1. Meetup
Meetup is a cool platform that allows you to seek out (or create!) local meetups. When you register, you mark your interests.
Meetup will then notify you of any local meetups that you might be interested in, as they are created. The meetups span a wide variety of topics from professional topics to hobbies and everything between.
If you don’t find one that you’re interested in, or one that works with your schedule, you can set one up and Meetup will notify anyone that has identified your topic as something that is of interest to them.
It’s a great way to bring like-minded people together, locally.
2. Xing
Xing is a professional network that is similar to LinkedIn. After signing up, you can join groups with like-minded professionals to network and share ideas.
You can stay on top of the latest news in your industry and identify relevant seminars, conferences, and tradeshows.
You can post jobs, search jobs, and research companies. Xing is more prominent in Europe than in the U.S., but is used by people in over 200 countries.
It is free to use but you can unlock additional features with a premium membership, similar to LinkedIn.
3. Bark
Bark is designed to connect local professionals with people who are seeking their services.
Looking for a professional’s assistance? You can cut down on search time by using Bark.
Bark will reach out to professionals in your area and circle back with estimates. Even more valuable, you can set up your own profile and be paired with prospects that are seeking out the services that you offer.
4. Opportunity
Opportunity is a networking site that prides itself on “professional matchmaking.” It strives to connect people based upon their needs.
For instance, users can be notified each time someone in their target market indicates that they need what the user offers.
Likewise, users can be notified of relevant employment opportunities. In addition, professionals can discover other professionals based upon the preferences they select (e.g., age, gender, interests, personality).
5. Jobcase
Jobcase is pretty unique in that it has been powering over 100 popular job sites since 2009.
Because of that, Jobcase has access to a wealth of data about open roles and the companies that are currently hiring for roles that you might be interested in.
So how does it work?
With Jobcase, you can set up a profile and get access to a huge database of jobs. In addition, you can join groups, or peruse the community to participate in discussions.
Jobcase boasts over 80 million users, so there are plenty of discussions to join in on!