With 500 million users, LinkedIn should be any professional’s go-to digital networking platform. On LinkedIn, users have the ability to connect with other professionals in or outside of their industries, find new jobs, get scouted for new jobs, join interest groups, and much more. To be effective on LinkedIn, you must have a strong profile and presence, so don’t be shy and feel free to showcase yourself in a manner worth getting noticed by other leaders on the site.
You have full bragging rights on LinkedIn. When creating or modifying your profile, ensure you are including all experience you feel is relevant to your current career goals. You’re not going to list your high-school babysitting gigs if you’re on track to become an electrical engineer. Once you list your past and current jobs, fill in your success stories. We all know you probably have some wicked administrative skills, but think outside the box when writing about your experience at each position. Try to remember specific success stories and objective results that you achieved.
Selfies won’t cut it if you’re trying to be a serious LinkedIn user or at least be taken seriously. Either invest or find a friend with a nice camera to take a quality, professional photo of you to use as your profile picture. Ensure the photo stands out and will entice users to view your profile.
The summary section is your chance to show other users viewing your profile that you’re not a résumé-producing robot. Yes, you want them to be impressed with your profile, but you also want to be relatable. Elaborate on your experiences and how they’ve shaped you as a professional and person. Show your ambitious side and talk about your career goals and how you plan to achieve them. The possibilities are endless—just make sure readers understand who you are as a person and what you can contribute as a professional.
Regularly share news, accomplishments, and some words of wisdom. Like any social platform, LinkedIn is meant to be interactive between users. Post on your main profile or spark discussion in a private group to maintain optimum visibility as an industry leader. Like the summary, your posts should be representative of your goals or interests as both a professional and a person.
In today’s world, having a digital presence is becoming increasingly more important every day. People are increasingly savvier and critical of how we’re using social media. Ensure your profiles, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, are all representative of your professionalism and personality in a respectful manner. Your LinkedIn may be great, but what happens when recruiters find you on Facebook and your old frat party pictures are front and center? Be consistent!
