LinkedIn is the most useful social network for finding a job and making professional contacts, but it's not enough to just be on it: you have to know how to use it. We all want to be on LinkedIn
The data from 2021 tells us that LinkedIn has more than 830 million registered users worldwide, making it the most popular professional social network of the moment. Its usefulness, contrary to what it may seem at first, goes far beyond transferring our traditional resume to the web. LinkedIn, like any good social network, connects professionals in the same sector and helps connect people actively seeking employment with companies that need them. But there's more: LinkedIn is a tool that allows us, as we said, to connect with like-minded professionals (networking) and find job opportunities, but also to read and share interesting content related to our industry, find training that is useful to improve our resume with LinkedIn Learning, and ultimately create our own personal brand or professional identity. It currently has more than 58 million included companies and, according to the data from the 2021 Social Media Use study by Pew Research Center, 87% of recruiters regularly work with this website. Let's see 7 tips to get the most out of this incredibly useful network:
1. Complete your LinkedIn profile
It may seem obvious, but it is too common to find profiles with little information about the owner. We must remember that the more details we provide, the more likely we are to be found in searches. There is information that should never be missing from our profile if we want being on LinkedIn to be useful. We must provide information about our previous jobs, the current position if we have one, our level of education and that we have
eTítulo to certify it, the main
skills and knowledge we have, languages we speak, specialties or courses we have studied. The photo is also important on this network and, although no one should hire us or not based on our appearance (unless we are models or actors), and although it is usually recommended not to include it on the resume, being this a social network, the image does play a big role. The most advisable thing is to take a photo with neutral clothing and a clear background with a natural pose. Nothing that looks too forced.
Here they explain how the ideal photo should be to complete our profile.
2. Start building your network of contacts
If we have just landed on LinkedIn, we can use the
contact search tool offered by the platform. If we already have our closest circle added, we can start finding people using the advanced search system. The criteria we can use to find new contacts can be related to the sector, position, company, or location to define our target. Second-level contacts are those who, although not part of our network, are part of the network of one of our contacts. In addition to focusing our searches on specific sectors, the value of second-level profiles lies in the fact that we have someone in common who, if necessary, can refer or introduce us.
3. Save searches and create alerts
This option, unknown to many users, can be really useful. We have already defined our target, selected the selection criteria, and made our first contacts. Now we need to keep up with the new additions to the platform. How? By saving the search by clicking on the button in the image. LinkedIn will periodically notify us of new profiles.
4. Request and give recommendations
No one can speak better of us than those who have been our coworkers. LinkedIn allows us to publicly know and display those opinions as part of our profile. Coworkers, former university professors, former employers... their verdict adds authenticity to our good professional work. If we don't have professional experience yet, there's nothing to worry about, our classmates and teachers can validate certain skills that we put in the profile, and little by little, we will have more contacts and experience. It is important to remember that, as in any social network (online or offline), helping others also helps ourselves.
5. Participate in interest groups
We can explore the
directory of existing groups, use the group suggestions tool, or create our own group (public or private). The really important thing about this tool is that it allows us, easily and quickly, to connect with people in our own sector and interests. In this sense, it is very common to find job offers and special discounts for members of certain groups.
6. Share content on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the right place to post content that may be too specific for other social networks. Our climbing partner or high school buddy who we go out for beers with may not be interested in whether a new polymer has been developed that reduces the cost of dental prosthesis production, but our LinkedIn contacts will be interested. In addition to giving visibility to our profile, it will position us as someone passionate, cutting-edge, and ultimately, an expert in our field.
7. Link your blog and (maybe) social networks to LinkedIn
If someone discovers our profile and is interested, they may look for us on other social networks. We can save them the trouble by linking them to LinkedIn, but we have to review carefully to see if so much information is not going to be counterproductive. It may happen that we are true professionals, that we are passionate about our work, and yet we use Instagram to post pictures of us partying with a few too many drinks. We may also use that network to show off with scant clothing or use Facebook to express political opinions. If that's the case, it's better not to link anything, make everything private, and, by the way, change the name that appears in searches if it coincides with the one we have put on LinkedIn. In summary:
only link our social networks if they give a good professional image of us. If we have a blog, it's more of the same. A blog that talks about issues unrelated to our sector and where we write personal opinions can harm us professionally. On the other hand, one in which we write about our work or related issues can be great for gaining followers and finding companies that want to work with us.
