There are tons of social media outlets that you can participate in, but in this day and age, it is particularly important to have a professional social media platform. This is one of the many steps in the process of creating your personal brand. LinkedIn is a professional social media website where you can connect with other professionals (and potential employers!) in your field and directly communicate your work experience and career aspirations to them. LinkedIn is an outlet through which you can find all sorts of resources as well—everything from job postings and career advice to the ability to publish your own work through their website. Here are some helpful tips we’ve found that will improve your LinkedIn profile and point you to some important resources that LinkedIn has to offer.
Your Profile Page:
There are several steps involved in creating a good LinkedIn profile page. It is important to complete the entirety of the sections when building your profile in order to communicate all of your skills, work experiences, and goals to your page visitors. You can even add a link to your blog to create more traffic to your various profiles. LinkedIn also allows you to customize your URL, so that your web page will read www.linkedin.com/insertnamehere, rather than a random series of numbers. On the ‘Edit’ screen, you can choose to edit your URL.
Making sure that your profile picture is professional is essential to completing your LinkedIn profile. Your photo should be clear, simple, and err on the conservative. For inspiration, check out the LinkedIn profiles of other professionals in your field. For example, a museum curator’s professional photo might look different than an accountant’s or a psychiatrist’s. And, last but not least, don’t go overboard. It is tempting to squeeze every possible work related information you can into your profile, but it is important not to overwhelm the visitors to your page. Keep information on your profile that is relevant to your career and your career aspirations.
Resources:
LinkedIn has tons of resources that will aid you in your job searches and career advice! A great resource includes all of the online groups that you can be a part of and which will connect you to professionals in your field. If you join a group that pertains to your profession or industry, not only will it show that you are engaged and up to date in your field, but it will also connect you to other professionals in your field and will build your connections. Having 500+ connections (which you could start making on one of your group pages) will make visitors to your profile confidant in your professional experience.
Another incredible resource is LinkedIn Jobs, which is LinkedIn’s job search engine. The advance search will allow you to narrow the jobs by keyword, title, industry, location, company, function, experience level, and more. Make sure you’ve updated your profile, and (if you don’t want anyone to see you’re searching for jobs just yet) hidden your LinkedIn interactions (you can do this under the Privacy setting), and completed your profile.
As one of the leading staffing firms in Mississippi, Staffers knows that social media is the a source that will link us to potential candidates and clients. For more professional tips, check out more posts on our blog, and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook! Contact Staffers today!
