It’s hard to believe that LinkedIn is now over 10 years old. Quickly outgrowing its modest beginnings in a Palo Alto living room, LinkedIn has grown to become the online destination for over 380 million professionals around the globe. Originally conceived as a networking site to connect professionals, LinkedIn has far exceeded its modern rolodex roots by dramatically shifting the way businesses and individuals connect, create opportunities, share information and discover talent.
Today, LinkedIn plays part connector, part newsfeed and part idea generator, and provides a range of features to help professionals accelerate their careers. Of these features, LinkedIn’s groups are one of the most popular and powerful tools to help professionals join discussions, learn industry trends and find other professionals.
LinkedIn Groups Targeting AEC Professionals
For AEC professionals, there are hundreds of groups and subgroups that cover everything from sustainability, health and safety to BIM and other new technologies shaping the business. Here are five I believe every AEC professional should join:
ARCHITECT
The official LinkedIn group of Architect magazine, and boasting over 120,000 members, the ARCHITECT group and its small practice subgroup provide an excellent venue to connect, exchange ideas and discuss industry issues with other design professionals.
REVIT Architecture Group
At 30,000 members strong, the REVIT Architecture Group is the LinkedIn source for discovering the latest REVIT updates and sharing lessons learned and innovations about the technology with other members. The group’s Revit Structure Users subgroup is also worth regular monitoring.
BIM (Building Information Modeling) and Architecture, Engineering & Construction Projects and Jobs
Created back in early 2009, BIM and Architecture, Engineering & Construction Projects and Jobs has grown to include over 40,000 members and focuses on providing its members with global networking opportunities and job placements specializing in BIM and industry disciplines spanning planning, design, construction, operation, management, consultancy and technology.
Construction Professionals Forum
Aimed at commercial construction professionals, Construction Professionals Forum aims to serve as a networking and idea sharing platform. Its nearly 70,000 member base includes engineers, administrative professionals, craft professionals, vendors and other construction professionals.
Construction Management
Another great group for construction professionals, Construction Management has an active membership (120,000 in total) that use the group as a forum to regularly discuss trends and issues within the industry.
This is of course just a small start given the range of AEC groups on LinkedIn but it serves as a good starting point. If you haven’t joined any LinkedIn AEC groups to date, dive into the above as a base. Your career may just thank you for it.
Photo: seewhatmitchsee/Shutterstock.com
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