LinkedIn is a professional networking and career development social network, in case you haven't heard of it. It's essentially an adult version of Facebook, and it's a fantastic way to expand your professional network, market yourself to potential employers, and get business expertise.
LinkedIn's aim is simple: to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful, and if you don't have a profile yet, you may be missing out!
To your network of connections, present and future employers, and recruiters, a full LinkedIn profile summarizes and showcases your professional expertise. You can use your profile to highlight your professional achievements, milestones, abilities, and hobbies, as well as show companies that you're available and eager to work. Without the help of social media, a professionally written LinkedIn profile can help you build an online identity that can help open doors to opportunities you may not have been aware of.
Having a LinkedIn profile is important since it can help you:
- Assist you in locating possible hiring managers, recruiters, clients, service providers, and subject matter experts, as well as getting introduced to them.
- Take control of the information about yourself that is publicly available.
- Make inner connections to gain access to the underground job market and land positions.
- Locate business prospects and prospective partners for entrepreneurial endeavours.
- Gain insights via private group talks with like-minded experts.
- To find talent for your firm, post and circulate job advertisements.
If you're thinking, "Wow!" If you think, "That's exactly what I need," now is the time to create your profile, if you don't already have one, and it's a really simple process..."
- To begin, select the appropriate profile image. This is your advertisement; it's how people learn about you and will have a big impact on how they perceive you. There are a lot of wonderful tutorials on how to choose the appropriate profile image, but to get started, make sure the picture looks like you and is high resolution, that your face makes up roughly 60% of the picture, that you wear what you want to wear to work, and that you smile with your eyes!
- Include a backdrop image. This is the profile's second most essential visual element. It's meant to catch your attention, establish the scene, and show you more about what you care about.
- Make your headline stand out from the crowd.
- Make your summary into a narrative. To begin, double-check that you have a summary! Don't just list your abilities or previous positions because this is your chance to express your narrative. Make sure you put in the effort because this is the most unique aspect of your personal branding. Because your CV is a historical account of your professional experience, it should be written in third person and past tense (save for your present job), whereas your LinkedIn profile is about you and should be written in first person. Use your synopsis to emphasize who you are and what you're known for - remember, someone is reading because you've piqued their interest! Add quotes, mention fundamental beliefs, and list accomplishments, but stay on track.
- Avoid using jargon. When people define themselves in CVs and interviews, they frequently utilize these adjectives. Simply stating important or great-sounding phrases will not persuade others that you have those traits; you must also display them. Check out this list of the most overused buzzwords to see which ones to avoid and which adjectives to use to set yourself out from the crowd.
- Syncing your LinkedIn profile with your email address book is one of the simplest and most effective ways to expand your LinkedIn network. LinkedIn can then recommend people to connect with who may be able to recommend or connect you. Another wonderful strategy to keep your network up to date is to make it a habit of following up on meetings and conversations with LinkedIn connection requests.
- Only include talents that are relevant! When identifying your areas of expertise, don't be modest; they'll help future employers locate you when they're looking for talent (if you need some help coming up with them, LinkedIn has a great list you can scroll through and select ones which are relevant to you.)
- If you provide a service, make sure to highlight it in the Services area of your profile to improve your search engine visibility.
- Request endorsements and recommendations. Other members' endorsements can help to validate the talents you've listed and boost your credibility. Identifying people in your network who you believe actually deserve an endorsement from you (employers, direct reports, peers, past supervisors) will often prompt them to return the favor, or send a courteous message asking for one, will help you expand your endorsement list. You may control which endorsements are visible and which are hidden in your endorsement list. Recommendations go a step farther than endorsements and are personal written testimonials from your network; you should aim for at least three to five recommendations.
- Follow, share, and comment on content that interests you. This will not only demonstrate your enthusiasm for your chosen industry or career, but it will also allow you to learn and participate actively in your network, as you will appear in your connections' LinkedIn feeds. Sharing is wonderful, but it's only the beginning! When you add comments to your shares, you earn more prominence in the feed, which allows you to provide value, and the more relevant individuals and businesses you follow, the more knowledge you gain.
- Name of your job, brief description of the company, your title, major tasks and accomplishments, and a short story about how you brought value should all be listed in chronological order and in a bulleted manner. Individuals whose previous performance had a beneficial impact on the organization attract hiring managers. With two lines for each of your past responsibilities, your current role should include the most information. People want to read something new, so don't just copy and paste from your CV! Logos for businesses are useful since they provide visual interest to your profile.
- Education and Significant Training should also be given chronologically, with the name of the institution, its location, the degree earned, and the dates of study.
How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn
- Have at least 75-100 connections to increase your visibility. When people are looking for talent, adding connections increases the likelihood that your profile will be noticed first.
- List your present or prior employers to improve your connectivity.
- Include your LinkedIn profile in your email signature so that people may discover more about you quickly.
- Because LinkedIn profiles have a high PageRank in Google, they can impact what people see when they search for you.
- Some of your contacts may be connected to people in firms or jobs that you are interested in; don't be hesitant to ask for introductions.
- Always keep your profile up to date and visible to the public, especially if you're looking for new employment.
Remember to put effort into developing your profile. Your LinkedIn profile will play a big part in your personal brand, and if you ignore it, you're not only selling yourself short, but you're also missing out on some great chances.
Now that you have mastered LinkedIn, why not create a profile on our Job Connector and be matched with potential employers?