Finding a job on LinkedIn Groups: Amanda Sundt, iExplore

This post belongs to a continuing LinkedIn Blog series on users who beat the odds in today's economy, by winning jobs or closing business deals through relationships built on LinkedIn. Today's story is syndicated from the Wall Street Journal's Laid off and Looking blog, which chronicles the experience of eight job seekers who've been recently laid off.

Amanda Sundt replaced Brian Murphy, as one of eight out-of-work professionals who blogged their job hunt experience in the Wall Street Journal. Little did she know that soon she'd be making her last blog post contribution, thanks to a job she found on LinkedIn Groups.

I found my new job through participating in an industry group on the professional networking site LinkedIn. The CEO saw my resume and sent me a note as I mentioned before saying he had heads up about the layoffs at my former employer and wondered if I was interested in the open position at his firm.

Once Amanda found her new job she recounts her aha moment, how it made her a believer in professional networking and the importance of building your network before you need it.

I will continue to be active on LinkedIn, and will accept and extend invitations to networking lunches and other events because I have realized that you cannot turn your network on and off depending on your job status. At the end of day, we all really work for one employer—ourselves. So it is essential to make time to maintain and grow your network to prepare for whatever may lie ahead.

At the end of the day, I realize that I had to pursue all channels available to me to find my next opportunity. And after this experience, I am determined that I will continue to invest time and effort in growing my network and assisting those who need help finding their next opportunity.

Read the rest of Amanda's job hunt lessons here.