LinkedIn is a wonderful platform full of endless networking opportunities. If used wisely, it can help advance your career and open great doors for you. It is a great tool for meeting new contacts in your area of expertise or industry. It is not only a platform for getting a job but, but also one to help grow your career and link you with the right people. I personally love LinkedIn because you rarely find personal posts about dinner plates, casual selfies, and inappropriate personal moments. Usually, you find inspiring content about individuals, products, and companies.
Take care of your professional digital brand
Your LinkedIn profile is as important as your CV! The only difference is that your CV is typically being sent to individuals, to recruiters, or as a job application, which has limited exposure. Yet your LinkedIn profile is open to the entire world around the clock. Moreover, LinkedIn is now considered the choice tool by recruiters and HR professionals.
Don’t miss out on great opportunities. Take care of your digital brand, after all the internet is the go-to place if someone needs information about you. Always keep in mind that not all social platforms are meant for the same purpose, use each platform appropriately because they are your digital representation.
You may want to revisit your LinkedIn profile and make sure that it is fully updated
Having a professionally taken headshot enhances your profile and makes it easier to be identified. To top it up, create an eye-catching headline, it should be a good description of what you do. The summary section should be your marketing piece, use it wisely. Your current and past positions should be clear and precise, don’t say too much; rather make them intriguing by including strong accomplishments. Relevant keywords for your profession should be included; this will assist in increasing your chances of coming up top when employers search for potential candidates.
Ask for recommendations, they serve as strong support for your candidacy because they come from people you have developed a good working relationship with, everything else you say in your LinkedIn profile comes from you. Belonging to several professional groups also enhances your professional image. Similarly, if you’ve received honours and awards, they should be listed. Customise your profile URL to make it short, easy to remember, and to fit on your business card. And finally, review your personal settings. There may be great qualifications and skills listed on your profile, but if you limit those you allow to view the profile, whom do you think is losing out?
Acquire meaningful connections
When building your network, focus on gaining meaningful connections that will yield better results; those that create value for both parties involved, such connections can easily blossom into lifelong relationships. Since LinkedIn is all about professional networking, a meaningful LinkedIn connection likely involves adding professional value on some level. It can be in the way of helping you to find that perfect job, providing advice and mentorship to boost your career, or giving you access to potential clients. Be active, authentic, and relevant. You can post articles, videos, and any professional related content. Be involved in group discussions and interact with others. The more you interact and post as a professional, the more you’ll be noticed and build recognition.
Join groups and follow organisations that are relevant to you and what you do. Follow the pages that are of interest to you. Stay informed of happenings and network with fellow graduates. Also, link yourself to the pages of both current and former employers so that you show support for your current company, but also stay connected with places you contributed to in the past, as well as the individuals that shared in your experiences at those places. In addition, you can search for groups made up of other like-minded individuals with similar educational or professional backgrounds. There are groups for all sorts of professions and industries.
Research the companies you’re interested in and follow them. LinkedIn makes it easy to find and follow companies, you can search by name or keyword in the search bar at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, and also, LinkedIn will recommend companies and groups that are a good fit for you. This will help you stay in the know about the company news and new positions as they become available.
Use advanced search options to find out which of your connections are associated with the company you are interested in, make a list for easy tracking. You can reach out to these people and ask any relevant questions in order to get the ball rolling.
Get a job…
LinkedIn makes it easy to be headhunted by recruiters/hiring managers only if your profile is updated and includes the right keywords that employers use to search for candidates for specific roles. Alternatively, to be more active in your job search, you can take advantage of the LinkedIn job search option. You can search for the positions you are targeting and filter according to your preferences. More job posting will be recommended to you through the “jobs you may be interested in” feature.
Take time to go through each post to see if you are a perfect fit for the position advertised before you apply, and when you clearly see that you meet the requirements you can go ahead and click on the apply button. You can take it further by using the LinkedIn features to see who posted the job, and who you might know or be connected to that works in the company.
That is what is interesting about LinkedIn, you can get free referrals. It will be a win-win for you as your CV will be sent to the hiring manager directly. This will minimise the probability of your CV disappearing in the clouds and maximise the likelihood of your CV being reviewed with care.
Is your CV ready for when the right job opening becomes available? We are happy to evaluate your current curriculum vitae and offer you Free expert advice and recommendations.
Conclusion
With all being said, LinkedIn is something you can learn and master over time, but most of us have hectic schedules that don’t allow us free time to regularly and gradually build a profile, and that is where Elite CV comes in. Over the past three years, we have assisted most of our client’s secure new job opportunities through LinkedIn than on any other platform. We professionally setup, write and design the profile but more than that we connect your profile and introduce you to recruiters and hiring managers in your field.
Whether you get your LinkedIn profile professionally setup by a company or do it yourself, just remember in this day and age it is absolutely necessary to have and take great care of your professional profile.
