LinkedIn is different. While being open to everyone, it clearly focuses on professionals and has done so since day 1. Thus, LinkedIn is the place to be active when you want to work on your own brand as a professional when you want to meet other people from the same industry and to boost your reputation. That doesn’t mean you won’t see pictures of cats on LinkedIn. It just means you shouldn’t post any!
If, like me, you want to use LinkedIn professionally and create a good impression that can later help you in your career, here are some essential tips you should always remember.
*Use LinkedIn permanently (not just during job searches)
How often are you on LinkedIn? Most people are much more active when they’re looking for a job, but the truth is that LinkedIn is much more than a “hunting ground” for recruiters.
Any potential employer or partner will easily discern between people who are only active when looking for a job and those who show they are constantly up to date with their industry, by posting relevant content and engaging with content posted by others.
LinkedIn is an essential, permanent tool to use to grow your career, and it should be used the reflect your progress throughout the years.
It’s essential to engage and interact with your professional community – keep on reading to learn how!
*Work for relevant connections
It’s important to always remember the “social” in “social media”. Just like in a real-life networking event, on LinkedIn, you won’t only talk to people you already know – although, randomly adding people you don’t know can backfire.
What you should do? LinkedIn offers special tools that you won’t find on any platform, for things like creating introductions, recommendations, and finding people with common interests. So work towards those connections you want to have, by engaging with their connections in groups and on posts; make sure your name is visible in the right circles before hitting that “Connect” button.
Don’t be afraid to ask people you already know to introduce you to someone else. It may be a little awkward, but it’s better than just showing up uninvited and ringing the doorbell.
Once you’ve had some positive, public interactions with someone you don’t directly know in “real life”, it’s perfectly acceptable to add them, especially in the age of online.
*Help others in your industry
Do you have a role model in your industry? What are they doing on LinkedIn?
Look at what your favorite industry leader is doing on LinkedIn and try to see if that approach would make sense for you. Keep in mind – some people, especially at higher levels of management, have invested a lot in that “simple” presence, including paying others to do research, hiring copywriters, organizing professional photoshoots, and so on.
Much less expensive is simply being active, always speaking like a professional, and sometimes lending a helping hand to someone in your industry. That can mean asking for other people’s opinions and listening, being active in industry groups on LinkedIn, answering some questions when others need advice, and generally giving back to the community you’re part of. It might even mean willingly and openly discussing some case studies from your experience (remember, what you post anywhere on the Internet is public forever, so take care of those confidential numbers!).
*Use it as a professional branding tool
When people search for you on Google, would you rather they see your professional expertise or photos from a party 10 years ago? A professionally curated profile will show up in search results – and the best part is, you control the content by controlling what you post.
Most employers will head directly to a LinkedIn profile if it shows up in search results for your name, as they already believe it to be the best place for professional content. By meeting those expectations, you’ve already done a lot of work. Remember: Control not just your content, but also your connections. LinkedIn is a place where those connections matter.
*Create a list of professionals to follow
LinkedIn is an amazing learning tool. Of course, there’s a whole section dedicated to learning which I would encourage you to discover, but the main thing is that you can learn by following the right people. There are influencers on LinkedIn, as well – people who are well-known in their line of work, and who constantly post relevant content regarding that field. As they are interested in being visible, they are a great resource, many times posting content you won’t find elsewhere.
Don’t be afraid to share what you find useful and (I can’t stress this enough!) amplify the original message by adding your own professional perspective on the issue at hand. LinkedIn has discovery tools to help you find people to follow from various industries that are relevant to you, which means you have an easy way to stay up to date.
By sharing relevant content and your own comments to your network, you will in time create your own following, and when a prospective employer or partner will look at your profile, they’ll see a history of posts that display your expertise.
To conclude, on LinkedIn, there’s one golden rule: keep it professional. Don’t go into politics, football, religion, your family troubles, or anything else you would not talk about during a real-life work meeting in front of others (unless you have a very specific strategy in mind).
While sharing a hobby, a good book, and even a picture of your pet once in a while is not completely forbidden, always keep in mind that LinkedIn is “for work”. So talk about what that hobby encourages you to do, what you learned from that book, and maybe show the doggo in your office “trying to help with work”, not in your bedroom trying to get under the covers.
You can always find a professional to help you with your LinkedIn profile, but keep in mind you’re entrusting someone else with your professional future. So make sure they are someone you trust, and you’re confident you can work with.
Are you interested in LinkedIn? Is your company there, but finding it hard to recruit or to always come up with new content? Hey Social is here to help!
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