LinkedIn is the most popular professional networking platform online today. 70M+ people have profiles on LinkedIn and countless organizations use it to promote their brand, work culture and advertise for job openings. It is safe to say that it is an important resource for building your network, sourcing new career opportunities and augmenting your professional brand.
There are many resources online on how to leverage your presence on LinkedIn, let us provide you a quick and simplified guide to managing it in order to benefit you:
1. Keep things simple
If you are struggling to optimize your profile, try taking some time to look at other professionals who are in similar career paths, sectors or positions you are in. See what content they are putting up and what groups they are following and a part of. Try not to copy them but take some pointers from several good profiles and use them as templates for your own.
2. Always connect with people
If you don’t use LinkedIn much up to this point, this is a great opportunity to start growing your network. Simply start with a list of people that you know, if you haven’t already connected with them, send out quick invites. If they know you well already (offline) this is a great start to building your first-degree network pool. Next, send out connection invites to others. Perhaps managers of companies you want to work for or even recruiters that are specialists in your sector.
3. Share relevant and true content
Even if you aren’t big on sharing content, make an effort on finding and sharing industry-related posts or maybe positive posts onto your feed. Be sure to write something about your experience or maybe a positive interaction you had. Share and use hashtags. Even doing this for a short period can be a boon to you when you are looking for a job because you are being active and showing your brand. Make sure you are getting information from reputable sources.
4. Provide others with recommendations
It is an easy thing to do but may provide people within your network a chance to beef up their own recommendations. Doing so can build goodwill amongst your contacts and even get others to perhaps write recommendations for you.
5. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s resources
LinkedIn has grown to such an extent that there are countless opportunities for you to develop expertise through LinkedIn-based courses and glean knowledge on industry-specific groups. LinkedIn courses can provide some great insights into methodologies, best practices and intro to certifications. Be sure to engage and comment in relevant LinkedIn groups and tag others. When people and organizations view your profile, they will see you are active and diligent in building relationships.