LinkedIn is a very dynamic tool and with effective utilization can help achieve your professional goals- for a job search, building and growing your business, or attracting top talent. Here are a few tips to help build your LinkedIn presence:
1 – Complete your profile.
Without a completed profile, what is there for people to see? How will they know what you have to offer, or your value proposition? You want visitors to know what you are about, your skills, and expertise. Let them know about projects you’ve worked on or patch them through to blog posts you’ve written. Use LinkedIn’s plethora of apps to advertise your portfolio of work or list of products. Use references to build credibility, endorsements to further validate your specific expertise, and your headline to build your brand.
2 – Expand your network and let it work for you!
All of your direct connections through to your third and fourth degree connections and additionally those connections through the groups you’ve joined, provide a network of opportunity. It is this network that is made aware of any status updates you provide, questions you might have answered, comments to a discussion, or during a specific search flags your profile as a top and closely connected candidate. It is through your connections, that you can have people flocking to your profile to see what you have to offer and the value you bring.
3 – Become active.
Providing status updates through your twitter feeds, blogs, white paper, or other media, can inform your network of recent changes or projects you’re working on. Your activity within groups, whether as part of a discussion, collecting information using a poll, or using the Q&A forum all embed and transmit information through your network, thereby creating a presence and a brand.
It is not necessary to be on LinkedIn every day to be active and build that presence. But at the same time, when your network is made aware of new bits of information you might have to share every week or two, what you are doing is building a presence in their world, in their network. And that presence and visibility will in turn work for you.
Thank you to our resume expert, Jasmine Marchong, for this article and the resume tips.
