Can your PLN be relied upon to open professional opportunities? Can your PLN be used to help professional development post-course?

As of right now, my PLN cannot be relied upon to open professional opportunities, and this is something I must actively work on. I think there are two main reasons for this, one of which being the lack of effort I had previously put into building a professional PLN. I have built my digital identity and PLN around who I am as a person, my friends, and interests outside of education. This allows my PLN to successfully foster interpersonal relationships, but does not facilitate professional opportunities. As many of my friends are still currently in school, or not in school at all I have very few connections to others in my field. However, in the next few years as my personal contacts graduate and embark upon professional careers, the number of opportunities will increase. For example, I have many friends who are about to graduate and become teachers, thereby creating a bi-directional professional relationship. As I will soon graduate and enter into the field of psychology, we will be able to further foster our connection from simply personal to include professional. Another main reason for the lack of professional opportunity within my PLN as of right now is the lack of education around making this possible. Perhaps I have not been seeking this information out, but prior to this course, I had no idea how social media and my PLN could be used in a professional context. In my psychology degree, we are taught the concepts, and diagnoses, and treatment but we are not taught how to navigate the professional world. The fact is that the majority of professional opportunities will come from connections built upon social media, but we are not given the tools to do so. Through this course however, I have learned just how integral social media can be in facilitating professional connections and how to utilize one’s PLN in this context. This work is something I aim to continue post-course, and hope to have a PLN that truly can help my professional development.