides to check in on you, your personal postings may well appear on their radar. I know quite a few people who use nym's for personal postings just that reason (granting that G+ forbids this).

Being out-front on a place like Proformative (which is a professional network) is good. LinkedIn Groups are similar...so be sure to leverage the depth of LinkedIn, not just the surface connections.

Quorum is another general one...and there are a few more "I want to be FB, but without the ads" networks. Those may be less impactful due to their limited scope.

Your schools and professional organizations usually have one. Check.

There are finally the semi-commercial, semi-network arenas like VentureBeat...those depend on the community you're targeting.

End of the day, there is networking and there is branding. To network you need a network effect and an investment in time. Both are limited possibilities, so focusing on branding and marketing to bring others into your networks is, I think, your most valuable approach.

KP

My advise to a friend who was just laid off.

1. Put a complete profile on LinkedIn
A. Participate in groups (but I'm not sold on this feature)

2. Network, network and then NETWORK. Find groups (professional associations, networking groups that compliment your professional life, friends, acquaintanceship's etc).

3. Use recruiters, but don't as a single minor element in your job search, not as the major element as in years past.

4. Use Monster and other boards, see number 3.

5. Did I say network?

Twitter allows you to essentially track individuals you may be looking to network with (industry leaders, investors, etc), if they are on and tweet, which allows you to find what events they might be attending and when.

I suggest people using LinkedIn also open a Twitter account and put your ID on the LinkedIn profile. More social sites that have good uses are both Facebook and Google+, both of which I use. Other social media tools use depend on the individual's needs and business goals.

I believe that what you use (social networks) depends on your career plan. Not every tool makes sense for every finance executive ... but certain tools make perfect sense. Once you you know your target audience and what your next career steps are, it's much easier to identify the best strategies/tools.

The use of Facebook was asked of three senior recruiters yesterday at an FEI meeting. They all said that FB is only for personal use. They will check it after you are a candidate, as part of their vetting, but they won't look for you there.