Most people think of LinkedIn primarily as a job board, but when used strategically, the platform can be an excellent planning, lifelong-learning, networking, and visibility-building tool to help you advance your career.
LinkedIn is a powerful career development tool for
individuals at any stage of their career, including senior high school
students, professionals from graduate to executive level, creatives,
contractors, consultants, and business owners.
Over the last twelve months, we have seen upheaval in the
job market and a loss of jobs spanning all levels and from across multiple
industries. There has been no other time that has better highlighted the
importance of good personal branding and having an established and nurtured
network that you can turn to in tough times. LinkedIn is a tool that allows for
just that, the opportunity to nurture existing relationships, to build new
networks and to create a strong personal brand.
LinkedIn has gone through some exciting changes to keep up
with the challenges facing jobseekers. It now has more than 756 million active
members across 200 countries, with usage on the site only continuing to
increase.
If you have been debating about setting up a LinkedIn
profile, or have a profile that doesn’t get much love, then here are 8 reasons
why you should be investing some more time in LinkedIn:
Job search functionality
Recruiters and employers now use LinkedIn extensively to
source candidates either via advertising positions on the LinkedIn job board or
by actively searching for suitable candidates who match keywords. If you are in
the market for a new position, then you really should be on LinkedIn to
increase your chances of securing your next role.
In addition, you can use LinkedIn as part of an active job
search strategy to identify target companies and hiring managers and go direct.
Many employers are keen to build their talent pool with direct applicants as it
reduces their advertising and recruitment costs so always go direct where you
can, especially if you have a mutual connection who can make an introduction
for you.
In addition, over 90% of recruiters now check to see if you
have a LinkedIn profile as part of the recruitment screening process.
Therefore, a professional, complete and compelling profile that is consistent
with your resume and clearly outlines your relevant experience, skills and
achievements is an absolute must.
To get discovered
LinkedIn is also a hunting ground for recruitment agencies
and talent acquisition managers who are looking for ‘passive’ candidates (i.e.
people happy in their jobs and not actively looking) who have specialist skills
or expertise. If you possess skills that are in demand, then by having a
complete and keyword optimised LinkedIn profile, you may well receive a tap on
the shoulder from a recruiter who has identified you as an attractive
candidate. In fact, in this article from Hootsuite,
they confirmed that 3 people get hired through LinkedIn every minute.
Maintaining your network
“Your network is your net worth. How do you value your
network? Well, if you don’t value it, cultivate it, nurture it, it becomes
worthless. If you do value it, it becomes priceless” Robert G Allen
One of the greatest advantages of LinkedIn is the ability to
reconnect with people from your past such as school friends, university alumni
or ex-colleagues, clients and bosses. Even when someone changes jobs, or even
countries, LinkedIn has the search functionality to help you find them again.
If you experience a sudden redundancy, job loss or are
returning to work after a career break, it is these relationships that will
often be instrumental in helping you find that next role.
Expanding your network
Whilst maintaining and nurturing your network is important,
career success also comes from continuing to expand your network. LinkedIn is a
great networking tool, particularly if you are someone who doesn’t find the
traditional networking methods agreeable. For those who are a little more
introverted, LinkedIn allows them to build connections in a more subtle way
through engaging in conversations online, sharing content or congratulating
someone in their network on a promotion or business win.
Research capability
Another great feature of LinkedIn is its powerful research
capability which the majority of users are not even aware of. Not only can
LinkedIn be used by recruiters and talent acquisition managers, but it also
offers great research capability for jobseeker’s keen to do their due diligence
on potential employers or hiring managers. Users can conduct keyword searches
with a number of different filters to find specific job functions within
organisations which allows for jobseekers to go direct to the hiring manager
rather than waiting for that perfect role to appear on job boards.
Personal branding
LinkedIn also offers the perfect platform for members to
raise their profile within their current organisation and their industry
sector. LinkedIn allows the sharing of content as well as the opportunity
for users to write posts or publish articles or videos to showcase their work.
By consistently sharing useful and relevant information with your followers,
you may just start to be noticed by the decision-makers in your industry.
Commercial acumen
LinkedIn is also a fabulous way to learn about different
industries, companies and key players. By ‘following’ companies or persons of
interests and joining industry groups, you can learn a lot about what is
happening in your industry. LinkedIn allows you to stay up-to-date with changes
and trends affecting your industry, whether it is a new appointment, a company
takeover or an update on a client or colleague changing jobs. For university
students looking for the edge when it comes to graduate recruitment, LinkedIn
is highly recommended for this reason alone.
To grow your business
The online world is all about content creation and LinkedIn
has recently introduced LinkedIn
Creator Mode to directly support that. The aim of creator mode is to
help individuals grow their audience and has been designed especially for
freelancers, business owners and consultants who can now display their services
on their LinkedIn page. Activating these services enables you to become visible
through searches on LinkedIn
Marketplace, a new
feature reportedly being launched later this year similar to freelance
marketing platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.
In addition, LinkedIn’s research capability offers business
owners, contractors and consultants a great tool for identifying new leads or
referral partners. In fact, Hubspot found
that LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and
Twitter.
As you can see, there are a huge number of benefits to being on LinkedIn and it is much more than just a social media tool. Even spending five to seven minutes a day on LinkedIn can make a big difference to you advancing or future-proofing your career.
Go Beyond the Basics With LinkedIn to Advance Your Career
To get the most out of LinkedIn, start by thinking
strategically about your career goals. Then find ways to use the platform’s
more-advanced features, like network building and blogging, to achieve them.
Here are some tips and tactics for using LinkedIn in a more
advanced way.
Lay a solid foundation. Be sure your profile is
up to date, supports your current career goals, and is consistent with any
other online professional profiles you may have. For LinkedIn to work
optimally, your profile needs to be at “all star” or “complete” status. This
means that, at a minimum, you’ve included a photo, your location, industry,
education, current work position and description, two past positions, and
skills, and you’ve made at least 50 connections.
Also, complete these sections:
- the
“About” section, where you can add some personality and convey who you are
as well as your career aspirations
- the
skills and accomplishments sections, where you can display your skill
set—including any new skills you’ve developed—highlight important achievements,
and provide links to or upload examples of your work that illustrate your
expertise
Make sure you use relevant keywords associated with the
function or industry you’re interested in so you can “be found” for career
opportunities that support your goals.
Study others’ career paths. Often, those
beginning their careers or at a mid-career crossroads find themselves asking:
What do I want to do next? What are my options? With more than 100 million
professionals posting profiles, LinkedIn makes a superb research tool for
learning about the career paths that professionals in other occupations or in
more senior roles have taken. Reviewing profiles with an eye toward learning
about the daily responsibilities of people in the types of jobs you’re interested
in—as well as the variety of career paths those professionals took to get to
their current role—can give you some ideas for next steps in your own journey.
Join groups for professional development. One of
the best ways to learn the latest skills and trends in your profession is by
joining some of the more than 2 million active LinkedIn groups (such as the
ASAE group). These are forums composed of people sharing a common profession,
industry, or civic or other interest. The key is to be an active participant;
you can enhance your learning by engaging. Share information and opinions on
professional hot topics or reach out to talk shop and tap into others’
expertise.
Networking Strategy Guide
Click here to
download the author's free LinkedIn networking strategy guide with sample
questions for informational interviews, templates to help you reach out to new
connections, and other tools and tips for better networking.
Expand your network. You probably know that you
should start building your LinkedIn network by inviting your current and past
colleagues (your first-level connections) to connect. This is where many people
stop. To take full advantage of LinkedIn’s networking power and expand your
reach, build your second-level connections by asking your first-level
connections to introduce you to people in their networks. Also reach out to
your association’s vendors and members. Make it worth another person’s while to
connect with you by sharing pointers or information that can help you both
reach your goals.
Build visibility by posting articles. By sharing
articles about your areas of interest or expertise, or by writing them yourself
with the blogging feature, you can use LinkedIn to help you raise your
professional visibility. Writing or sharing useful content can help you become
known as a reliable resource and subject matter expert, which can position you
as someone ready to transition to a new, more challenging role inside or
outside your organization.
Maintaining a current and active online presence with LinkedIn can have many career benefits.