My first article for msnbc.com. addresses a topic that aligns two of my main interests: careers and social media.

Every unemployed person I interviewed for the piece had a LinkedIn profile prior to their layoff but hadn’t developed it sufficiently. They were making up for lost time quickly. But still, it’s difficult to pull together good recommendations in a rush. A good profile is best phased in over time.

The moral of the story is to feather your nest before you need it.

With the considerable aid of Jason Alba and Alison Doyle, the article addresses important questions such as:

• What can your contacts do for you?
• How do you approach people in a social networking group?
• What’s the right size network of connections for you?
• Should your profile disclose your unemployed status?
• Does it make more sense to start out on Facebook or LinkedIn or do both?

My piece on this topic is available on msnbc.com.